--- title: "Underground Service Locators Across Brisbane, Gold Coast & SEQ" description: "Underground service locators for Brisbane, the Gold Coast and SEQ. Electromagnetic locating, ground penetrating radar and vacuum excavation. Call VACIT." canonical: "https://www.vac-it.com.au/services/underground-service-locators" last_modified: "2026-09-10" language: "en-AU" --- # Underground Service Locators Across Brisbane, Gold Coast & SEQ VACIT locates underground services across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and South East Queensland, and can expose them with its own vacuum trucks where a site needs to see an asset rather than assume it. ## VACIT locating memberships and certification - [National Utility Locating Contractors Association of Australia](https://www.nulca.com.au/dbpage.php?pg=members&select_State=exists&State=QLD#:~:text=VACIT): NULCA locator member - [CERTLOC](https://certloc.com.au/find-a-certified-locator/vacit-mount-cotton/): Certified Locating Organisation ยท 1 certified locator ## Key points - Investigation before excavation, trenching, boring or drilling - Electromagnetic tracing and ground penetrating radar - Vacuum excavation to expose a service where needed - Scope and outcome agreed at enquiry ## What an underground service locator does An underground service locator investigates a work area so a crew has better information about what is beneath it before excavation, trenching, boring or drilling starts. On a VACIT job that means working through the records and plans that already exist, tracing services on site with electromagnetic equipment, and bringing in ground penetrating radar where the records and the tracing leave gaps. What the results need to show is confirmed with you when the job is scoped. Each method has limits. Electromagnetic locating needs a service that will carry a signal. Radar depends on the ground, the equipment and what is being looked for. Records vary between asset owners. Where an asset is critical, careful excavation can expose it so it can be seen at that point. That confirms the asset exposed, not everything else in the ground, and it sits alongside your site's safe work controls rather than replacing them. ## Locating and exposure from one team VACIT runs nine vacuum trucks alongside a dedicated locating vehicle. Where a located service needs to be physically exposed, the locating and the potholing can be arranged together rather than as two separate engagements. Tell the team what work follows the locate so both stages can be planned around it. ## Where Before You Dig plans fit Before You Dig Australia plans are the first step and VACIT expects to see them. BYDA states that plans indicate the presence of underground infrastructure rather than its exact location, and should be used as a guide. It also asks you not to proceed until you have the relevant information from every asset owner affected by the project, and to make sure everyone on site understands those asset owners' instructions. What the records hold varies between asset owners, and some services on a site may not appear in them. On-site locating investigates the same area to see what can be traced there. It works with the plans and the asset owners' requirements, not instead of them. ## What changes the scope of a locate The things that move a locate are the size of the search area, how many service types are expected, the surface being worked over, what the results need to show for your next stage, access and traffic control, whether vacuum excavation follows, and whether the work has to happen outside normal hours. Send those details with the enquiry and the quote can reflect the actual job. ## Brisbane, the Gold Coast and wider SEQ VACIT locates across Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Ipswich, Logan, the Sunshine Coast and the surrounding South East Queensland corridor, with crews and trucks dispatched from the operations yard at 55 Seaview Road, Mount Cotton. Include the exact site address and the work window so travel, access and equipment are planned together. ## Details to include with an enquiry - Site address and the exact work area - Before You Dig plans and any asset owner information you hold - Service types expected and which ones are critical - Surface type across the search area - What the results need to show for your next stage - Access, traffic control and site induction requirements - The trade or activity booked after the locate - Photos or a marked-up plan of the area ## Related reading - [Is Dial Before You Dig Free? What BYDA Plans Cover](https://www.vac-it.com.au/post/is-dial-before-you-dig-free-what-happens-next) - [What Is Potholing? A Guide Before Excavation](https://www.vac-it.com.au/post/what-is-potholing-before-excavation) - [Non-Destructive Digging vs Mechanical Excavation](https://www.vac-it.com.au/post/non-destructive-digging-vs-mechanical-excavation-near-services) ## Tell VACIT what is being dug, where, and what happens next. Send the site address, your Before You Dig plans, the work area and the trade booked after the locate. VACIT can confirm what the locate needs to cover and whether any services should be exposed before work starts. [Request a Quote](https://www.vac-it.com.au/request-a-quote) or call [0439 761 096](tel:0439761096). ## Frequently asked questions ### What is an underground service locator? An underground service locator investigates a work area so a crew has better information about buried services before digging. VACIT works from the available records and plans, traces services on site with electromagnetic equipment, and uses ground penetrating radar where that leaves gaps. ### How do you detect underground utilities? There is no single method. Electromagnetic locating traces services that will carry a signal. Ground penetrating radar can help investigate items that cannot be traced that way. Careful excavation can expose a particular service so it is visible at that point. Which combination suits a site depends on what is there and what the work needs. ### Is a locate the same as a Before You Dig plan? No, and you need both. BYDA says its plans indicate the presence of underground infrastructure rather than its exact location and should be used as a guide, with the relevant information and instructions obtained from every affected asset owner. On-site locating investigates the same area to see what can be traced there. ### What affects the cost of a service locate? The size of the search area, the number of service types expected, the surface being worked over, access and traffic control, what the results need to show, whether vacuum excavation follows, and the time of day the work has to happen. Send those details for a quote. ### Does VACIT locate on the Gold Coast as well as Brisbane? Yes. VACIT covers Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Ipswich, Logan, the Sunshine Coast and the wider South East Queensland corridor from its Mount Cotton yard. Include the exact site address and work window so access and travel are planned with the job. ## Contact VACIT - Phone: [0439 761 096](tel:0439761096) - Email: [info@vac-it.com.au](mailto:info@vac-it.com.au) - Online enquiry: [Request a quote](https://www.vac-it.com.au/request-a-quote) ## Sitemap - [Browse all VACIT pages](https://www.vac-it.com.au/sitemap.md)