Chicago DIGGER Ticket Lookup: What to Check on Your 811 Ticket

If you have a DIGGER ticket number and want to know what to do with it, this is the short version. The ticket is the paper trail for the call you are required to make. It does not mean the ground is clear. It means the clock started, and the utilities with lines underground now have to mark them.

This page covers reading and checking a ticket, and sits inside our excavation and foundation guide. For the rule itself, see Chicago DIGGER 811: call before you dig.

What is a DIGGER ticket, and how do you get one?

811 Chicago, called DIGGER, is the City's free one-call system, run by the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT). Non-emergency excavation needs at least two business days of notice, not counting Saturdays, Sundays or holidays, and you can file by phone at 312-744-7000 or through the online ticket portal (City of Chicago). The call applies to homeowners digging on private property too (City of Chicago).

You look up and manage your ticket through the City's DIGGER portal. Write the ticket number down the day you file it. If a crew, an inspector or a utility asks whether the call was made, that number is the answer.

What should you check on your ticket?

Read the ticket the way you would read a contract. Five things to confirm:

• The address. It must be the property where the digging happens, not the mailing address or the neighbor's.
• The work description. A fence post is not a footing trench. If the job grew, the ticket should say what you are really doing.
• The location on the lot. Front, rear, gangway, along the foundation wall. Lines run through all of them.
• The date you filed, and the date you plan to dig. Count two business days, skipping weekends and holidays.
• The name of the excavator. If a contractor is digging, the ticket should match who actually shows up.

State law adds one more clock. Excavators must give notice not more than 10 days before starting (220 ILCS 50). If your dig date slips well past the date you filed, call 312-744-7000 and ask whether you need a new ticket. We would rather refile than guess.

What happens after the ticket, and when do you call back?

After you file, the utilities mark their lines. Do not dig until the marks are in. The state act also requires hand or vacuum excavation within the tolerance zone around marked lines (220 ILCS 50). We explain how crews do that in hydro excavation in Chicago.

Call back if any of these is true:

• Marks are missing, faded or run over by snow, mud or a sidewalk crew.
• The marks do not match what you can see, such as a gas meter on a wall with no line painted to it.
• The job moved to a different spot on the lot.
• You hit something you did not expect. Stop, and call from a safe distance.

A ticket does not replace a permit. Depth and location rules for the building permit are separate, covered in Chicago excavation permit depth rules. Planning a bigger job? Our excavation team pulls the ticket, confirms the marks, and tells you what the dig involves before it starts.

Common questions

This article explains general rules and common situations in Chicago. It is not legal advice, and City rules change. For a specific property, check with the Chicago Department of Buildings or a licensed professional.