A subsurface utility engineering (SUE) investigation in Pennsylvania follows ASCE 38, the national standard for collecting and depicting existing utility data. It's led by a professional engineer and grades every utility shown on the plans by a quality level, from D (records only) up to A (exposed and measured). This guide explains what each level includes, what the deliverable looks like, and how to scope SUE for a Pennsylvania project.
ASCE 38 is the American Society of Civil Engineers standard guideline for investigating and documenting existing subsurface utilities. Its key idea is that utility information on a plan should say how reliable it is. Each line is assigned a quality level so designers and contractors know how much to trust it. Read more about quality levels A and B.
Most projects don't need QL-A everywhere. A common approach is QL-B across the full limits of work, then QL-A test holes only where design elements cross or come close to existing utilities: new storm and sanitary crossings, foundations, pole bases, and drilled or bored crossings. Bring the SUE provider in during design, before the layout is fixed, so conflicts can be designed around instead of found in the field. Pennsylvania's one-call law, administered through PA 811, also has requirements for design-stage requests, so coordinate the PA 811 design ticket with the SUE scope.
Because SUE results become part of the design record, ASCE 38 work should be led by a professional engineer. Trinity Subsurface's SUE work in Pennsylvania is led by Greg Finkle, P.E., licensed in Pennsylvania. Recent Pennsylvania work includes QL-B designating across the Xfinity Mobile Arena site in Philadelphia and a QL-A program of vacuum excavation test holes in an active shipyard.
We deliver QL-D through QL-A investigations from our offices in Wilmington and Allentown. Request a proposal or call (610) 492-6262 in the Philadelphia region or (267) 938-6996 in the Lehigh Valley.
