All new construction, maintenance and installation work in the public way and on private property involving excavation, and all excavations and/or penetrations deeper than 12 feet shall adhere to the following criteria/guidelines and are prerequisites to the issuance of an opening permit. Without collaboration of completion of review by the manager (or his designate) of the Office of Underground Coordination, a pavement-opening permit may not be issued, pursuant to the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago, Section 2-120-300.

In order to promote efficiency of work in the public way, reduce the risk of damage to existing infrastructure and reduce inconvenience to the public caused by work within the public way, a requester must submit an Existing Facility Protection (EFP) request to the OUC. Upon submittal of an EFP with an electronic copy of the proposed construction documents and a CADD drawings of the construction documents published in DWF format through the OUC review software (ProjectDox), the OUC will distribute the request to all Members for their review/response.

In addition, the OUC will send an acknowledgement notification to the Requester. Members are required to respond within 30 calendar days to the OUC with various responses of: “Permit Issuance Authorized”, “Not Involved”, or “Conflict”. Responses may include information and/or comments as to how Member’s existing facilities in the project area are to be protected and may include inspection requests, etc. Members will contact the Requester directly with any “Conflict” notices and in addition, any received by the OUC will be immediately sent to the Requester for resolution.

A proposed project will not be authorized for permit unless all outstanding conflicts are resolved. The OUC will notify the Requester when all responses have been received and the EFP request will only be authorized for permit when all Member responses have been received as “Permit Issuance Authorized” or “Not Involved”.

NOTE: If your project involves an excavation and/or penetration equal to or greater than 12 feet below existing grade, contact the Department of Transportation’s Division of Infrastructure Management at 312.742.3130 if the work is in the public way or 312.744.8428 if the work is on private property, prior to OUC submittal.

REFERENCE: Appendix D Geotechnical Checklist

EFP Process Overview

REFERENCE: 3.3.3 Existing Facility Protection (EFP) Process

1. Complete the OUC Project Request Form for an “Existing Facility Protection” review on-line. If processing fees are applicable, you will be directed to pay the fee on-line through the ProjectDox software application. Payment must be received before the review can proceed.
2. Upload any attachments to the ProjectDox “Documents” folder and drawings or sketches to the “Drawings” folder.

It is the responsibility of the Designer to complete and submit this checklist along with all required drawings for OUC (EFP) Review. All drawings submitted for OUC review must be in a scalable Autodesk Design Web Format (.dwf). AutoCAD users may create a DWF using the Public function within AutoCAD. Users of other design software may use the free Autodesk DWF Writer available from www.autodesk.com.

 (NOTE: Maximum project area is 10 locations and a total distance of 2 miles).

Your submittal will be reviewed for compliance and processing.

3. Construction Documents are to include, but not limited to, the following:

REFERENCE: APPENDIX D Plan Preparation Checklist

1. Index of Sheets, Highway Standards and Plan Notes
2. Alignment, Tie and Benchmark Sheet
3. Plan / Profile Sheet
4. Pavement Restoration Sheets
5. Traffic Control and Detour Plan Sheets
6. Erosion and Sediment Control Details
7. Detail Sheets

The drawings must be sealed and signed by a Professional Engineer licensed in the State of Illinois.

4. Members review request and respond within 30 calendar days to the OUC with various responses of: “Approved - Permit Issuance Authorized”, “Approved – with Conditions”, “Conflict – Corrections Required – Permit Issuance Not Authorized”, or “Not Involved” (NOTE: Responses may include information and/or comments as to how Member’s existing facilities in the project area are to be protected and also may include inspection requests, etc., which need to be followed during construction).
5. Members are to contact the Requester/Project Coordinator directly when an EFP is in “Conflict” with their existing facilities for resolution. In addition, any “Conflict” responses received by the OUC will be sent to the Requester for resolution with the Member. An EFP request will NOT be authorized for permit unless all outstanding “Conflicts” are resolved.
6. The OUC will manage the Member reviews/responses and notify the proposing entity when all responses have been received as “Approved - Permit Issuance Authorized”, “Approved – with Conditions” or “Not Involved”, (NOTE: “Approved - Permit Issuance Authorized” ”, “Approved – with Conditions” or “Not Involved” DOES NOT indicate that 811 Chicago has been notified. Please visit the 811 Chicago web site for dig ticket information).
7. The EFP request will be authorized for permit when all member responses have been received. The EFP is active for a one-year period from the Response Required Date; except in the area bounded by North Avenue, Halsted Street, Cermak Road and Lake Michigan where the EFP is active for a six-month period from the Response Required Date.
8. Upon OUC approval, a “Permit Issuance Authorization” will be emailed to the Requester. A copy of the authorization must be provided when obtaining the “Opening and/or use in the Public Way” permit from the CDOT DOIM Permit Section.

The above criteria/guidelines are prerequisites to the issuance of a public way opening permit; without collaboration of completion of review by the Manager (or his designate) of the Office of Underground Coordination, a public way opening permit shall not be issued.

• Submit your Project Request Form for an “Existing Facility Protection” Review.
• Access Help Documentation.