# Installation of pipe **Citation:** N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.11 **Type / status:** regulation / current **Agency:** New Jersey Board of Public Utilities **Effective:** 2023-06-05 **Published:** 2023-06-05 N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.11 details requirements for pipe installation. The proposed amendments would amend the section to include requirements for the use of flowable fill and clarify the use and size of tracer wire and warning tape. ## Document text N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.11 details requirements for pipe installation. The proposed amendments would amend the section to include requirements for the use of flowable fill and clarify the use and size of tracer wire and warning tape. Adopted amendment text: 14:7-1.11 Installation of pipe (a)-(d) (No change.) (e) Where a pipeline operator uses flowable fill as a backfill material in lieu of clean soil, the flowable fill shall not come in direct contact with the pipe and must maintain a minimum of 24 inches of separation from the pipe. (f) (No change in text.) (g) Effective July 1, 2023, a pipeline operator shall install tracer wire on all uncased portions of new or replacement plastic pipe installations. Tracer wire shall be electrically continuous with any casings. If the installation of tracer wire is impractical, the operator must obtain prior approval from the Board's Bureau of Pipeline Safety to use an alternative means of locating plastic pipes. All pipelines installed with tracer wire shall meet the following requirements, as applicable: 1. Where tracer wire is installed by direct burial, the tracer wire shall be a minimum of #12 AWG solid copper wire with a polyethylene coating, or another coating approved by the operator, or other type of tracer wire that has been demonstrated to provide an equivalent or superior level of service; 2. Where tracer wire is installed by boring or drilling, the tracer wire shall be #10 AWG solid copper wire with a polyethylene coating, or another coating approved by the operator, or other type of tracer wire that has been demonstrated to provide an equivalent or superior level of service; and 3. Tracer wire installed on new or replacement plastic pipes may not be wrapped around the pipe, and direct contact with the pipe must be minimized. (h) An operator shall place a yellow subsurface marking or warning tape in the backfill material above a transmission or distribution pipeline whenever the pipeline is installed, repaired, or replaced, except that this requirement shall not apply to a transmission or distribution pipeline that is being installed, repaired, or replaced using techniques that do not disturb the backfill above the pipeline, such as directional drilling, insertion, or boring. For pipes of less than 12 inches in diameter, the operator shall install one six-inch-wide tape. For pipes of 12 inches to 18 inches in diameter, the operator shall install one 12-inch-wide tape or two six-inch-wide tapes installed side-by-side. For pipes of 20 inches to 30 inches in diameter, the operator shall install one 24-inch-wide tape, two 12-inch-wide tapes installed side-by-side, or four six-inch-wide tapes installed side-by-side. For pipe diameter larger than 30 inches, the operator shall obtain prior approval from the Board's Bureau of Pipeline Safety on the size and type of subsurface marking or warning tape to be used. NEW JERSEY REGISTER, MONDAY, JUNE 5, 2023 (CITE 55 N.J.R. 1207) PUBLIC UTILITIES ADOPTIONS ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `nj-bpu-njac-14-7` - SHA-256: `25d75b893de722cb28b82e835a2f15b00c2c0dbb9d617ec2fd7e33a710ce2622` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T11:51:55.415Z - Exported: 2026-08-24T14:49:53.992Z - Document slug: `nj-njac-14-7-1-11` ### Source metadata ```json { "jurisdiction": "US-NJ", "chapter": "14:7", "subchapter": 1, "readoptedOn": "2023-05-03", "amendedOn": "2023-06-05", "expiresOn": "2030-05-03", "registerCitation": "55 N.J.R. 1201(a)", "adoption": "R.2023 d.071", "docket": "GX22020048", "textCompleteness": "official-section-summary-plus-final-adopted-amendment-text", "isFullOfficialCodeText": false, "exactScope": "This corpus contains the exact 33-section current inventory described section by section in PRN 2022-136 and readopted in R.2023 d.071: N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.1, 1.1A, 1.2-1.4, 1.6-1.26, and 2.1-2.7. Section 1.5 and sections 1.27 through 1.37 are reserved and emit no documents. N.J.A.C. 14:6 gas-service rules, statutes, orders, permits, forms, and One-Call requirements are adjacent and excluded except as references.", "applicabilityCaveat": "Chapter 14:7 governs New Jersey intrastate transmission and distribution pipelines transporting natural gas, subject to operator, facility, gas, waiver, and federal-jurisdiction limits. BPU describes its safety oversight as covering intrastate natural-gas infrastructure and states that PHMSA retains overall responsibility for hazardous-liquid and interstate gas pipelines under its jurisdiction. Inclusion is not a claim of New Jersey hazardous-liquid certification.", "incorporationCaveat": "N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.1A defines the Federal Code as 49 CFR Parts 190, 191, 192, 193, 198, and 199 and incorporates federal definitions by reference. The official rulemaking describes the current edition and amendments as issued, indicating prospective incorporation, but this connector does not reproduce federal text or decide whether every later federal change is legally incorporated for every date and facility. Verify the controlling Code edition and legal effect.", "publicationCaveat": "The New Jersey Register adoption is the official publication evidence: filed May 3, 2023; amendments and new rule effective June 5, 2023; expiration May 3, 2030. OAL states that the free semi-monthly online Administrative Code is not the official Code. The BPU live rules page confirms 55 N.J.R. 1201(a) and the 2030 expiration but appears to label the readoption date as May 3, 2024; the connector preserves the Register's internally consistent May 3, 2023 filed/readoption date and flags the discrepancy. Documents contain official section summaries plus final adopted amendment text where available, not a complete official Code reproduction.", "rights": "Official BPU, OAL, New Jersey Register, and PHMSA materials are archived with attribution and SHA-256 provenance. Public access does not resolve rights in seals, marks, site presentation, LexisNexis renderings, annotations, forms, or incorporated private standards. The connector excludes the blocked LexisNexis Code rendering and requires separate downstream rights review.", "rightsReviewRequired": true, "references": [], "region": "NJ" } ```