Before you dig in Sedgwick County: a one-page checklist

Fence posts, a French drain, a shop pad, a sewer line, a pond: every dig around Wichita starts with the same few steps, and skipping one is how people end up with a cut gas line, a stop-work order or a fine. Print this page or keep it on your phone. It's free to use and link to.

Step 1: When can you dig? Kansas 811 date calculator

Kansas law requires a locate request through Kansas 811, which older paperwork still calls Kansas One Call (call 811 or file online), at least two full working days before digging, not counting the day you call, weekends or holidays, and no more than 20 calendar days ahead. Enter the day you'll call:

While you wait: mark the area you plan to dig with white paint, flags or stakes so the locators mark the right place. After the marks go down, dig by hand within 24 inches on either side of them. And remember 811 only covers utility-owned lines. Lines you own, like a power feed to a shop, sprinkler lines or a private sewer line, aren't marked; you or a private locator has to find those. The private sewer line from the house to the main is the one most often hit, and replacing it is its own job: see sewer line repair in Wichita and, for the pipe from the meter to the house, water line replacement.

Step 2: Who issues the permit where you are?

Excavation on its own often doesn't need a permit, but the job it's part of usually does (a house, addition, foundation, shop, sewer or water line, or anything in a floodplain). Which office you deal with depends on where the property is:

Step 3: Is the lot in a floodplain?

Sedgwick County says any development inside a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, including filling, grading and excavation, must be reviewed and permitted by MABCD. Check the address on the county's floodplain maps or call the Wichita/Sedgwick County Floodplain Manager at 316-660-1840. If it's in, plan for a floodplain development permit before any dirt moves.

Step 4: Know your soil and your water

• Soil: much of the county is shrink-swell clay, and the river valley has sand and shallow groundwater. The USDA Web Soil Survey shows the mapped soils on your lot.
• Trench depth: federal OSHA rules require shoring, sloping or a trench box for trenches 5 feet deep or more unless the cut is entirely in stable rock. Never step into an unprotected deep trench.
• Where the water goes: changing a grade can send water onto a neighbor or into a drainage easement. See grading and drainage.
• Tearing out an old slab or house first? Demolition in Wichita and the county needs a MABCD wrecking permit and the utilities cut off by their owners before the dig starts; see demolition and excavation.
• Cutting into a slope? A wall over 4 feet from the bottom of the footing to the top needs a building permit; see retaining walls in Wichita.

Step 5: If you're hiring it out

• Ask the contractor for the 811 ticket number before the machine is unloaded.
• Get in writing who pulls the permit and who books the inspections.
• Ask for a certificate of liability insurance.
• Make sure hauling, backfill, compaction and yard restoration are in the quote (see what drives excavation cost).

More detail on each rule is on permits and Kansas 811. Need someone to do the digging? See our excavation services in Wichita or call us and tell us about the job.