There was a recent article in the Utility Magazine in which Natalie Hunter from Hunter Ground Search wrote about the misconceptions that are within the utility locating industry that the general public had in relation to underground service locating.
It was an excellent article and covered some common issues that us locators come across while out onsite.
Such as customers thinking we can just wave a locator around the place like a magic wand and all of a sudden we will be able to find services.
The fact that some clients think that GPR is the silver bullet and can even show skeletons in the ground.
That you will get to site and find the customer has no Dial Before You Dig plans.
But the article itself doesn’t just go through and complain about what we have to deal with, she has actually gone through and explained what you as the customer can do and what you need to know before you hire a locator to come out to site.
I think it is an excellent article and as such would like to share the link with you all so you can have a read and see if it can help you out at all. If there is anything in it that you don’t understand then feel free to give us a buzz or even leave a comment below and I will be happy to discuss it with you.
Also, although I don’t like recommending other locators anymore as I have been let down too many times in the past, I can actually recommend Natalie. If you have any work within the Newcastle (NSW) region then please get in touch with her.
I have personally known Nat for many years through our involvement in NULCA together. With the locating industry being pretty much solely male-dominated where women are generally only in the backend of the office, Nat has no hesitation in getting out in the field and putting in a hard days work, she can stand tow to toe with the best of them out there and she knows locating like the back of her hand.