What must a contractor do on site in Washington State?
Four sets of rules govern a Washington site before and during the work. You register with Labor and Industries before you bid, request utility locates at least 2 business days before digging, report a fatality or inpatient hospitalization within 8 hours, and stop and report human remains found while excavating.
Before the job: registration
No contractor may bring or maintain an action in a Washington court to collect compensation for work, or for breach of a contract, for which registration is required, without alleging and proving that it was registered and held a current and valid certificate when it contracted for the work or entered into the contract (s 18.27.080). A contractor whose registration has lapsed for 30 days or fewer, and who kept the bond and the insurance or assigned account in force, is not an unregistered contractor (s 18.27.010(15)). The rules are on contractor registration.
Before digging: utility locates
The notice must give a work-to-begin date not less than 2 and not more than 10 full business days from the day notice is given, unless the excavator and the facility operators agree otherwise in writing (s 19.122.020(40), 19.122.030(1)(a), (2)). From 1 January 2026 an excavator may not start until it has received a positive response from every operator with underground facilities in the area named in the notice (s 19.122.030(5)). The marks expire 45 calendar days from the notice, and excavation after that date needs an additional notice under s 19.122.030(1) (s 19.122.030(6)(c)).
The 911 call is required for any emergency condition, not only a gas or hazardous liquid release. A facility not identified as the chapter or other law requires, or not located by the project owner, the facility operator, or an excavator that is itself a facility operator, is deemed a changed or differing site condition (s 19.122.040(1)(a), (b)). See utility locates.
When something goes wrong: injuries and finds
The 8 hours run from the incident, or, if the employer learns later, from when the employer or its agent learns of the death or hospitalization or learns it was work-related (WAC 296-27-031(3)(a), (4)(a)). An amputation or loss of an eye is reported within 24 hours. See injury reporting.
Any person who knows of the remains and has no good reason to believe the coroner and local law enforcement already know, and fails to tell them, is guilty of a misdemeanor (s 68.50.645(1)). The chapter imposes no duty to stop and report an archaeological find; it only encourages people to tell the department (s 27.53.070(1)). See archaeological finds.
Every duty the library holds for a Washington site
In the order the library holds them.
| Duty | Window and section | If missed |
|---|---|---|
| Mark the excavation area in white and notify every facility operator and pipeline company through the one-number locator service at least 2 full business days, and not more than 10, before the work-to-begin date | 2 business daysRCW 19.122.020(3), (12), (40), 19.122.030(1), (2), 19.122.031(1), 19.122.033(1), 19.122.070 | a breach of contractLapsed compliance |
| Do not excavate before the work-to-begin date, or until every known facility operator has marked its facilities and every operator in the notified area has given a positive response | none setRCW 19.122.020(11), (29), (31), 19.122.030(3)-(5), (7), 19.122.090(2), (3) | a breach of contractLapsed compliance |
| Keep the operators' marks accurate while excavating, and give a fresh notice before excavating after the marks expire 45 calendar days from the first notice | 45 daysRCW 19.122.030(6), 19.122.075 | a breach of contractLapsed compliance |
| Use reasonable care to avoid damaging underground facilities: find the precise location of marked facilities, plan the dig around them, support them, use safe and careful methods, and expose them before directional boring | none setRCW 19.122.020(26), (32), 19.122.040(2)-(4), 19.122.045, 19.122.070 | damages onlyLapsed compliance |
| Treat an underground facility that the bid or contract documents did not identify, or that was not located as the law requires, as a changed or differing site condition | none setRCW 19.122.040(1), (3), 19.122.030(7) | no penalty statedMissed claims |
| Stop excavating near an underground facility that was not identified, and notify its operator immediately through the one-number locator service | none setRCW 19.122.030(10), 19.122.070(1) | a breach of contractLapsed compliance |
| On contacting or damaging an underground facility, notify its operator directly if known and the one-number locator service, call 911 if the damage causes an emergency condition, and do not bury it until it is repaired or relocated | none setRCW 19.122.020(7), 19.122.050, 19.122.055(1), 19.122.070(1) | a breach of contractLapsed compliance |
| Report each damage event to the Utilities and Transportation Commission's office of pipeline safety within 45 days, on its damage information reporting tool form or a similar form with the listed details | 45 daysRCW 19.122.020(5), 19.122.053, 19.122.070(1) | a breach of contractLapsed compliance |
| Report to DOSH within 8 hours a work-related incident that kills an employee or puts an employee in hospital as an inpatient | 8 hoursWAC 296-27-031(1), (3)-(11) | a breach of contractLapsed compliance |
| Report to DOSH within 24 hours a work-related incident that causes an employee an amputation or the loss of an eye without inpatient hospitalization | 24 hoursWAC 296-27-031(2)-(7) | a breach of contractLapsed compliance |
| Do not move equipment involved in a work-related accident that caused a death, inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye until L&I has investigated and released it, except to remove a victim or prevent further injury | none setWAC 296-800-32010, 296-800-32015, 296-800-32020, 296-800-32025; 296-27-031(1), notes 1 and 2 | a breach of contractLapsed compliance |
| Notify the director of Labor and Industries within 15 working days of a citation or penalty notice that you wish to appeal it, or it becomes a final order that no court or agency can review | 15 working daysRCW 49.17.120(3), (4), 49.17.140(1)-(5), (8) | the claim is barredLapsed compliance |
| Hold the written permit of the director of the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation before knowingly digging into, altering or removing any part of an archaeological site, and keep it on site while the work goes on | none setRCW 27.53.030(2), (3), 27.53.060(1), (2), (4), (5), 27.53.070(1), 27.53.090, 27.53.095(1) | an offenceLapsed compliance |
| Do not knowingly remove, injure or destroy a native Indian cairn or grave or a glyptic or painted record, and if the work disturbs one by accident, reinter the remains under the supervision of the appropriate Indian tribe | none setRCW 27.44.020, 27.44.040, 27.44.050 | an offenceLapsed compliance |
| On finding skeletal human remains during ground disturbing work, stop any activity that may disturb them further, protect the area, and report them to the coroner and local law enforcement in the most expeditious manner possible | none setRCW 68.50.645(1)-(4); 27.44.055 | an offenceLapsed compliance |
| Be registered with Labor and Industries before advertising, offering to do work, bidding or performing any work as a contractor, and do no such thing while the registration is suspended or revoked | none setRCW 18.27.010(1)(a), (15), 18.27.020(1), (2)(a), (b), (5), 18.27.090, 18.27.200(1), 18.27.205, 18.27.340 | an offenceLapsed compliance |
| Hold a current registration, with the bond and insurance in force throughout, when contracting for the work, or lose the right to sue for payment or for breach of the contract | none setRCW 18.27.080 | the claim is barredMissed claims |
| Use only registered subcontractors, and keep a list of all direct subcontractors with a copy of each one's certificate of registration available for inspection by Labor and Industries | none setRCW 18.27.020(2)(d), (e), (3), 18.27.062, 18.27.200(1)(c), (e) | an offenceLapsed compliance |
| Show the registered name or address on all advertising, contracts, correspondence and signs that show the contractor's name or address, and the current registration number on all advertising that shows them | none setRCW 18.27.020(2)(c), 18.27.100(1)-(5), (8) | a breach of contractLapsed compliance |
| Keep on file with Labor and Industries a continuous surety bond of USD 30,000 for a general contractor or USD 15,000 for a specialty contractor, and liability insurance of USD 50,000 for property damage, USD 100,000 for one person and USD 200,000 for more than one person | none setRCW 18.27.010(5), (12), 18.27.040(1)-(3), (7), (8), (11), 18.27.050, 18.27.060(3) | the claim is barredMissed claims |
| Renew the certificate of registration, with the fee and proof of bond and liability insurance, on or before its expiry date two years after issue | 24 monthsRCW 18.27.010(15), 18.27.040(2), 18.27.060(1), (4) | the claim is barredMissed claims |
In this guide
- Utility locatesWashington's dig law, RCW 19.122: request locates 2 business days ahead, wait for every mark, renew after 45 days, report damage within 45 days.
- Injury reportingWashington injury reporting: a fatality or inpatient hospitalization within 8 hours, an amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours, and appeals.
- Archaeological findsWashington discoveries on a construction site: the archaeological permit, native Indian graves, and stopping and reporting skeletal human remains.
- Contractor registrationWashington contractor registration under RCW 18.27: register before bidding, keep the bond and insurance, renew every 24 months, use registered subcontractors.
What this page is, and is not
It is the section text this library holds for Washington State, read from the Revised Code of Washington and the Washington Administrative Code, among them chapter 39.12 RCW, chapter 60.04 RCW and chapter 19.122 RCW, with the window and the consequence. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the statutes, the contract you signed and its specifications.
Demiton does not track jobs in Washington yet. These pages set out the duties the library holds for a Washington job, so you can check your own.
No library of law is complete, and Demiton never says this one is. An obligation the library does not hold, and you did not add, is not protected. You can add your own to any job.