Tolerance zone

Definition

The corridor either side of a marked line where the rules change, measured from the line itself.

Why It Matters

Two things about this are commonly got wrong and both cost money. It is measured from the FACILITY and not from the paint. Florida defines it as twenty four inches from the outer edge of either side of the exterior surface of a marked underground facility. The tolerance on the marking itself is a separate twenty four inches, so merging them understates the corridor. And machines are not universally barred inside it. Florida requires increased caution and hand digging, pot holing, soft digging or vacuum methods to identify the facility, then says any use of mechanized equipment inside the zone must be supervised by the excavator. Virginia does bar it where the dig crosses the line, requiring the line be exposed to its extremities by hand and no mechanized equipment within two feet of them. A crew trained under one of those is not trained for the other, and the liability follows the business.