GRADELINE field guides

Project & hiring guides

Real costs, permit rules and hiring checklists for earthwork projects — written from the field, backed by ground data no one else publishes.

Search the directoryExcavation guides by state

Category guides

State & county guides

Excavation guides

State guides for California, Texas and Florida — costs, 811, frost depth, licensing and permits — plus county ground guides.

The hiring checklist

25 interactive checks to run before anyone digs: licensing, insurance, bids, contracts and the job site.

More free resources: the hiring checklist and research data live in Resources.