Commercial Irrigation Ordinance

If any of the following situations apply to your property, you are exempt from the required inspection. Fill out the Exemption Form and submit by October 1st.  

• Your property does not have an automatic landscape irrigation system.
• Your property has an irrigation system that is not used and has no plans to be used. 
• A new property with an irrigation system that is used and received its CO (certificate of occupancy) within the three years before the inspection is due, is exempt from the inspection for the first year.
  • Example: You are in the 78665 zip code, the inspection is due in 2024, but you received your CO in 2021.  This is within the three year window, so you are exempt in 2024, but would need an inspection in 2027 and every three years moving forward.

1.  Test your irrigation system to make sure that it does not have any critical problems.
   • Critical problems include pipe leaks, broken emitters, spray landing in a street or parking lot, runoff (50ft. +), ponding (1/4” +), misting or a non-working rain/freeze sensor.
   • Make sure your irrigation system has a backflow preventer installed.
   • If problems are observed, contact a Licensed Irrigator (LI) to make necessary repairs.
     • Per TCEQ State Law, only Licensed Irrigators, those under direct supervision of a LI, or property owners, may work on, or repair, irrigation systems.

2.  Contact a Licensed Irrigation Inspector from the list of current inspectors. The property’s inspection should be conducted by October 1st of the assigned year (see box above).

3.  Provide the filled out Property Information Form to the inspector. This provides the inspector valuable information to best schedule the checkup.

4.  If your property is unable to pass the inspection prior to October 1, you choose to leave the irrigation system turned off, or you choose to permanently disable the irrigation system, submit the Property Information Form indicating “FAILED” and supply information on how the property will bring the  irrigation system into compliance.  Some example actions include:
   • Turning off the entire irrigation system until it can be brought into compliance. 
   • Repairing portions of the system and turning off others, so the whole system complies. This may require additional information that staff will reach out about.
   • Permanently disabling or turning off the irrigation system.

Please be advised that only those portions of the irrigation system which have passed the inspection may operate. Returning irrigation stations to operation will require reinspection of those specific zones by an Irrigation Inspector.

5.  After achieving a passing inspection, properties should be maintained so that they comply with the City’s Water Waste Ordinance (Sec 44-6) to be ready for the next inspection in three years!

• Exemption Form – fill out if the inspection rule does not apply to your property
• Property Information Form – property owner/management fills out before the inspection and provides document to Licensed Irrigation Inspector (LII)
• Irrigation Inspectors Form — LII fills out during the inspection
• Compliance – if the property fails the inspection, fill out the Property Information Form, indicating “FAILED” and include details on what actions will be taken to bring the system into compliance.

The following problems will result in a property failing the inspection and being prohibited from operating its irrigation system:

• Leak – a break or other water containment failure in the irrigation main line, lateral line, or station valve. A mainline leak will fail the entire irrigation system. A lateral line or station valve leak will fail the associated station.
• Broken Head – a missing, cracked, or punctured sprinkler head, sprinkler body, swing joint, or drip line often resulting in significant loss of water.
• Absent or non-functioning Rain/Freeze Sensor – must be present and active at each controller.
• Spray Landing in Street or Parking Lot (overspray) – a misaligned or inappropriately sized sprinkler head resulting in a spray pattern shooting outside of the landscaped area and falling onto a street or a parking lot.
• Runoff / Ponding – in a street or parking lot, water originating from the irrigation system traveling a distance of 50 feet or more, or creating a puddle with a depth measuring ¼” or more.
• High pressure / Misting – a sprinkler head operating above its recommended pressure limit resulting in excessive atomization of the spray pattern often resulting in the presence of a mist or fog effect.
  • During an inspection: if misting is present during the visual inspection, the inspector will measure the dynamic outlet pressure of the sprinkler head. Pressure ceilings for different emitter types are below:
    • Spray Nozzles: 40 psi
    • MP or Multi-stream Rotators: 50 psi
    • Rotors: 60 psi

Pressure measurements above these ceilings result in failure of that irrigation station.

The problems are noted solely to inform owners of potential efficiency improvements they could make:

• Not Hydrozoned – irrigation stations are not segregated into zones based upon plant material water requirements or sun exposure.
• Clogged Nozzle – uniformity of spray pattern is impaired or prevented due to build-up of debris.
• Obstructed Head – spray pattern is interrupted or blocked by an object such as vegetation or other physical object.
• Low Pressure – water pressure at sprinkler head is not adequate to maintain full throw of spray.
• Low Head – a sprinkler head that has sunk into the ground or does not rise high enough to spray over the vegetation.
• Poor Coverage – sprinkler spray pattern does not supply water evenly over the entire landscape.
• Stuck Head – sprinkler head either does not pop-up, rotate, or fails to go down after operation.
• Tilted Head – sprinkler head is not vertically aligned at ninety degrees from grade.
• Mixed Sprinkler Technologies – use of multiple sprinkler technologies (sprays with rotors) in a single irrigation station.