JULIE 811 — Call Before You Dig

If your Rockford project involves any digging — a new fence line, a foundation repair, a French drain, a mailbox post, a deck footing — there's a call you need to make before the shovel goes in the ground, and it isn't to us. It's to JULIE, Illinois' one-call notification system, and it's the law before you dig, not a suggestion.

We bring this up because we deliver containers to a lot of projects that involve digging somewhere along the way, and the timing of that call can affect when your project actually starts — which in turn affects when you want your dumpster on-site. Here's what JULIE is, how the process works, and how it fits into the renovation and construction jobs we see across Winnebago County.

What JULIE Actually Is

JULIE stands for Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators, and it's Illinois' statewide one-call system for marking underground utility lines before excavation work begins. Instead of contacting every individual gas, electric, water, sewer, and telecom company separately, you make one call — or one request through julie1call.com — and JULIE notifies all the affected utility companies on your behalf. Those companies then send crews out to mark the approximate location of their underground lines with flags or spray paint, so you know what's buried where before you dig anywhere near it.

The whole point of the system is simple: underground gas, electric and communication lines are invisible from the surface, and hitting one with a shovel, auger or excavator can cause anything from a service outage to a genuinely dangerous gas or electrical incident. JULIE exists so that information is available before the digging starts, not discovered the hard way once it has.

The 811 Number and the Two-Business-Day Rule

The easiest way to reach JULIE is to dial 811, the national call-before-you-dig number that routes to the local one-call center — in Illinois, that's JULIE. You can also submit a locate request online at julie1call.com. Either way, Illinois law requires that request be made at least two full business days before you plan to start digging, to give utility companies enough time to send crews out and mark their lines.

That two-day window is worth planning around, especially if your project timeline is tight. If you're coordinating a renovation that involves both digging and a dumpster delivery — a foundation repair alongside a gut-renovation cleanout, for example — calling JULIE early enough that the locate is done before your container needs to be positioned can save you from a mid-project delay. We'd rather you build that two-day window into your planning from the start than have it collide with a delivery date we've already scheduled.

Why This Matters for Renovation and Construction Projects

A surprising number of the renovation and construction jobs we deliver to involve digging somewhere in the scope, even when the main project is something else entirely. A kitchen remodel that includes a new exterior drain line. A fence replacement. A deck rebuild with new footings. A driveway repour that disturbs the base beneath it. Foundation waterproofing on an older Rockford home. Landscaping work that includes irrigation lines. Any of these can put a shovel, auger, or trencher within range of a buried utility line, and Illinois law treats all of them the same way — call JULIE first, regardless of how small the digging seems.

This is also relevant to dumpster placement itself in a less obvious way. If a container needs to sit somewhere on your property that requires disturbing the ground — leveling a spot, or if placement on a public right-of-way requires any ground work — that disturbance can technically fall under the same call-before-you-dig requirement. In practice, most standard driveway or paved-surface deliveries don't require any digging at all, but if your project's site work does involve moving earth near where the container will sit, it's worth having the JULIE locate done before we schedule delivery.

What Happens After You Call

Once your request is in, JULIE notifies the utility companies with lines in the area, and each one is responsible for coming out to mark its own facilities — typically using color-coded flags or paint that correspond to a standard utility color code (for example, red for electric, yellow for gas, blue for water). You'll want to wait until all the expected utilities have responded and marked before digging begins, not just the first one or two that show up. If a locate comes back with no markings at all in an area where you expected lines, or if you're unsure whether every utility has responded, it's worth confirming through JULIE rather than assuming it's clear.

The locate marks are also generally only valid for a limited window, so if your project gets delayed and digging doesn't start within that period, you may need to request a fresh locate before proceeding. This is one more reason coordinating your JULIE call with your actual project timeline — rather than calling far in advance out of habit — tends to work out better in practice.

Coordinating JULIE With Your Dumpster Delivery

When a renovation or construction project involves both excavation and debris removal, we recommend thinking through the order of operations before you call either of us. If digging needs to happen in or near where you want the container placed, get your JULIE locate scheduled first, since that two-business-day window is a hard legal minimum and can't be rushed. Once the locate is done and you know your dig site is clear, call us to schedule delivery around a spot that won't interfere with the marked utility lines. On most standard residential and light commercial jobs where the container is simply sitting on an existing driveway or paved lot, this coordination isn't necessary at all — it mainly comes into play when site work and container placement are happening in the same footprint.

If you're not sure whether your project needs a JULIE call, the safe answer is almost always to make it. It costs nothing, takes one call or one online request, and the two-day wait is far cheaper than the alternative of hitting a line you didn't know was there.

Common Rockford Projects Where This Comes Up

A few project types account for most of the JULIE calls tied to jobs we also deliver to. Fence installation and replacement is probably the most frequent — post holes are shallow, but shallow is exactly where a lot of buried service lines sit, especially in older Rockford neighborhoods where utility depth wasn't always standardized to modern codes. Deck and porch rebuilds with new footings are another common one, along with foundation and drainage work like French drains, downspout extensions, and window well repairs on older homes near the Rock River corridor where drainage issues are common. Landscaping overhauls that include new irrigation lines, retaining walls, or tree removal with stump grinding also frequently involve digging deep enough to warrant a locate. If your project touches any of these, plan on the JULIE call as a standard part of your timeline rather than an afterthought.

What a Marked Site Actually Looks Like

Once utility companies respond to your locate request, you'll typically see the affected lines marked directly on the ground with spray paint, flags, or both, using a standard color code so you can tell at a glance what type of utility each mark represents — red generally indicates electric, yellow indicates gas or oil, blue indicates water, orange indicates communication lines, and green indicates sewer or drain lines. It's worth photographing the marked site before work begins, both so you have a record of where the lines were flagged and so the information doesn't get lost if rain or foot traffic fades the marks before digging actually starts. If any marks are unclear or you're not confident a particular utility has responded at all, it's worth a follow-up call to JULIE rather than proceeding on an assumption.

If Your Project Timeline Is Tight

If your project's timeline is tight and you're trying to sequence a JULIE locate, digging, and a dumpster delivery all within a short window, call us early in the process rather than waiting until the container is the last thing left to schedule. We can often work around a locate window or a delayed dig start, but it's easier for everyone when we know the full sequence of the project up front instead of trying to fit delivery in around a schedule that's already locked in around other trades.