If you're enlarging the footprint of a home, excavation is the first phase of actual construction, followed quickly by foundation building. With things happening so fast once excavation starts, it’s important to be thoroughly familiar with the plans and siting specifications when ground is first broken. A good excavation contractor is comfortable with special requests; if you want certain trees or shrubs to be protected, for example, make it the excavator’s job to move or work around them.

It is especially important that the excavator is informed about underground utilities--water, sewer, gas and electrical lines present below grade on the worksite. Most utility companies offer a phone number that excavators can call before digging to verify utility plans and avoid service disruptions.

A good excavator will separate the various layers of soil into separate piles, then, when backfilling the finished foundation—the process of replacing soil removed during excavation—soils go back into their natural strata. If the soil is replaced in the wrong order, with a layer of course subsoil near the surface, for instance, you may need to spend a lot of time and money to recondition it for planting.