Excavation & Trenching Permit Generator
Fill in the excavation, the utility locates, the soil classification your competent person made and the protective system in use; the permit on the right updates as you type and prints on Letter paper or downloads as a PDF. Every line cites the paragraph of 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P it comes from.
Nothing you type is sent to our servers. A draft is kept in this browser until you clear it.
Template for informational purposes only. This document must be reviewed and adapted by a competent or qualified person for your specific jobsite, equipment, and applicable federal, state, and local requirements. It does not constitute legal, engineering, or safety advice and does not by itself establish compliance with OSHA or any other standard. SteelToeTools assumes no liability for its use. Nothing you type is sent to our servers.
How to use this permit
- 1Call before you dig, then verify in the field. Call 811 far enough ahead to meet your state's notice period, then check that the marks are in the ground, still legible and consistent with the drawings. Private lines on the property are usually not part of the ticket.
- 2Have the competent person classify the soil. At least one visual and one manual analysis (Subpart P Appendix A). When in doubt, Type C is the conservative call — and the classification has to be redone when conditions change.
- 3Record the protective system and where its design comes from. Tabulated data or an engineer's design must be at the jobsite while the excavation is open (1926.652(b)(3)-(4), (c)(2)-(4)). Our trench slope calculator gives the cut-back distance and top width for the soil type you selected.
- 4Walk the rest of the checklist before the bucket moves. Egress within 25 ft, spoil 2 ft back, traffic control, mobile equipment warning system, water, atmosphere where it applies.
- 5Print or download the PDF and sign it. Keep it with the excavation, and pair it with the daily excavation inspection form — the permit is issued once, the inspection is required every day the excavation is open.
What OSHA requires — and what it does not
There is no excavation permit in 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P. A dig permit is an industry practice: general contractors, utilities and owners use it to prove that the conditions below were checked and that a competent person was named before anyone broke ground. The requirements themselves are these.
| Requirement | Citation | On this permit |
|---|---|---|
| Surface encumbrances that create a hazard removed or supported | 1926.651(a) | Utilities & surface |
| Utility locations estimated before opening, owners contacted, exact location determined by safe and acceptable means, installations protected while exposed | 1926.651(b)(1)-(4) | Underground installations |
| Ladder, stairway or ramp within 25 ft of lateral travel in trenches 4 ft or deeper; ramps designed by a competent person | 1926.651(c)(1)-(2) | Access and egress |
| High-visibility garments for employees exposed to public vehicular traffic | 1926.651(d) | Surface hazards |
| No employee under loads handled by lifting or digging equipment | 1926.651(e) | Surface hazards |
| Warning system where mobile equipment approaches the edge without a clear view | 1926.651(f) | Surface hazards |
| Atmosphere tested before entry over 4 ft where a hazardous atmosphere exists or could reasonably be expected; 19.5% oxygen, 20% of the LFL, rescue equipment readily available | 1926.651(g)(1)-(2) | Atmospheric hazards |
| No work in accumulated or accumulating water without precautions; water removal monitored by the competent person; drainage controlled | 1926.651(h)(1)-(3) | Surface hazards |
| Support, bracing or underpinning for adjacent structures; no undermining of sidewalks and pavements | 1926.651(i)(1)-(3) | Adjacent structures |
| Faces scaled or barricaded; excavated material and equipment at least 2 ft from the edge or retained | 1926.651(j)(1)-(2) | Surface hazards |
| Daily inspections by a competent person, before the start of work, throughout the shift as needed, and after every rainstorm or other hazard-increasing occurrence | 1926.651(k)(1) | Sign-off, then the daily inspection form |
| Walkways where employees cross the excavation; guardrails at 6 ft or more above lower levels | 1926.651(l) | Access and egress |
| Protective system for every employee in the excavation, except entirely in stable rock or less than 5 ft deep with no indication of a cave-in on the competent person's examination | 1926.652(a)(1) | Protective system |
| Sloping, benching, shoring and shields designed under one of the four options; tabulated data or the engineer's design kept at the jobsite; sloping or benching over 20 ft deep designed by a registered professional engineer | 1926.652(b), (c); App. B | Basis of the design |
| Shields used within their design, employees kept out during installation, removal and vertical movement, no more than 2 ft excavated below the bottom | 1926.652(g)(1)-(2) | Shield or support system |
State Plan states and many municipalities add their own dig permit, street-cut permit and one-call notice periods on top of Subpart P. Check your state rules and the requirements of the facility owner before you dig.
Frequently asked questions
No. 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P contains no permit requirement — unlike confined space entry, which does require a written permit under 1910.146(f). What OSHA requires is that the conditions be met: utilities located before the dig (1926.651(b)), a protective system where one is needed (1926.652(a)(1)), a means of egress in trenches 4 feet or deeper (1926.651(c)(2)), and daily inspections by a competent person (1926.651(k)(1)). Most general contractors and owners still issue a dig permit because it is the simplest way to prove those conditions were checked before the bucket went in the ground, and because it forces the competent person to be named.
Each employee in an excavation must be protected from cave-ins by an adequate protective system, except when the excavation is made entirely in stable rock, or when it is less than 5 feet deep and examination of the ground by a competent person provides no indication of a potential cave-in (29 CFR 1926.652(a)(1)). Under 5 feet is not automatically exempt: the exception only applies after that examination, and only while it holds.
A stairway, ladder, ramp or other safe means of egress must be located in trench excavations 4 feet or more in depth so as to require no more than 25 feet of lateral travel for employees (29 CFR 1926.651(c)(2)). That is a different threshold from the 5-foot protective system rule, and it is measured in lateral travel, not in ladder count — a 100-foot trench needs at least three ladders to keep every worker within 25 feet of one.
The estimated location of utility installations must be determined before opening the excavation, and utility owners must be contacted within customary local response times and asked to mark their lines (1926.651(b)(1)-(2)). 811 is the FCC-designated nationwide call-before-you-dig number that reaches the state one-call center. When the excavation approaches the estimated location, the exact location must be determined by safe and acceptable means (b)(3) — hand digging or vacuum excavation in the tolerance zone — and installations that stay in the ground while the excavation is open must be protected, supported or removed (b)(4). Private on-site utilities are usually not covered by the one-call ticket, so the permit has a separate line for them.
Sloping or benching for excavations greater than 20 feet deep must be designed by a registered professional engineer (Subpart P Appendix B). The same applies to support, shield and other protective systems designed outside the tabulated-data options — 1926.652(b)(4) and (c)(4) require a design approved in writing by a registered professional engineer, and the design must be kept at the jobsite while the excavation is open. Manufacturer's tabulated data for a trench box or hydraulic shore also has to be on site (1926.652(c)(2)).
Employees must be protected from excavated material and equipment that could fall or roll into the excavation by keeping it at least 2 feet from the edge, by retaining devices, or by a combination of both (29 CFR 1926.651(j)(2)). Two feet is a floor, not a target: the spoil pile is a surcharge load on the trench wall, so the further back it goes the better, and Type C soil in a deep cut can need much more.
Not under the construction confined space standard. 29 CFR 1926.1201(b)(1) states that Subpart AA does not apply to construction work regulated by Subpart P, Excavations. Atmospheric hazards in an excavation are handled by 1926.651(g): where oxygen deficiency (below 19.5 percent) or a hazardous atmosphere exists or could reasonably be expected — landfills, areas where hazardous substances are stored nearby, sewer work — the atmosphere must be tested before employees enter excavations greater than 4 feet deep, flammable gas must be kept below 20 percent of its lower flammable limit, and emergency rescue equipment must be readily available and attended when in use.
The competent person, at minimum. 1926.650(b) defines a competent person as one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them. That person classifies the soil (Appendix A), selects and inspects the protective system, and performs the daily inspections of 1926.651(k)(1). This template also carries lines for the person issuing the permit and for closing it out when the excavation is backfilled or secured — that is common practice, not an OSHA requirement.
Sources & references
- 29 CFR 1926.650 — Scope, application and definitions (competent person, trench, protective system, stable rock)
- 29 CFR 1926.651 — Specific excavation requirements (utilities, egress, atmospheres, water, spoil, inspections)
- 29 CFR 1926.652 — Requirements for protective systems (sloping, shoring, shields, engineer designs)
- 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P App. A — Soil classification (one visual and one manual analysis)
- 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P App. B — Sloping and benching, Table B-1, the 20 ft engineer rule
- FCC — 811 designated as the nationwide call-before-you-dig number
- PHMSA — Call Before You Dig / one-call program
- OSHA — Trenching and Excavation safety topics page
Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 28, 2026.