Approving New Practices & Revisions

At any given time, the CGA Best Practices Committee will have 10-15 potential new practices under committee review.  In addition, the committee receives approximately 10 new practice proposals per year.  To learn more about the committee's review process, visit the Practice Proposals web page. 

Prior to approval, each new practice must pass through the "Best Practices Committee" review and approval process.  By the time a new practice arrives at a meeting for final approval, the wording has often been under review for over one year; and the wording has been reviewed closely by fifteen stakeholder groups, their respective companies/trade associations, and many of the 1,200 CGA members.  Each approved new practice and/or practice revision must then receive consensus approval at a Best Practices Meeting and final approval by the CGA Board of Directors.   

As a result, any best practices endorsed by the CGA come with consensus support from experts representing the following stakeholder groups:   Excavator, Locator, Road Builders, Electric, Telecommunications, Oil, Gas, Railroad, Water, One Call, Public Works, Equipment Manufacturing, State Regulators, Insurance, Engineering Design and Emergency Services. 

Amendments to the Common Ground Study (1999)

Since the Common Ground Study was approved in 1999, the CGA has passed multiple amendments to the original document. The following new practices and practice revisions were approved by the CGA Board and have been (or will be) published in the Best Practices manual.

First published in Best Practices Version 2.0. (December 2004)

• Notification of Emergency Personnel:  Amendments to the "Excavation Chapter" approved on November 30, 2001 & September 27, 2002.
• Homeland Security:  Addition to "Practice Statements" section approved on April 8, 2003.
• Supply Line Separation:  Amendment to the "Planning & Design Chapter" approved on September 25, 2003.
• Locating Quality Assurance Program:  Amendment to the "Locating & Marking Chapter" approved on March 26, 2004.
• Marking Guidelines & Uniform Color Code:  Additions to the Best Practices (included in Appendix B of Version 2.0) approved on March 30, 2004 & September 24, 2004. 

First published in Best Practices Version 3.0 (February 2006)

• Radar-Based Locating:  Addition approved on March 3, 2005. 
• Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Standard: Addition approved on March 3, 2005. 

First published in Best Practices Version 4.0 (February 2007)

• Emergency Coordination with Adjacent Facilities:  Addition approved September 8, 2006.
• Identification of Unknown Lines:  Addition approved on September 8, 2006.
• Web Services Solution: Addition approved on November 16, 2006.

Related Files