Building Infrastructure Safely Act, 2023

From planting a tree in your yard to large commercial construction, a locate is required before construction begins for a new home, highway or high-speed internet cabling.

Ontario is proposing a bill that, if passed would make it easier to locate underground infrastructure such as gas, electric, water and sewer lines.

The proposed bill would prohibit underground infrastructure owners from charging fees for locates, stemming the possibility of spiralling costs that could delay construction and increase project expenses.

Free-of-charge locates is consistent with a long-standing industry practice across North America and would increase public safety and minimize damage to critical infrastructure.

We also plan to bring forward regulations to help streamline the locate delivery processes that would cut down on the number of times locates need to be repeated.

The changes are intended to help keep costs down for construction projects and is just one part of the Ontario government’s plan to get vital infrastructure like transit, roads and new homes built more quickly while ensuring public safety.

Learn More: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1003863/ontario-helping-contain-costs-of-building-roads-and-new-homes