Planning/Design and Joint Meet Notifications

To assist excavators and facility locators in managing large or complex projects, JULIE offers the Planning/Design and Joint Meet notifications.

Planning/Design Stage Notification

Prior to beginning a large project, a planning/design notification may need to be submitted by the project designer/planner.

The Planning/Design Notification is beneficial for architects, engineers and others who are in the planning or design stage of a project and excavation is not intended in the near future.

When a planner or designer indicates they are in the planning or design stage of the project, the required information will be processed and they will be sent a list of affected member engineering contacts via fax or e-mail. It is then the responsibility of the individual making the request to contact each facility owner.

Member underground utility facility owners shall respond to a valid planning/design notification within 10 days upon notification by the designer in one of three ways:

Provide drawings/prints of the location of the facility owner’s underground facilities at the proposed site.
Show the location of the facility owner’s underground facilities on a drawing provided by the designer.
Locate and mark the facility owner’s underground facilities at the proposed job site. Some member underground utility facility owners may charge a fee for these services.

Designers shall make reasonable efforts to prepare construction drawings which minimize interference with existing and proposed utility facilities in the construction area and follow the guidelines set forth in CI-ASCE 38-02 and depict on all appropriate documents the position and type of all known underground utility facilities obtained in the planning/design notification process and a valid planning/design notification request number.

For information on the advantages of the Planning/Design notification request process, A module on the Planning Design Notification process can be found by clicking here.

Joint Meet Notification

A Joint Meet is a meeting to openly discuss a large or complicated project and to exchange information such as maps, plans or schedules*. It is not a locating session and shall be held at or near the dig site. JULIE shall not recognize a Joint Meet request as satisfactorily fulfilling the statutory requirements of the Illinois Underground Utility Facilities Damage Prevention Act and shall require excavators that request a Joint Meet to additionally call or submit online, after the Joint Meet, a valid locate request/s in order to receive field locates. Downloadable Joint Meet Sheet

*Large non-emergency projects may require multiple locating sessions to mark all affected facilities.

Required Information

To request a Joint Meet, the following information must be given to the call center agent or the request will be suspended or provided using the self-service option:

The county, city or township where the work will be performed and
Street names involved in the project OR the north, south, east and west boundaries of the project OR the section number(s) in which the work will be done.

A Joint Meet Request is valid for one city or township per county. Extensive projects may require multiple Joint Meet Requests.

JULIE Large Project Process

JULIE created a Task Force to develop a method to increase communication among members when there is a large project that may result in increased workload for members’ utility locators. The team was tasked with creating a definition for large projects and creating a process for early notification and ongoing communication so all members can better forecast for needed resources and be informed about the extent of work planned within realistic timeframes.

What is a Large Project?

Large project” means a single excavation that exceeds the expiration date of a normal notice request, or involves a series of repetitive, related-scope excavations. To learn more about conditions/specific criteria and examples for Large Project, click here.

How does it work?

The Large Project Process includes several steps. Click here for details about the Large Project Process.

Steps include Planning/Design Stage Notifications or Joint Meet Notifications and Progress Meetings.

How to learn more?

Contact a JULIE Damage Prevention Manager for more information.