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Is my irrigation quote complete?

Start by checking that your irrigation quote counts the zones and heads, names the pipe, controller and rain or soil-moisture sensor, says who installs the backflow preventer and connects to your drinking water, and covers trenching, sod repair, permit, a test run, warranty and payments, plus the work, materials, completion date and price on the FTC's estimate list.

Source: Federal Trade Commission, home improvement hiring advice, read 14 October 2026.

Researched by the InstaBids editorial team. Last checked: 14 October 2026

An open irrigation valve box in a lawn with spare pipe fittings beside it.

Key facts

What should a written irrigation quote list?

Ask your irrigation bidders to put in writing the water source, the number of zones and the area each zone waters, the rotor, spray and drip counts per zone, the pipe size and material, the controller model and mounting spot, the sensor type, the backflow preventer and who makes the drinking-water connection, each as its own line item.

Federal Trade Commission advice on home improvement hiring, read 14 October 2026, puts it this way: "A written estimate should include a description of the work to be done, materials, completion date, and the price." For a sprinkler system, ask the installer to turn the materials part into a parts list by zone rather than a single line for the whole system.

Source: Federal Trade Commission, home improvement hiring advice, read 14 October 2026.

  1. Water source: Does the system draw from your drinking-water line, a private well, reclaimed water or a lake or canal pump, and is any pump, well work or new connection inside this quote?
  2. Zones: How many zones does the quote propose, and does a zone map show which lawn, bed or hedge row each one waters?
  3. Heads and drip: How many rotors, spray heads and drip lines does each zone use, and which areas get drip instead of spray?
  4. Pipe and valves: What pipe size and material run from the connection to the valves and on to each zone, and where do the valve boxes sit?
  5. Controller and sensor: Which controller is supplied, where is it mounted, does it need a new outlet, and is a rain sensor or soil-moisture sensor included and wired in?
  6. Backflow preventer: Is a new backflow preventer part of the job, which device type is it, and which business makes the connection to the potable supply?

Ask for an as-built zone map at handover: a sketch marking each valve box, each zone's coverage area and the route of the main line, so a later repair crew or a future owner of your home can find the pipe without guessing. Ask too whether the installer programs the controller before leaving and shows you how to change run times.

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Which items are often left out?

Look first along the trench line for possible omissions in your irrigation quote: utility locates, hand digging near marked lines, sod and plant restoration, sleeves under driveways and walks, then an electrical outlet for the controller, the moisture sensor, a test walk-through and warranty terms. Have each bidder mark every line included or excluded.

Ask who arranges utility locates before any trench is cut, and whether the quote allows for slower digging where the marks show a buried line. The tolerance-zone paragraph of Florida's underground facility law reads: "When excavation is to take place within a tolerance zone, an excavator shall use increased caution to protect underground facilities. The protection requires hand digging, pot holing, soft digging, vacuum excavation methods, or other similar procedures to identify underground facilities. Any use of mechanized equipment within the tolerance zone must be supervised by the excavator." That paragraph is section 556.105(5)(c) of the Florida Statutes, read 14 October 2026. Ask how a hand-dug stretch near those marks shows up in your schedule.

Source: Florida Statutes section 556.105, excavation procedures, read 14 October 2026.

Ask how each trench crosses a driveway, sidewalk or patio. A bidder may bore underneath, run a sleeve, or cut and patch the paving, and each method leaves a different result. Ask that the quote name the method for every crossing and who repairs any paver or edge it disturbs.

Ask what restoration means in each quote: sod laid back over the trenches, new sod where an old strip dies, replanting of disturbed beds, raking away of spoil, or only rough backfill. Photograph your lawn and beds before work starts, so you and the installer share a record of the starting condition.

Ask the bidder to write down anything promised during your conversations, such as moving a head away from a window or adding drip to a new bed. The FTC's guidance lists under "Before you sign a contract, make sure it includes" the item "any promises made during conversations or calls related to issues such as the scope of work and the cost of labor and materials".

Source: Federal Trade Commission, home improvement hiring advice, read 14 October 2026.

Ask what the warranty covers and for how long: parts such as heads, valves and the controller, the installer's own workmanship, and trenches that settle after the first heavy rains. Ask whether a leak found in the first season is handled as warranty work or as a new repair request.

What should the payment terms say?

Look for an irrigation payment schedule split into stages you can check on site: pipe and valves in the ground, heads and controller mounted, the water connection and backflow preventer in place, then every zone run in front of you. Ask what the first payment buys and how added work reaches you as a change order.

The moneys-received statute starts by defining whom it covers. Subsection (1) of s. 489.126, 2026 Florida Statutes, read on 14 October 2026, says: "For purposes of this section, the term “contractor” includes all definitions as set forth in s. 489.105(3), and any person performing or contracting or promising to perform work described therein, without regard to the licensure of the person."

Source: Florida Statutes section 489.126, money a contractor receives, read 14 October 2026.

The next paragraph, subsection (2)(a), attaches conditions to an initial payment: "A contractor who receives, as initial payment, money totaling more than 10 percent of the contract price for repair, restoration, improvement, or construction to residential real property must: 1. Apply for permits necessary to do work within 30 days after the date payment is made, except where the work does not require a permit under the applicable codes and ordinances, and 2. Start the work within 90 days after the date all necessary permits for work, if any, are issued, unless the contractor has just cause for failing to apply for the necessary permits, starting the work, or refunding the payment, or unless the person who made the payment agreed, in writing, to a longer period to apply for the necessary permits or start the work or to longer periods for both."

Source: Florida Statutes section 489.126, money a contractor receives, read 14 October 2026.

Whether these passages reach your agreement is a question for a Florida attorney. If trenching turns up a buried slab, root mass or low water pressure, ask that any added zone, head or pump arrive as a written change order with its own line, approved by you before the crew continues.

Keep the last payment beside the test walk-through line, so it follows a run of every zone in front of you and the handover of the zone map and controller settings.

Does the quote say who pulls the permit?

Ask each bidder to name in writing the business responsible for any permit on your sprinkler job, especially for the drinking-water connection and backflow preventer, plus who schedules any inspection and when you receive the closed-out permit record. A quote that says nothing about permits leaves that line open.

On its Contractor Regulations page, read 14 October 2026, Palm Beach County advises: "Make sure a permit is pulled (if applicable - click here)." It adds: "Do not make the final payment until the permit is closed out." Ask that your irrigation payment schedule hold its last payment until any permit for the connection work is closed.

Source: Palm Beach County hiring tips, Contractor Regulations, read 14 October 2026.

Should a bidder ask you to sign as the permit applicant, set that request beside item 3 of the owner-builder disclosure in s. 489.103(7), Florida Statutes: "I understand that, as an owner-builder, I am the responsible party of record on a permit." Ask which business would otherwise be named.

Source: Florida Statutes section 489.103, owner-builder disclosure statement, read 14 October 2026.

DBPR's Unlicensed Activity page What Requires a License, read 14 October 2026, lists in its Needs a DBPR License column: "Perform plumbing work or irrigation installation that requires the contractor to connect lines to potable (drinking) water for compensation." The same row, in its Does not need a DBPR License column, reads: "Install or repair irrigation systems that have a backflow preventer connected to a potable (drinking) water supply regardless of compensation." DBPR's Construction Industry page, in its CF and RF plumbing contractor entry, states: "A plumbing contractor may install, maintain, repair, alter, extend, or design the following without obtaining any additional local regulatory license, certificate, or registration:" Its list includes the item "irrigation systems; or". The same page lists a separate category, Certified Irrigation Specialty Contractor. Ask each bidder which part of your job touches the potable line and which DBPR category it holds for that part; any public-record lookup of that business is optional and yours to make.

Source: DBPR Unlicensed Activity Program, What Requires a License, read 14 October 2026.
Source: DBPR Construction Industry categories, read 14 October 2026.

What should my request include?

Describe the system you want in one written scope, starting with a rough sketch of your lot that marks the lawn, planting beds, paved crossings and the spot for the controller. State whether an old system stays, is repaired or is removed, and attach a photograph of the water connection point and any existing valves.

Contact details stay hidden until the homeowner picks a contractor and they confirm the connection.

Source: InstaBids process and privacy, read 14 October 2026.

How can I compare it with other written quotes?

Compare irrigation quotes zone by zone against your written scope, starting with the water source and connection, then zone count, head and drip counts, pipe, controller and sensor, restoration and warranty. Where a zone map or parts list strays from what you asked for, have that bidder explain the change in writing before you pick one.

  1. Connection: Who ties into the potable line in each quote, and is the backflow preventer new or reused?
  2. Zones: Are the same areas watered with a similar zone count, or has one bidder put lawn and beds on one valve?
  3. Outlets: Are rotors, sprays and drip listed zone by zone, so a plan with fewer heads stands out?
  4. Restoration: Is sod relaid over every trench and each paving crossing repaired, or does the work stop at backfill?
  5. Handover: Is there a test run of every zone, controller programming and an as-built zone map?
  6. Warranty: Which parts and which workmanship are covered, and for how many months or years?

Treat a smart controller, extra drip zones or a well pump as add-on options listed beside your base design. When a bidder spots something you missed, such as an unmarked bed or a second water meter, add it to your written scope and resend the new version to all bidders, so each response answers one design.

Once the connection, zone and restoration answers are recorded, use the same written scope when requesting competing written responses.

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Source: InstaBids process and privacy, read 14 October 2026.
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Sources for the facts on this page

Sources checked: 14 October 2026.

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