The Changing Landscape of Utility Locating in Colorado: What the 2025 Data Tells Us

Colorado’s underground utility landscape is shifting — and the data proves it. From a dramatic decline in positive response volume to a national damage report that signals the industry needs to change course, here’s what every excavator, facility owner, and locating professional in Colorado should know heading into 2026.

Colorado’s 811 Positive Response Volume Is Declining — But the Story Is More Complicated Than It Looks

If you work in utility locating in Colorado, you’ve likely noticed things feel different in the field. The numbers confirm it.

According to Colorado 811’s Positive Response Statistics, total positive responses across the state fell to 8.82 million in 2025 — a decline of 8.8% from 2024 and 14.5% from 2023. That’s nearly 1.5 million fewer responses flowing through the system compared to just two years ago.

But declining volume doesn’t mean declining complexity. In fact, the composition of those responses has changed dramatically — and that shift has real implications for anyone performing or relying on utility locating in Colorado.

Half of All Responses Are Now “Clear — No Conflict”

The single most striking trend in the Colorado 811 data is the rise of Code 002, “Clear — No Conflict.” This response — meaning the responding facility owner has no underground infrastructure in the dig area — now accounts for 50.9% of all positive responses, up from 41.4% in 2023.

What’s remarkable is that “Clear — No Conflict” actually grew in absolute volume (by 5%) even as total responses declined by 14.5%. It’s one of only a handful of response codes moving in that direction.

Meanwhile, Code 008 — “Call Facility Owner for Further Info on Locate” — has essentially collapsed, dropping 73.7% in two years from 2.13 million responses to just 559,000. In 2023, this was the third-largest response category at 20.6% of the total. By 2025, it represented just 6.3%.

This shift suggests a fundamental change in how facility owners are communicating their infrastructure status through the positive response system (likely also involved with Colorado 811’s shift to Exactix). Whether it reflects improved GIS mapping, better recordkeeping, or changes in response practices, the practical effect for Colorado locators and excavators is a very different response profile than what they saw even two years ago.

When Locates Are Required, the Work Is Getting Harder

Here’s where the data gets especially relevant for utility locating professionals in Colorado: while the simple “no conflict” cases are growing, several response codes that indicate more complex field conditions are bucking the overall decline.

• Stand-by requirements (Code 009) grew 18.3% from 2023 to 2025 — meaning more situations where a facility owner representative needs to be physically present during excavation.
• Trenchless crossing notifications (Code 019) are up 10.1%, reflecting Colorado’s growing use of directional boring, HDD, and other trenchless methods that require careful coordination around existing underground utilities.
• Privately owned utility encounters (Codes 012 and 013 combined) rose 11.3% — more situations where excavators are encountering private infrastructure that falls outside the standard 811 system entirely.
• Abandoned facility warnings (Code 011) increased 28.5% — more alerts about legacy infrastructure in the dig zone that may not be accurately mapped.

The takeaway: even as the raw numbers trend downward, the nature of utility locating work in Colorado is becoming more technically demanding. The cases that remain in the system increasingly require higher skill levels, better equipment, and closer coordination between all parties.

Nationally, the Damage Numbers Are Headed the Wrong Direction

Colorado’s trends don’t exist in a vacuum. The Common Ground Alliance’s 2024 DIRT Report — the most comprehensive accounting of underground utility damages in the U.S. and Canada — paints a concerning national picture.

The CGA Index, which tracks year-over-year damage trends, rose from 94.0 in 2023 to 96.7 in 2024, signaling that the industry is moving in the wrong direction. The report analyzed nearly 197,000 unique damage reports and concluded the industry is not on track to meet CGA’s “50-in-5” goal of reducing damages by 50% over five years.

The top root causes of damage nationally are persistent and, frankly, preventable:

The #1 cause of underground utility damage remains failure to notify 811 — accounting for 24.54% of all reported damages. Nearly one in four utility strikes happens because no one called before they dug.

Locator-related errors account for roughly one in five damages. “Facility not marked due to locator error” (11.94%) and “Marked inaccurately due to locator error” (8.58%) combine for over 20% of all reported incidents. These are the categories that professional utility locating services in Colorado exist to prevent.  This highlights the criticality of network owners hiring a professional and stable locating partner.

Late and missing locates are an escalating problem. “Facility not marked due to no response from operator/contract locator” (4.71%) is trending upward year-over-year. The DIRT report found that across eight 811 centers studied, excavators faced an average 38% chance of being unable to start work on time due to incomplete locate responses. Late locates don’t just delay projects — the CGA warns they erode excavator confidence in the 811 process, potentially feeding the cycle of the #1 root cause: failure to call 811 in the first place.

What This Means for Utility Locating in Colorado

When you connect the Colorado 811 data with the CGA’s national findings, a clear picture emerges:

The margin for error is shrinking. Colorado’s positive response data shows the remaining “action required” situations are increasingly complex — more stand-by requirements, more trenchless crossings, more encounters with private and abandoned utilities. At the same time, the national data shows that locator accuracy is directly tied to roughly 20% of all damages. In this environment, the quality of the locate matters more than ever.

The 811 system is only as strong as its participants. Colorado’s dramatic decline in “Call Facility Owner” responses and the CGA’s findings on late/missing locates both point to an ongoing challenge with timely, complete participation from all stakeholders. For excavators in Colorado, this means building relationships with reliable locating partners who can navigate these gaps.

Private utilities are a growing blind spot. Colorado 811 data shows a steady increase in privately owned utility encounters — infrastructure that isn’t part of the standard One Call system. This is a category that requires specialized knowledge and equipment, and it’s only going to grow as Colorado’s underground infrastructure ages and new private development continues.  Excavators working on private land need to perform SUE and work with private locators to identify these at-risk utilities.

Contact Communication Construction to learn more about our utility locating service line

Communication Construction & Engineering provides contract utility locating services across Colorado (with a focus on Adams County / NE Quadrant), helping excavators, contractors, and facility owners prevent underground utility damages.

Reach out to our team if we can help protect your existing underground network.