Toowoomba Regional Council has become the first local government in Australia to endorse and require ‘Dial Before You Dig’ (DBYD) Certified Locators.

Mayor Paul Antonio said the council had partnered with Dial Before You Dig to make sure all of its contractors understood the importance of looking for hidden infrastructure when they undertook construction.

“Toowoomba Regional Council have been great supporters of Dial Before You Dig as an asset owner, having been one of the early members.  This partnership means that we are going the next step by incorporating the DBYD certification into our procurement,” Cr Antonio said.

“The full implementation will not happen overnight and part of this journey is by informing our contractors of procurement requirements.

“As we renew contracts through our procurements we will gradually be requiring all contract holders to be accredited.

“We will be working with our suppliers, as we have with council’s Office of Federal Safety Commission accreditation, to guide them through process of accreditation for future contracts.”

DBYD Queensland general manager Paul Newman said the organisation hoped to see other councils adopting the nationally accredited certification program.

The vision at Dial Before you Dig was to reduce damage and have safer communities through training and locator certification, he said.

“Before DBYD Queensland launched the certified locator program in 2015 there was no real standard for the locating industry to hang their hat on,” he said.

“‘Locating’ had been an unregulated business that allowed anyone to go out, purchase a locating device, set themselves up as a business and they were on their way.

“Through the DBYD Locator Certification Program, Certified Locators now can have a nationally recognised industry qualification that distinguishes them from ‘DIY’ or self-authorised locators.”

For more information about the DBYD Locator Certification Program go to http://www.dbydlocator.com/