The short answer
BC underground infrastructure evidence is spread across municipal open data, utility records, licensed services and site-specific locate responses. Public layers can support early screening. They do not prove that every buried service is mapped, establish spare capacity or clear a site for excavation.
Four sources, four different jobs.
| Source | Screening use | Key limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Municipal open layers | Locate published water, sanitary, storm and other infrastructure where the municipality provides it. | Coverage, attributes and update dates vary. A mapped main does not establish connection approval or spare hydraulic capacity. |
| Utility and licensed GIS | Investigate the contributing owner’s network records within authorized coverage. | Access, reuse and storage conditions apply. Recorded geometry is not a field locate. |
| BC 1 Call responses | Obtain participating owners’ site-specific information for a defined excavation request. | It is a request and response process, not an unrestricted map feed or a universal clearance. |
| Site records and field investigation | Reconcile private services, as-built records and physical findings for the project. | Scope and methods must be selected for the work; historical records may be incomplete. |
BC 1 Call relays requests to its members. Its published member guidance says the requester must separately contact relevant unlisted owners. The contractor guidance also notes that some private-property services are not identified by utility owners, and that a ticket does not itself establish clearance to dig. Source: BC 1 Call member coverage; contractor guidance.
Where ICI Society fits.
The Integrated Cadastral Information Society brings together member-contributed geospatial information through its catalogue, viewer and secured services. It is an important route to utility data that is not available as unrestricted public open data. Source: ICI Society member resources.
ICI Society states that Associate members pay access fees for utility data based on the area and datasets included. Its membership application also requires utility datasets and backups to be stored in Canada. Membership, the applicable data agreement, permitted product use and infrastructure arrangements therefore need to be resolved before an integration can be offered. Source: ICI Society membership requirements.
Atlas does not currently represent ICI Society’s restricted utility feeds as connected public coverage. A licensed integration would need explicit authorization for the intended screening, display and reporting use. During a commissioned review, Driftwood can consider authorized private and paid data sources, where available, such as licensed property or utility data and authorized utility responses. The applicable agreement must permit the proposed use. This does not make ICI Society, BC Assessment or commercial listing feeds part of every automated screen.
For a developer, the useful request is precise: which owners and asset classes are required, for what region, for which users, and with what output? Clarify whether a proposed agreement permits internal analysis, customer display, downloaded reports and derived results. A visible portal or a membership fee alone does not answer those questions.
Make the underground review part of the whole-site review.
Start with a boundary that includes the development footprint and the relevant service corridors. A utility crossing just outside the selected parcel can still affect a proposed connection. Conversely, an asset shown inside a large listing boundary may have no relationship to the area that can actually be acquired.
Use the mapped parcel for orientation, then reconcile it with title, survey and the offered land. LTSA makes clear that ParcelMap BC is the graphical representation; the plan of survey and registry remain the legal sources. Source: LTSA, ParcelMap BC.
Atlas’s whole-site analysis can combine the selected boundary with mapped buildings, available elevation data and selected intersecting land constraints. A terrain result requires usable elevation pixels inside that footprint. A catalogue coverage outline alone is insufficient. NRCan distributes HRDEM elevation information by acquisition project and provides separate terrain and surface products. Source: NRCan High Resolution Digital Elevation Model.
Likewise, zero mapped buildings is not proof of vacancy. Statistics Canada describes gaps in its open building database and cautions against treating the compiled footprints as complete ground truth. Source: Statistics Canada’s Open Database of Buildings methodology.
A useful handoff for further investigation.
For each relevant utility, preserve the publisher, asset identifier if supplied, location, date, mapped attributes, coverage limits and unanswered question. Add the proposed equipment area, connection corridors and any conflicting records. Avoid silently snapping imprecise records to parcel lines or interpreting an absent feature as a clear corridor.
The next-stage team can then define the records requests, survey and specialist investigations needed to resolve the layout. When ground disturbance is planned, use the current owner instructions and locate process for that specific work; an Atlas screen is not a locate ticket.
See how these observations belong in a structured site report, or use the BC site-selection checklist to connect them with power, water and fibre enquiries.
Go beyond the public map.
Explore Atlas with public data first. When a candidate deserves a closer look, Driftwood’s separate $7,500 CAD Site Feasibility & Concept Design engagement adds a human-reviewed report and 25 hours of design consultation and concept work, additional to report preparation.
Review authorized private and paid data sources, where available, alongside the public screen, including licensed property or utility data and authorized utility or carrier responses where permitted. Check their source, date, site and project scope, reconcile the findings and turn confirmed items and unresolved questions into concepts and a next-step plan.
Record availability, permissions and any third-party fees are agreed before work begins.
Published by Atlas by Driftwood. Sources checked October 23, 2026. Editorial status: public-source guidance; this is not a project-specific reviewed report, engineering opinion or utility decision. Linked publishers remain authoritative for their current information. Suggest a correction or discuss a site.