Call 1-800-292-8989 or 811 at least 48 hours prior to all excavation. Iowa One Call is a free service.

Iowa law requires that any person, homeowner, professional, public or private entity, planning to engage in any form of excavation within the state of Iowa, must notify the Iowa One Call notification system, at 1-800-292-8989 or 811, at least 48 hours prior to excavating.

The Iowa One Call notification system is a free call and a free service to all persons planning an excavation within the state of Iowa. The required 48 hours advance notice does not include Saturdays and Sundays or legal holidays.

Iowa One Call is a non-profit organization funded by the owners and operators of underground facilities who are required by law to belong to the system.

Iowa One Call is committed to maintaining and operating a notification system efficient in relaying information and safeguarding underground facilities essential to all Iowans.

Iowa One Call provides contractors, homeowners, and others who may be excavating, digging or trenching with a single toll-free number to call for locating and marking underground facilities. The toll-free Iowa One Call number is 1-800-292-8989. 

Dial 811

As of April 2007, the national 811 three-digit dialing system allows easy access to Iowa One Call.  Now it's easier than ever to request underground facility locates, just dail 811.

Iowa law states that if you are excavating, including digging, you must call Iowa One Call at least 48 hours in advance (of your digging) in order to minimize the risk of damaging any type of underground facilities (electric, gas, communications/television, water and sewer). The service is free, and so is the phone call. Making the phone call can help eliminate the risk of disrupting service, and greatly reduce the potential risk of serious personal injury.

Iowa's One Call Center is located on 320 LeClaire Street in downtown Davenport, Iowa. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is staffed by a team of 40 customer service representatives under the direction of the Iowa One Call manager. The Center has 34 incoming toll-free telephone lines, 14 outgoing lines, 5 direct lines and an 800-fax line.

Iowa One Call representatives handle more than 400,000 calls and coordinate more than two million locate requests per year in communities throughout Iowa. Historically, the Center's peak periods are during spring and fall, when customer service representatives handle up to 50,000 calls per month.

When do I use Iowa One Call?

Anytime you plan to excavate, including digging. Whether it's a small or a large construction project or homeowner project, call Iowa One Call at least 48 hours prior to excavating (excluding weekends and/or holidays). Iowa One Call will notify the owners/operators of underground facilities who participate in Iowa One Call. The various underground facility operators will dispatch "locate" personnel to the area to mark the underground facility locations with flags and paint markings, showing where underground facilities are located so the excavator can avoid damaging the facilities.

Iowa law applies to professional contractors as well as homeowners, and encompasses a wide array of outdoor projects including:

• Installing a fence
• Planting trees or shrubs
• Building a patio, addition, deck, garage, outdoor shed or any similar structure that requires any form of digging
• Putting in a new driveway
• Installing a septic system or water drainage system
• Terracing or landscaping

When Not to Call

Iowa One Call provides notification service for utility location requests only. Iowa One Call should not be contacted for any of the following reasons:

• To report any type of service outage due to weather conditions
• To resolve any type of utility billing problem
• To report any excavation outside of Iowa
• To request any type of facility removal or relocation (including meter removals prior to demolition of a building)
• To request initiation of any type of utility service
• To provide maps, plans or drawings of the proposed excavation

Here are some quick facts about Iowa One Call and the service we provide:

• Iowa One Call was started as a voluntary service in 1980 by Northwestern Bell (now US WEST Communications) and Iowa-Illinois Gas & Electric (now MidAmerican Energy Company) in order to maintain the integrity of their utility systems.
• Since January 1, 1993, all owners and operators of underground facilities are required by Iowa State law to participate in Iowa One Call. Membership is now close to 1,500.
• Iowa One Call provides excavators, including contractors and homeowners, with a single toll-free number to call for locating and marking underground facilities including electric, gas, telecommunications, cable television, water and sewer:
  1-800-292-8989.
• Iowa's One Call Center, located on 320 LeClaire Street in downtown Davenport, Iowa, operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Iowa One Call receives requests for underground facility locations from persons excavating, including digging, in the state of Iowa. Iowa One Call then sends these requests to participating operators who have facilities in the area of the excavation. Each underground facility operator is responsible for marking their facilities with paint or flags.
• The toll-free Iowa One Call number is 1-800-292-8989. The service provided by Iowa One Call is free of charge, as is the phone call. The cost is paid in full by participating underground facility operators.
• Iowa One Call's Board of Directors is elected by operators, excavators and other persons who participate in the notification center. Directors do not receive compensation for serving on the Board.
• An annual report of Iowa One Call is filed with the Iowa Utilities Board and is available for review.
• Iowa One Call is neither a utility nor a locating service. Iowa One Call owns no facilities and does not locate underground facilities.

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