Replacing an old water service to the street in Saint John, what permit?

Replacing a Water Service Line in Saint John

For a water service renewal in Saint John, the City requires a Water and Sewerage Permit Package for all new, renewal or repair water, sanitary or storm sewer installations. That permit package is your starting point before any trench is opened. A Street Excavation permit is also listed among the City's street and sidewalk permits, so ask the City of Saint John's permitting office which of the two your job needs.

Before the machine arrives, two separate locate requests are needed. Info-Excavation, reached through Click Before You Dig, needs at least three working days' notice; the locate is valid until the end date written on your request. NB Power runs its own underground locate service, separate from Info-Excavation, and asks for at least five business days' notice; that locate is valid for 60 days from the date on the locate form and covers only NB Power-owned lines. Private lines, such as a wire run to a garage or a fuel line a past owner buried, are yours to find and mark before digging starts. Whether Info-Excavation covers the municipal water and sewer mains themselves was not confirmed, so ask the City directly when you apply for the permit.

A few other things shape this job. WorkSafeNB's General Regulation 91-191 requires that a trench 1.2 m (about 4 ft) or deeper that workers enter be shored, sloped or benched, or cut in solid rock, and any shoring must be engineer-certified. Excavated material must be kept at least 1.2 m from the trench edge. If the trench runs within 30 metres of a watercourse or wetland, a Watercourse and Wetland Alteration permit from the province is required before any digging or machine work begins. We found no provincial licence specific to excavation contractors, so ask any contractor you hire for a WorkSafeNB clearance certificate confirming they are in good standing with their workers' compensation account.

A fair quote for this work should spell out:

• which permits the contractor will pull versus which ones you carry
• how rock, if encountered, is priced (hydraulic breaker time runs $200 to $300 per hour on published guides)
• trucking distance for spoil removal and whether clean backfill is included
• who is responsible for street restoration after the trench is closed

Under the Construction Remedies Act, hold back 10% of the contract price for 60 days after substantial performance; get legal advice if the contract is large or complicated.

Start with the City of Saint John's permitting office, because the Water and Sewerage Permit Package and any Street Excavation permit set the conditions the contractor has to work within, and knowing those requirements before you get quotes means the numbers you receive will reflect the actual scope of the job.