SB 92 - This act creates a time limit for claims made for damages to underground facilities in the event that such damage was incurred during excavation. Such a claim shall be made within ninety days of the facility repairs being completed and no longer than one hundred eighty days after the excavator notifies the owner of the underground facility that damage has occurred. The act does not extend the time limit to excavators who cause damage but do not provide notice of that damage, those who conceal damage, or those who make unauthorized repairs to the underground facility. The act allows underground facility owners to make temporary repairs to any facilities damaged, if the owner chooses to do so, then the one hundred eighty day limit may be extended for any claim pertaining to permanent repairs.
Any excavator who has been presented with a claim shall pay within ninety days after the claim has been received. If such claim is disputed, the excavator shall put in writing reasons for the dispute and deliver it to the underground facility owner within ninety days after the claim has been received. If the written dispute has not been delivered within the ninety day period, there shall be a rebuttable presumption in any attempt to collect the claim that the excavator owes the amount claimed.
This act is similar to SB 1052 (2006).
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