Civil Contractors

Certainty before the excavator moves.

Orbital delivers AS 5488-aligned underground service locating for civil contractors across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. Fast mobilisation. Defensible records. Coordination with Vac2U for vacuum excavation when verification is required. Twenty-three years of locating SEQ means we’ve seen the sites, the soils and the surprises — and we deliver the information your site supervisor needs to authorise excavation with confidence.

What civil contractors engage Orbital for

  • Pre-excavation locating — EMF + GPR sweep before earthworks, trenching, piling, foundation work.
  • AS 5488 quality-level designation on every located service — defensible records for the project compliance file.
  • Survey-grade capture of located services to GDA2020 Zone 56, delivered as DWG and PDF for inclusion in the project records.
  • QL-A verification through our Vac2U alliance — when the design or risk profile demands physical exposure of critical services.
  • CCTV pipe inspection where stormwater or sewer condition documentation is required.
  • Drone orthomosaic capture for progress documentation and project records.

Why civil contractors choose Orbital

Service strikes are program-killers

One damaged service can stop a job for days, attract council attention, and turn into an insurance claim. The locate is the cheapest insurance policy on a civil site. We give your site supervisor accurate marks, defensible records and the AS 5488 quality-level designation that protects the project if a strike happens despite the locate.

Fast mobilisation

Most standard civil scopes in the SEQ catchment are mobilised within 3–5 business days. Urgent jobs are accommodated where possible — call us first thing in the morning and we’ll tell you what’s available that day or the next. We hold capacity for civil work because we know your program doesn’t have buffer time.

Vac2U alliance for QL-A verification

Where your design requires QL-A verification or where a critical crossing demands physical exposure of the service before excavation, we coordinate Vac2U’s hydro vacuum excavation through our alliance. One engagement, one project lead, one CAD deliverable — no second contractor coordination overhead on top of your existing program.

Records that hold up under audit

Every located service gets an AS 5488 quality-level designation. Every QL-A point has a photo and survey coordinate. Every CAD layer has a methodology stamp. If a strike happens and the records have to be reviewed, your project sits on documentation that was built to engineering-audit standard, not the back of a clipboard.

Build-over and council compliance support

Most SEQ councils require WSAA-compliant CCTV inspection with Wincan reporting for build-over applications. Orbital delivers this routinely across Brisbane City, Logan, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich and Redlands. We know what each council’s submission expects, and where applications get returned, so we flag the issues during scoping rather than after lodgement.

When to call Orbital

  • Before any excavation on a site where the underground services aren’t 100% confirmed by recent locate records.
  • Before piling, deep footings or services trenching — particularly within 2 metres of any known asset corridor.
  • When the DBYD response is missing key services or contradicts what you can see on site.
  • When the design requires QL-A verification of critical crossings before construction can proceed.
  • When a build-over application is being lodged and CCTV + locate documentation is required.
  • Before lodging a defects notification or strike claim — to capture the as-found condition of the asset.

Frequently asked questions

How quickly can you get on site?

For standard civil scopes in the Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast catchment, typically within 3–5 business days. Urgent jobs are accommodated where possible — call first thing and we’ll tell you what’s available. For larger or QL-A-heavy scopes the lead time is longer; we commit to realistic mobilisation dates at quoting.

What if we have a service strike despite the locate?

First call should be back to us — we’ll attend site to verify what happened and capture the as-found record. Our deliverable comes with AS 5488 quality-level designation and a methodology statement, which is the documentation your insurer and the asset owner will be looking for. The QL designation tells the post-event review exactly how much confidence the original locate carried — defensible record, defensible position.

Do you mark services in the standard AS/NZS colours?

Yes. Every located service is marked in the AS/NZS 4502 colour convention — red for electrical, orange for gas, blue for water, green for sewer, brown for stormwater, white for telecommunications. The marking standard matches what your site crew already reads.

Can you coordinate vacuum excavation if our design needs QL-A points?

Yes — that’s the Vac2U alliance. We set the pothole locations from the QL-B locate, Vac2U exposes the services with hydro vacuum excavation, our surveyor records the verified positions to the CAD. Single engagement, single deliverable, single invoice. No second contractor coordination.

Do you provide records for our project compliance file?

Yes. Standard scope includes DWG and PDF CAD plan with AS 5488 quality-level designation, photo record of access points, methodology statement, and survey coordinate file. The deliverable is built to engineering-audit standard so it can drop straight into your project compliance documentation.

What does it cost?

Per scope. Variables: site size, number of services, access conditions, urgency, QL-A inclusion, deliverable detail. Most standard civil locates land within a defined fixed-price range; larger or complex scopes are quoted per job. Send us the brief; we’ll come back with a fixed-price quote, usually within 24 hours.

Related services

  • Underground service locating
  • AS 5488 Subsurface Utility Engineering
  • Vacuum excavation through Vac2U alliance
  • CCTV pipe inspection (WSAA) for build-over applications

Tell us about the site.

Send us the site address and the work you’re planning. We’ll come back with a fixed-price quote, realistic mobilisation date and a clear scope for any Vac2U coordination if QL-A verification is in the brief.