Positive Response

Positive Response is Now Required in New Jersey

As of July 18, 2022, an administrative law update on positive response has gone into effect in New Jersey, creating a positive change in the state’s overall damage prevention efforts. All facility operators are now required to provide positive response on all locate requests through NJOC’s Ticket Check. Several operators have already begun to use positive response with great success.

Click here to view the full text of the original proposal from December 6, 2021, and the administrative code update from July 18, 2022. Please scroll to Chapter 2 -Underground Utilities for this specific information.

Ticket Check will have all positive response capabilities in place by September 1, 2022, including emergency ticket options and a new dispatch status. If you are a facility operator, please sign up prior to September 1 so that your team can begin to use all these capabilities as soon as they are available.

We applaud New Jersey’s administrative law update requiring positive response, as it shows the state’s ongoing commitment to damage prevention and safe digging. Positive response is a best practice recommended by the national Common Ground Alliance (CGA), and required positive response already exists as law and operating procedure in 31 states — resulting in increased communication and confidence in excavation projects across the United States.

—New Jersey Common Ground Alliance (CGA) Board of Directors

Frequently Asked Questions

Positive response allows each facility operator to communicate the status of a markout request directly with the excavator.

As of July 18, 2022, there’s been an administrative law update that makes positive response — through the Ticket Check system — mandatory.

All facility operators are required to use Ticket Check to provide a positive response.

Each participant has or will receive an email with Ticket Check login instructions. If you would like additional assistance, please contact Kate Dwyer at kdwyer@occinc.com or 732-394-3000.

All Emergency and Routine requests must receive a positive response status.

For Emergency requests, positive response is required within 24 calendar hours from the start date/time.

For Routine requests, positive response is required within three (3) full business days after notification to the New Jersey One Call center.

The Dispatched status for Emergency requests will be available starting September 1, 2022. Until then, Emergency requests cannot be statused in Ticket Check.

Statusing an Emergency request in Ticket Check will be available starting September 1, 2022.