10-21-020 Definitions.
   As used in this chapter:
   "48 hours" means two business days, beginning at 8:00 a.m. and ending at 4:00 p.m., exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and the following holidays, as recognized by 811 Chicago: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Any locate request received after 4:00 p.m. on a business day will be processed as though it were received at 8:00 a.m. the next business day.
   "811 Chicago" means the 24-hour service network system established by the City of Chicago that provides a free, one-call service to persons engaged in excavation and demolition, and notifies persons who own and operate underground facilities of impending excavations and demolitions within the City's corporate limits.
   "Address" means the physical building address associated with an excavation or demolition. When a building address is not available, the term "address" means (1) the street segment address or range of addresses together with (2) a description of the relevant location.
   "Approximate location" means a strip of land at least 36 inches wide, but not wider than the width of the underground facility plus 18 inches on either side of the facility.
   "CDOT" means the Chicago Department of Transportation.
   "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of CDOT or the Commissioner's designee.
   "Damage" means the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of an underground facility; the penetration or destruction of a protective coating, a housing, or another protective device of an underground facility; the partial or complete severance of an underground facility; or rendering any underground facility inaccessible.
   "Demolition" means wrecking, razing, rending, moving, or removing of a structure by means of any power tool, power equipment (excluding transportation equipment), or explosives.
   "Emergency excavation or demolition" means an excavation or demolition necessary to prevent a condition that poses an imminent danger to life or health, to repair a utility service outage, to prevent significant property or environmental damage, or to repair an existing unstable condition which will likely result in any of these conditions.
   "Excavation" means any operation in which earth, rock, or other material located in or on the ground is moved, removed, or otherwise displaced by means of any tools, power equipment or explosives. Excavation includes, but is not limited to, grading, trenching, digging, ditching, drilling, augering, boring, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing, saw cutting, and driving. Excavation does not include digging with hand tools to a depth below the surface of up to six inches; farm tillage operations; railroad right-of-way maintenance or operations; roadway surface milling; any coal mining operations regulated under the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 or any state law or rules or regulations adopted under the federal statute; or land surveying operations as defined in the Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989 when not using power equipment; to expose or identify underground facilities in furtherance of the completion of a locate request that does not involve the use of power equipment.
   "Locate request" means a notice initiated by a person engaged in an excavation or demolition, and made through 811 Chicago, asking the persons who own and operate underground facilities to mark their facilities at the planned excavation or demolition site.
   "Mismark" means a facility mark outside the maximum parameters of the approximate location of the underground facility.
   "Open cut utility locate" means a method of locating underground facilities that requires excavation by the person who owns or operates the underground facility.
   "Residential property owner" means any individual that owns or leases real property that is used by such individual as his own residence or dwelling. Residential property owner does not include any person who owns or leases residential property for the purpose of holding or developing such property, or for any other business or commercial purposes in the absence of a regular physical presence at that property. For example, an individual who lives in and owns or leases a single family home is a residential property owner as to that property. An individual who leases that same home to another individual is not a residential property owner as to that property. An individual who owns a multi-family dwelling is not a residential property owner as to that property.
   "Roadway surface milling" means the removal of a uniform pavement section, not including the base or subbase, by rotomilling, grinding, or other means.
   "Underground location service" means any entity that charges for the service of locating and marking underground facilities.
   "Underground facility" means any item buried or placed below ground or submerged under water for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of water or sewage; or electronic, telephonic, or telegraphic communications; electricity; petroleum products; manufactured, mixed, or natural gas; synthetic or liquefied natural gas; propane gas; or other substances. The term "underground facilities" includes, but is not limited to, all operational underground pipes, sewers, tubing, conduits, cables, valves, lines, wires, manholes, and attachments. The term does not include any private septic system in a single- or multi-family dwelling utilized only for that dwelling and not connected to any other system.
(Added Coun. J. 11-16-16, p. 37901, Art. VI, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 9-14-21, p. 35804, § 1)