Lassiter Earns PG&E Operator Qualification

We are pleased to announce that Lassiter Excavating, Inc. has completed the training and met the qualifications for the PG&E Operator Qualification (OQ) that allows us to operate as a contractor on jobs that involve PG&E facilities.

PG&E Now Requires Operator Qualification to Work on Their Facilities

Contractors and project owners are invited to view our certificate, which contains a QR code that opens the record of our completion of all the training requirements:

This PG&E mandate is driven by their need to maintain compliance with regulations in the Department of Transportation’s “OQ Rule.” This mandates that only qualified personnel perform “covered tasks” on gas pipelines and any adjoining facilities. These regulations require any person performing a covered task must go through the training and testing process to earn PG&E’s OQs.This includes any job that requires the  backfill and compaction of a PG&E trench. A PG&E crew may dig a trench which then is left for the homeowner or contractor to backfill. To complete this backfilling and compacting task you also have to be OQ qualified.What is a PG&E Facility?Gas facilities include transmission or distribution mains (pipelines), service lines from mains to meters on a property, a gas-occupied joint trench, among other structures. This includes excavating and drilling on or around existing facilities, or the installation of new gas services.Any excavation involving a gas facility is a “covered task” that requires operator-qualified personnel on-site to ensure the safety of the public and property. The person monitors the excavation to ensure the work follows PG&E’s Safe Excavation practices.The PG&E OQs are the utility’s method for meeting the DOT Operator Qualification Rule (49 CFR Part 192, Subpart N). This mandates having the qualification to operate or oversee a covered task that is:

• Performed on a pipeline facility.
• An operational, maintenance or new construction task.
• Performed as a requirement for meeting the DOT rule.
• Affects the operation or integrity of the pipeline.

The contractor must also meet PG&E’s material and design standards for using approved pipe and fitting manufacturers, adhering to trench configurations, backfill sand requirements, shading, compaction, warning tape installation, minimum cover requirements, and so forth.In effect, any construction job that requires the contractor to pull a PG&E permit now requires a supervisor of his workforce to hold a PG&E OQ certificate.

Work With Lassiter When You Need a PG&E OQ Contractor

If you have any questions about the operator qualification or you have need for a PG&E-qualified contractor for your project, give us a call or send us a note through our website contact form.