{
  "title": "Underground utility damage statistics: CGA DIRT 2025 excerpt",
  "compiledBy": "Fence Advisors",
  "reviewedAt": "2026-10-03",
  "referencePeriod": "2025 damage reports; CGA 2025 Data Summary & Trends",
  "compilationLicense": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "licenseNote": "Original compilation and graphics only; does not relicense third-party documents or trademarks.",
  "sources": [
    { "id": "slides", "label": "CGA 2025 DIRT Data Summary & Trends slides", "url": "https://commongroundalliance.canto.com/direct/document/pl18gn1kbh55h1m3n45d9q8a3f/9FFVs1seZex3H6rI2lOkIj-Nj0w/original?content-type=application%2Fpdf&name=Common+Ground+Alliance+DIRT+2025+-+FINAL.pdf", "locator": "Total Damages & Near Misses; Individual Known Damage Root Causes; Work Performed by Top 10 Known Root Causes; Known Equipment Type" },
    { "id": "glance", "label": "CGA 2025 at-a-glance and denominator notes", "url": "https://dirt.commongroundalliance.com/2025-DIRT-Data-Summary-Trends/2025-At-A-Glance", "locator": "Unique-event and reporting definitions" },
    { "id": "causes", "label": "CGA 2025 root-cause summaries", "url": "https://dirt.commongroundalliance.com/2025-DIRT-Data-Summary-Trends/Damage-Drivers-Root-Cause-Summaries", "locator": "Known root causes exclude Unknown records" }
  ],
  "countries": [
    { "country": "United States", "damageReports": 245129, "uniqueDamages": 213985, "nearMissReports": 2575, "uniqueNearMisses": 2415 },
    { "country": "Canada", "damageReports": 7780, "uniqueDamages": 7732, "nearMissReports": 482, "uniqueNearMisses": 468 }
  ],
  "knownRootCauses": [
    { "cause": "No notification made to One Call Center/811", "reports": 35030, "publishedPercent": 22.3 },
    { "cause": "Excavator failed to maintain clearance after verifying marks", "reports": 23240, "publishedPercent": 14.8 },
    { "cause": "Facility not marked due to locator error", "reports": 22342, "publishedPercent": 14.2 },
    { "cause": "Marked inaccurately due to locator error", "reports": 14392, "publishedPercent": 9.2 },
    { "cause": "Excavator dug prior to verifying marks by potholing", "reports": 11340, "publishedPercent": 7.2 },
    { "cause": "Improper excavation practice not listed elsewhere", "reports": 9698, "publishedPercent": 6.2 },
    { "cause": "Facility not marked due to no response from operator/contract locator", "reports": 6607, "publishedPercent": 4.2 },
    { "cause": "Excavator dug outside area described on ticket", "reports": 4753, "publishedPercent": 3.0 },
    { "cause": "Excavator failed to shore excavation/support facilities", "reports": 4186, "publishedPercent": 2.7 },
    { "cause": "Excavator dug after valid ticket expired", "reports": 3414, "publishedPercent": 2.2 },
    { "cause": "Marks faded, lost or not maintained", "reports": 3274, "publishedPercent": 2.1 },
    { "cause": "Excavator dug prior to valid start date/time", "reports": 3015, "publishedPercent": 1.9 },
    { "cause": "Facility not marked due to incorrect facility record/map", "reports": 2991, "publishedPercent": 1.9 },
    { "cause": "Site marked but incomplete at damage location", "reports": 2913, "publishedPercent": 1.9 },
    { "cause": "Facility marked inaccurately due to incorrect facility record/map", "reports": 2274, "publishedPercent": 1.4 },
    { "cause": "Facility not marked due to unlocatable facility", "reports": 1939, "publishedPercent": 1.2 },
    { "cause": "Facility not marked due to abandoned facility", "reports": 1200, "publishedPercent": 0.8 },
    { "cause": "Facility marked inaccurately due to tracer wire issue", "reports": 1066, "publishedPercent": 0.7 },
    { "cause": "Excavator provided incorrect notification information", "reports": 1025, "publishedPercent": 0.7 },
    { "cause": "Previous damage", "reports": 615, "publishedPercent": 0.4 },
    { "cause": "Facility marked inaccurately due to abandoned facility", "reports": 563, "publishedPercent": 0.4 },
    { "cause": "Facility not marked due to tracer wire issue", "reports": 352, "publishedPercent": 0.2 },
    { "cause": "Deteriorated facility", "reports": 327, "publishedPercent": 0.2 },
    { "cause": "Improper backfilling", "reports": 167, "publishedPercent": 0.1 },
    { "cause": "One Call Center/811 error", "reports": 108, "publishedPercent": 0.1 }
  ],
  "top10": { "reports": 135002, "publishedPercent": 86.0 },
  "fencingLandscapingShareOfNoNotificationPercent": 26.5,
  "knownEquipmentPublishedRoundedPercent": [
    { "equipment": "Backhoe", "percent": 46 },
    { "equipment": "Hand tools", "percent": 24 },
    { "equipment": "Boring", "percent": 12 },
    { "equipment": "Directional drilling", "percent": 7 },
    { "equipment": "Trencher", "percent": 3 },
    { "equipment": "Auger", "percent": 3 },
    { "equipment": "Drilling", "percent": 1 },
    { "equipment": "Grader/scraper", "percent": 1 },
    { "equipment": "Bulldozer", "percent": 1 },
    { "equipment": "Other known", "percent": 1 }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Submitted reports are not a census of all utility damage or all excavation work.",
    "Reports and unique events are separate measures; multiple reports can describe one occurrence.",
    "Root-cause percentages exclude records categorized Unknown; do not use total unique damages as their denominator.",
    "Fencing/Landscaping is a combined work category; its 26.5% share is within no-notification damage reports, not all damages or all fence projects.",
    "Equipment shares use records with known equipment and are rounded; they do not measure risk per excavation or justify unsafe digging.",
    "2024 report figures are not substituted for these 2025 observations."
  ]
}