What is utility locating software?
Utility locating software is the job-management tool a locate company uses to run its work. It takes in locate requests, schedules technicians, records what was found and marked on site, produces the report for the customer, and sends the invoice.
It is not the locating equipment itself. Your EM locator and GPR unit find the lines. Utility locating software runs the business around them: tickets, crews, reports, and cash.
As private utility locating software, Clevra covers the business side:
- Tickets and jobs: every locate request becomes a job with the dig site address, the scope, and the ticket details in the job notes
- Scheduling and dispatch: assign crews and see every truck's day
- On-site reports: photos, notes, and utilities marked, turned into a PDF report
- Quotes, invoices, and payments: price the job, bill it, collect it
- Customers and pipeline: track repeat contractors, GCs, and property managers
Track every locate ticket before it's due
Every locate has a clock on it. Miss the window and the excavator is waiting on you, or digging without you.
Clevra works as your locate ticket management software: each request becomes a job. Put the dig site address and scope on the job, and keep the ticket number and response deadline in the job notes. Every job sits on the day, week, or month calendar, so you see what's coming before it becomes a problem. When an emergency locate comes in, book it and assign a tech right from the calendar.
Contractors who send you work every week? Save them as customers with every service location, phone number, and email, so the next request takes seconds to set up.
Schedule locators and GPR crews without the whiteboard
Locate work is a mix of planned jobs (pre-construction sweeps, SUE projects, recurring sites) and same-day calls. You need both on one board.
On the desktop calendar, you book jobs, assign technicians, and drag things around when a rush ticket comes in. Your techs see their own day in their phone's browser, with the address and scope. You see every crew on the calendar.
Busy season? Clevra's seat bands mean you don't pay per user when you add techs. Pro covers up to 5 seats for $39/mo. Business covers up to 15 for $79/mo.
Send the marking report before you leave the site
Your customer wants proof. What was located, how it was marked, and what couldn't be found.
Clevra's job checklists give your techs one form for every job, built from checkboxes, dropdowns, photos, and a signature. For a locate, that might be:
- Utilities located and marked (electric, gas, water, sewer, telecom)
- Method used: electromagnetic (EM), ground penetrating radar (GPR), or both
- Depth estimates and notes
- Lines that couldn't be traced, and why
- Site photos of the paint and flags
The completed checklist becomes a PDF report with the job number, customer, and date, for EM and GPR utility locating alike. Email it to the contractor before the truck pulls out. The record stays with the job if there's ever a question about what was marked. Building your own checklists takes Pro or Business.
Quote SUE and private locate jobs on site
A GC wants a price to sweep a commercial lot before trenching. A homeowner wants the private water line to the barn found before a fence goes in.
Open Clevra, start a quote, and add the line items: hourly locate rate, GPR scan by area, mobilization, after-hours rush. Send it, and the customer e-signs online. Once they approve, the quote becomes a job automatically.
Pick line items from the service catalog or the suggested services for your trade, which include underground utility locating, so every quote starts from the same list.
Invoice when the paint is dry. Get paid faster.
Job's done and the report is sent. Generate the invoice from the job and the line items carry over. Email it to the customer. On Pro and up, customers who opt in to texts also get a heads-up by SMS.
Customers pay by card from the link in the invoice. Turn on automatic overdue reminders on Pro and up, or send a reminder yourself with one tap.
Crew records without a separate HR tool
Locate crews live on the clock. Your techs clock in and out from their phone, or you add time by hand. Approve timesheets, confirm the pay period, and export it for payroll.
Keep each tech's certification documents on their profile, next to their schedule, so you're not digging through email when a GC asks for proof.
Public vs private locates: why your customers need you
811 (US) and Click Before You Dig (Canada) mark public utility lines for free. They usually stop at the meter or property line. Anything past that point is private, and a private utility locator has to find it.
That's the whole reason private locate companies exist. Contractors and homeowners often find out the hard way.
- Who marks it: public locates through 811 or Click Before You Dig are marked by locators working for the utility owner. Private locates are marked by a private locate company you hire.
- What gets marked: public locates cover utility-owned lines, usually up to the meter. Private locates cover the lines after the meter: service lines to outbuildings, site lighting, irrigation, private water, sewer laterals, and campus or industrial lines.
- Cost: a public locate is free to the person digging. A private locate is a paid service.
- Common methods: public locators use EM locating from utility records. Private locators use EM locating, GPR, and sewer cameras with sondes.
Rules, response times, and which lines each service covers are different in each state and province. Always check the one-call center where you're digging.
In Canada, the one-call services are run by province, for example BC 1 Call, Ontario One Call, and Info-Excavation in Quebec. Canadian crews usually call the work "locates." A Canadian locate company runs jobs, schedules, checklists, quotes, and invoices in Clevra the same way as a US one. Online card payments currently run in US dollars.
Utility marking color codes (APWA)
Private and public locators in the US and Canada use the same paint and flag colors.
- Red: electric power lines, cables, conduit
- Yellow: gas, oil, steam, petroleum
- Orange: communications, telecom, cable TV, alarm lines
- Blue: potable (drinking) water
- Purple: reclaimed water, irrigation, slurry lines
- Green: sewer and drain lines
- Pink: temporary survey markings
- White: proposed excavation area
Set up your job checklist with the same color categories, so every report matches what's painted on the ground.
Track every lead. Know your pipeline.
Private locating is repeat business. The same excavators, GCs, landscapers, and engineering firms call you again and again. You win the work by being fast and by following up.
Clevra's CRM gives you a real sales pipeline. Every lead moves through stages, from new request to won or lost, and you can rename the stages to match how you sell. You see which SUE bids are out and which quotes need a follow-up.
Built for locate company budgets. No per-user fees. No setup fees.
- Free, $0 forever: 1 seat. Solo private locator, one truck.
- Pro, $39/mo: up to 5 seats. Small locate crew.
- Business, $79/mo: up to 15 seats. Multi-crew locating and GPR company.
- Custom, talk to us: unlimited seats. Established damage-prevention contractors.
No per-user fees. No setup fees. Payments processed via Stripe at standard card rates.
Last updated: September 2026
