January 5, 2024
Dear Members,
BC 1 Call processed over 220,000 locate requests in 2023, helping to prevent avoidable damage to our members’ infrastructure and keep our environment and workers safe.
For final service-related statistics, watch for our 2023 Report to Members and Partners, which will be released in the first quarter of 2024. The report will include:
- Details on customer experience performance;
- Growth of registered users and members;
- BC 1 Call brand awareness poll results;
- Insights from our 2023 member and user surveys; and
- A summary of our promotional activities throughout the year.
2024 NOTIFICATION FEES & INVOICING
On November 29, 2023 the Board of Directors approved a 2024 Member Fee of $2.65 per net notification, up $0.05, or 2%, from the $2.60 fee in effect for 2023.
General members will be charged the greater of:
- $2.65 per actual billable notification received in 2024; or
- $25.00, the minimum annual fee in effect since January 1, 2023.
We will continue to invoice general members in arrears.
Our six shareholders will be invoiced for fixed fees in advance to support cash flow management.
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY & FEE SETTING
Member fees (i.e. notification fees) are our sole source of revenue. As a result, the annual per notification fee is set with a view to covering all of BC 1 Call’s operating budget and, as the Board deems necessary , a contribution to reserves for anticipated cost increases and/or revenue decreases. The goal is to operate as a prudent non-profit, and avoid excessive year-to-year notification fee volatility.
When setting reserve levels, the Board ensures that BC 1 Call is in line with the range allowed for non-profits by Canada Revenue Agency.
The Board of Directors has assured continued financial sustainability by:
- Moving to a cost structure with a higher percentage of fixed costs, enabling more precise modeling of member fees required to cover each annual budget.
- Ensuring that approximately 75% of our budget will be covered through the shareholders’ commitment to pay fixed fees, in advance (i.e. exclusive of fluctuating general member fees).
- Making a reasonable assumption of the number of billable notifications used in forecasting revenues:
- For 2024, that means using 656,000 billable notifications, the total number of actual billable notifications sent from August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023. No increase was assumed.
- Each shareholder’s fixed fees are based on $2.65 x the number of billable notifications sent to them during the recent 12-month period noted above.
NEW MEMBER’S AGREEMENT (AS OF JANUARY 1, 2023)
Just a reminder that we have a new standard member’s agreement in effect. It is posted in Member Resources and the details were featured in our “New BC 1 Call Member’s Agreement” blog post from January 2023.
The Member’s Agreement allows the Board of Directors to make more business decisions for the benefit of all members, and provides for a minimum member fee to be levied (See Schedule B – Fees). In the past, BC 1 Call did not issue invoices for less than $25.00. This minimum fee was first announced in the January Notice of 2022 Member Fees.
Existing members are not required to execute this new, stream-lined agreement. Your continued use of our service is deemed acceptance of the new terms.
LOOKING FORWARD TO 2024
We will continue to work diligently to drive awareness and increase the use of BC 1 Call to help prevent damage to our members’ underground infrastructure, as well as keep the B.C. excavating community safe and help avoid disruption to critical community services.
The Board of Directors and I greatly appreciate your continued membership and support.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this fee notice, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly.
Best regards,
Chris Hyland, President & CEO
chyland@bc1c.ca
IMPORTANT: MEMBER CONTACT UPDATES REQUESTED
We remind members that the contact information we have on file for you must be kept up to date to ensure the BC 1 Call service is timely and effective. (Appendix A to the new Member’s Agreement contains the “Member Contact Information”)
Appendix A to the Member’s Agreement sets out contact information for the member, including for emergency notifications, billing purposes, communications support. It also includes the member’s corporate website URL (which is used as the click-through from our online Member List).
Action Required by All Members: Kindly take a moment to send a newly filled out Appendix A (Member’s contact information) to info@bc1c.ca. Keeping your contact information current is vital to our service.
Both the new Appendix A and the Member’s Agreement can be found on our Member Resources Page.
REMINDER: PROVIDE US WITH UPDATED INFRASTRUCTURE MAPS
As a member in good standing, you are required to provide updated infrastructure maps to BC 1 Call at least annually. It would be appreciated if you would do so early in the calendar year. Also, why not diarize a second update later in the year? Users of our system expect safe digging instructions and maps from our members are accurate and up to date.
REMINDER: BC 1 CALL’S MAILING ADDRESS
BC 1 Call went virtual in 2020, and changed our mailing address as a result. Please use this mailing address going forward: 9768 Third St., Sidney, BC V8L 3A4