Homeowners and professional excavators in Illinois are reminded to call JULIE, Inc. (JULIE) at 8-1-1 before every digging project regardless of the size or depth.

Putting up a fence, installing a mailbox post, building a deck or patio and planting trees and shrubs are all common examples of digging projects that require a call to JULIE first. This is a free call and service.

Protect yourself and your family. Striking a single buried utility line can cause injury, repair costs, penalties and  inconvenient outages.

5 Steps to Safer Digging
1. Pre-mark the dig site with white paint or flags
2. Call JULIE at 8-1-1 or go online (illinois1call.com) to submit your own locate request before you dig
3. Wait the required amount of time (two business days)
4. Respect the marks 
5. and Dig with care.

When homeowners and professional excavators call 8-1-1, they will speak with a JULIE call center agent who will take the location and description of the project site and notify affected member facility owners and operators. These members will then send a professional locator to mark the approximate location of their underground utility lines with small flags or paint at no cost. JULIE personnel do not perform locating or marking services.

Click to see what the different color flags/markers mean

JULIE’s call center agents are available to receive and process requests 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 8-1-1. E-Request is a free, online option for homeowners via www.illinois1call.com.