What on Earth Is MISS DIG 811, and What Are These Flags Doing in My Lawn?
Highlights from this Article:
- MISS DIG 811 is Michigan’s free, legally required utility notification system. Before any digging can begin on your property, underground public utility lines must be located and marked.
- When you hire Ann Arbor Decks, we handle the MISS DIG process for you. You don’t need to do anything.
- The colored flags mark public utility lines: gas, electric, water, sewer, cable, and more. Each color has a specific meaning.
- MISS DIG does not mark private utility lines, including underground sprinkler systems. If your sprinkler lines run through the deck area, your landscape company needs to move them before we dig.
- Michigan law requires the MISS DIG process before any excavation, regardless of depth or project size.
Skip down to the flag color guide or the FAQs.
It’s a fairly common scene. A homeowner signs a contract for a new deck, and a few days before the job starts, walks out to find a dozen little colored flags sprinkled across their backyard. Sometimes there’s paint on the grass too. Nobody called ahead to explain any of it.
If that’s happened to you, don’t worry. It’s actually a sign that things are going exactly as they should. Those flags are the result of the MISS DIG 811 process, something we handle on every single deck project we build. This post explains what MISS DIG is, why it exists, what the flags mean, and one important thing it does not cover that homeowners sometimes learn about the hard way.
What Is MISS DIG 811?
MISS DIG 811 is Michigan’s nonprofit utility safety notification system. Its entire purpose is to prevent contractors and homeowners from accidentally digging into buried utility lines (gas mains, electric cables, water lines, sewer lines, communication cables) during construction or excavation work.
Here’s how it works. Before any digging begins, a locate request (called a “ticket”) is submitted to MISS DIG 811, either by calling 811 or submitting online at missdig811.org. MISS DIG then contacts all of its member utility companies, which send locators out to the property to mark the approximate locations of their underground lines. Those locators use small colored flags and spray paint to indicate where their lines are buried. After a minimum of three business days, once all responses are in, work can begin.
This is not optional. Michigan law requires that a MISS DIG locate request be placed before any excavation, regardless of how shallow or how small the project. Installing a fence post, planting a tree, building a deck: all of it requires MISS DIG clearance first. Skipping this step can result in fines, serious safety hazards, and liability for damage to utility lines.
The service itself is free to use.
Who Contacts MISS DIG?
When you hire a contractor for excavation work, the contractor (not the homeowner) is responsible for contacting MISS DIG. At Ann Arbor Decks, we handle this as a standard part of every project before a shovel hits the ground. You don’t need to call anyone or submit any requests. When you see flags in your yard, it means we’ve already taken care of it.
What Do the Different Colored Flags Mean?
The flags and paint follow the APWA Uniform Color Code, a standardized national system used by all 811 programs across the United States. Each color represents a different type of underground utility. Here’s what you’re looking at in your yard:
| Flag Color | What It Marks |
|---|---|
| Red | Electric power lines and cables |
| Yellow | Natural gas, oil, steam, or other flammable materials |
| Orange | Communications lines: telephone, cable TV, fiber optic, internet |
| Blue | Potable (drinking) water lines |
| Green | Sewer and drain lines |
| Purple | Reclaimed water or irrigation lines (municipal) |
| White | Proposed excavation area: marks where digging will take place |
| Pink | Temporary survey markings |
When a utility company finds no lines in the area, they may respond with a “no conflict” status rather than placing flags. That’s also a normal and expected outcome for some utilities depending on your property.
The Important Thing MISS DIG Does NOT Cover
MISS DIG only locates and marks public utility lines (the ones owned and maintained by utility companies). It does not mark private utility lines, which are lines installed on your property that aren’t owned by a utility company.
The most common private lines we encounter on deck projects are underground sprinkler systems. If your property has an irrigation system, those lines will not be flagged by MISS DIG. They are your lines, not the utility company’s, and their locations are not in any system we can query.
This matters because deck footings require us to dig 42 inches deep for frost protection in Michigan. A sprinkler line running through the deck footprint area will be in the way. If we don’t know where it is, it’s at risk of being cut during excavation, which is both an inconvenience and a repair cost that nobody wants. While we can perform minor repairs on sprinkler lines, it’s much easier in the short and the long term to have your landscaper move them in advance.
If you have an underground sprinkler system, please let us know early in the project planning process. We’ll identify whether any sprinkler lines appear to run through the deck footprint area. If they do, we ask that you contact your landscape or irrigation company to have those lines located and, if necessary, relocated before we break ground. This is not something we can do for you; irrigation contractors have the specialized knowledge and equipment to reroute those lines safely.
Other private lines that MISS DIG won’t mark include invisible dog fence wiring, power lines to detached garages or outbuildings, lines to outdoor lighting or outdoor outlets, and power or gas lines to outdoor grills. If any of these run through or near your deck area, flag them for us before we start.
What Happens After the Flags Go In
Once the locate request is submitted and the three-business-day waiting period has passed, we check the “Positive Response” system online to confirm that all utilities have reported either a marked location or a no-conflict status. Only once all responses are clear can digging legally begin.
When digging takes place near a marked utility line, Michigan law requires hand digging within four feet on either side of any flag or paint marking. We take this seriously, not just because it’s the law, but because striking a gas or electric line can be dangerous. Deck footings near utility markings are excavated by hand, carefully.
A MISS DIG ticket is valid for 21 days from the legal start date. If work extends beyond that period, a new ticket is required. We manage this as part of the project timeline.
One More Thing: Please Don’t Pull, Move or Mow Over the Flags
We know they’re not the prettiest addition to a manicured lawn. But the flags need to stay in place until the excavation work at each footing location is complete. Removing or moving them before that point means the utility markings are gone, and we lose the reference points we need to know where not to dig.
The MISS DIG website points out that flags are attractive to young children. If you have kids, it’s worth explaining that the little flags in the yard are there for a reason and need to stay put. If you have pets, watch them in the yard.
When mowing the lawn, mow closely around (but not over) the flags. If your landscape company does your mowing, let them know about the flags and ask them to steer clear.
Once the footings are poured and the digging work is done, the flags can be removed. We’ll let you know when you’re clear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there flags in my yard when I didn’t ask for them? Your contractor (us) submitted the MISS DIG locate request on your behalf as part of the permit and construction process. The flags were placed by the individual utility companies’ locators in response to that request. This is normal and means the process is working correctly.
How long will the flags be there? The flags will stay through the excavation portion of the project, typically through the footing dig and concrete pour. Once the relevant digging is complete, they can be removed. A MISS DIG ticket is valid for 21 days; if the project runs longer, we’ll handle renewing the locate request.
Is it okay if the flags get knocked over or a child pulls one out? If flags are disturbed, moved, or removed before excavation is complete, the marking information is compromised. Contact us right away and we will arrange a re-mark with MISS DIG. Do not assume you remember where a flag was and do not attempt to replace it yourself.
Will MISS DIG locate my sprinkler system? No. Underground sprinkler systems are considered private utility lines and are not located or marked by MISS DIG 811. If your irrigation system runs through the deck area, your landscape or irrigation contractor needs to locate and potentially relocate those lines before digging begins.
Do I need to do anything for the MISS DIG process? When you’re working with Ann Arbor Decks, no. We handle the entire process. The one thing we’d ask is that you let us know early if you have underground sprinkler lines, invisible dog fence wiring, or any other private lines on the property, so we can factor those into the project plan.
What happens if a utility line gets hit during excavation? If there is any hazardous situation (a gas line breach in particular), the first call is to 911. Then contact the utility company directly. This is precisely why the MISS DIG process exists, and why we take it seriously on every project. In nearly two decades of building decks in Washtenaw County, proper MISS DIG compliance means this scenario essentially never happens.
Part of Every Project We Build
The MISS DIG process is one of those behind-the-scenes steps that most homeowners don’t think about until the flags show up in the yard. We handle it as a standard part of every deck build, along with the permit applications, drawings, inspections, and everything else that goes into building a deck the right way in Washtenaw County.
If you have questions about the process for your specific project, we’re glad to walk through it with you.
Book your free estimate today. We serve Ann Arbor, Saline, Dexter, Chelsea, Pittsfield Township, Ypsilanti, and the surrounding Washtenaw County area.