Ontario One Call, Infrastructure Owners and Excavators must operate according to the Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act. As per the Act, the following Compliance Contraventions are within Ontario One Call’s jurisdiction. View a complete list and explanation of Compliance Contraventions (PDF).
- Late Locates
- Late Emergency Locate Response
- Inaccurate Locates
- False Renegotiated Date
- Deficient Clearance
- Locate Abuse
- Excavation in an Unsafe Manner
- Digging Without a Locate
If you have reason to believe there has been non-compliance with the Act, its regulation or the By-laws of Ontario One Call, you can submit a complaint. If the complaint is verified, Ontario One Call will notify the non-compliant party to request action to resolve the problem. Ontario One Call cannot guarantee a timeframe by which the non-compliant party will resolve the issue.
Please note that Ontario One Call’s Compliance and Industry Department only accepts complaints in writing and aims to review them within 2 business days.
How The Complaint Process Works
Complaint received in writing
Ontario One Call verifies it
Ontario One Call notifies the non-compliant party to take action to resolve the issue
Complainant can contact Ontario One Call’s Compliance Department to take further action if the issue is not resolved within 5 business days
Compliance Frequently Asked Questions
Before submitting a complaint, please review the menu below for answers to the most common issues.
Ontario One Call is a notification system and does NOT provide, contract, or manage locates. The local Infrastructure Owner companies listed on your locate request (gas, electricity, telecom) are legally bound to provide locates for the infrastructure they own within the legislated timeframe. If they do not, please contact the Infrastructure Owner or the Locate Service Provider first. If you have not achieved results:
- You can file a complaint against the Infrastructure Owner through our webform
Infrastructure Owners are required by law to provide a locate or clearance within 5 business days, but there is no guarantee that it will get done within that time. If an Infrastructure Owner is late, you can reach out to them directly, and if that fails you can reach out to our compliance department through our complaint form. If you’re losing money due to late locates, you have the right to receive financial compensation (Excavator Recourse) for losses and expenses. To find out more details on how to receive financial compensation from Infrastructure Owners that have not provided locates within the legislated timeframe download this PDF.
Our Compliance Department will review your complaint and get back to you as quickly as they can. Your complaint will need to be verified by the Compliance Department to ensure it is a valid complaint and within the jurisdiction of Ontario One Call. The Compliance Department may reach out to you during the verification process. After the complaint details are verified, the complaint will be sent directly to the allegedly non-compliant party. The non-compliant party is to take immediate action to resolve the situation. If you have not heard back from them in 5 business days, please reach out to our Compliance Dept. again for further action.
You can find this information within the locate status once you log into the web portal. This how-to-video shows how to find your locate request and the locate status.
Inaccurate locates create a safety risk. Reach out to our compliance department through our complaint form. Once the complaint is verified, our Compliance Team will notify the Infrastructure Owner and ask them to correct the information on the locates.
If you’re losing money due to late locates, you have the right to receive financial compensation (Excavator Recourse) for losses and expenses. To find out more details on how to receive financial compensation from Infrastructure Owners that have not provided locates within the legislated timeframe download this PDF.
Locate flags are placed in areas where an excavation has been proposed. Infrastructure Owners will mark out the location of their buried infrastructure using paint or flags to ensure safe excavation. Locate flags and markings use a universal colour code.
The markings should be left in place and not removed until the project is complete – this is typically done by the contractors performing the work.
Please do NOT submit a complaint if you see paint marks or flags on your lawn as Ontario One Call cannot remove them. The Infrastructure Owner or the Contractor (the person performing the work) are the ones authorized to remove them.
Remediate the issue identified in the Complaint within 5 Calendar Days and immediately notify Ontario One Call in writing about the remediation;
Or, if the Infrastructure Owner or Excavator disputes a Complaint, they must provide their response to the Complaint in writing to Ontario One Call within 5 Calendar Days of receiving the Complaint from Ontario One Call explaining their reasons for disputing the Complaint.
Please contact your Member Services Representative.
Complaint Form
This form is to be completed by anyone who wants to make a complaint against a member (buried infrastructure owner), excavator, or Ontario One Call, if they have reasonable cause to believe there has been non-compliance with the Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act, 2012, its regulation or the By-laws of Ontario One Call.
If the complaint is about an Infrastructure Owner, for example a Late Locate, please contact the Infrastructure Owner or the Locate Service Provider first. If you have not achieved results, please click the button below to file a complaint.
