Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen • January 2018 | Page 13

SUNSHINE 811 CLARIFIES ROLE ISSUES DISCLAIMER IN RESPONSE TO EMAIL SOLICITATION Sunshine 811 is a neutral party that takes information from an excavator and transmits it to a member operator (utility company or facility owner). Sunshine 811 does not own, operate or locate underground utilities. Sunshine 811 does not dispatch locators to locate underground utilities. You may have received an email or phone call from a company offering private utility locating services. In response, we want to clarify a few things. • Sunshine 811 does not sell email addresses. Plus, statute reference 556.105(8)(d) prohibits the use of our information for marketing purposes: “Member operators shall use the information provided to the system by other member operators only for the purposes stated in this chapter and not for sales or marketing purposes.” • Sunshine 811 members’ locating and marking practices vary. Most cities, counties and utility companies do not locate private utilities. These may include water and sewer lines from the meter to the house, and lines such as electric to a shed, irrigation systems, landscape lighting, etc. Locating category on our Associate Membership page. Sunshine 811 does not endorse any associate members listed on its page. Anyone wishing to have their company listed should complete an Associate Member Application and submit a company logo. • There has not been a law change requiring you to hire a private locating company, but you are responsible for not damaging those lines when you dig. If you wish to hire a private locating company, there are many throughout the state. We have a JANUARY 2018 • DITCHMEN 13