Page 31 - CCGA Best Practices Version English

2-17: Practices to Reduce Over-Notifications

Practice statement: The notification service employs practices designed
specifically to reduce the number of notices transmitted to facility owners,
in which the reported excavation site is outside the owner’s desired area of
notification.
Practice Description: The notification service employs technology that
allows the owner to determine its desired area of notification by polygons. To
reduce over-notifications, the technology should:
• where due diligence and mapping accuracy permits, enable the
notification service to define the proposed excavation site buffer to within
approximately 800 feet (250 metres); and
• provide the owner the ability to identify its desired area of notification,
including the member specified buffer zone, to within approximately 30
metres.

2-18: Disaster Recovery

Practice statement: The notification service develops, implements, and
maintains an effective disaster recovery plan enabling the notification service
function to continue in the event of a disaster.

Practice Description: The notification service develops and implements
an effective disaster recovery plan enabling it to continue operations in
the aftermath of a disaster affecting the facility, including communication
with the local emergency services to provide safe access to the notification
service. Excavators and owners outside of the area affected by the disaster
can continue to conduct business with minimum to no delays in the services
provided by the notification service. The disaster recovery plan makes
provisions for the notification service to process emergency locate requests
for the areas affected by the disaster.
The notification service (the primary centre) has a backup arrangement
with another facility at a remote location (the secondary centre). This
arrangement includes:

• Telecommunications - alternate routing schedules are in place, ready to
be activated within minutes of the primary centres’ failure.
• Software and Hardware - the secondary centre has compatible hardware
with the primary centre. The secondary centre always has a copy of the
primary’s current software.
• Database - the secondary centre receives the primary centre’s database
including locate requests on a regular basis, preferably real-time.

• Staffing - a portion of the secondary centre’s staff is cross-trained for the
primary centre’s operation at all times.

• Simulated Emergency Testing - At least once a year, on a random basis,
the disaster recovery plan is implemented to verify that it is operational.

Canadian Common Ground Alliance
Best Practices Version 3.0 – October 2018
27