The Questions to Ask on Any Kelowna Irrigation Quote

Two contractors handing you an irrigation quote in Kelowna on the same property can be genuinely hard to compare, because they describe their work in different levels of detail. A one-line 'install irrigation system, twelve zones' quote and a three-page itemised one may cover exactly the same physical work, or they may not. This is a practical list of what to give a contractor before they quote, and what to ask after, so the answers arrive on the same page.

What to give them first

Before asking anything back, hand the contractor the information that lets them price the property fairly. You do not need a design brief, but a few facts help enormously.

• Property size in a rough square-footage or lot-line description
• Water source and any details you know (municipal, well, licensed surface — and if well, the sustained yield if you have it)
• Existing controller if any, with its make and model if you can read the label
• Whether there is an existing system, and roughly when it was installed
• Pain points in your own words: dry patches, weeping valves, overspray, high bills
• Any watering restriction or scheduling constraint the property is under

Contractors quoting on a request like that price closer to reality than ones handed a postcode and a phone number. It also lets you compare quotes on the same basis, which is the whole point.

Ask for zone count and per-zone flow

On any new install or significant retrofit, the contractor should be able to tell you how many zones the system will have and roughly what each zone will draw in gallons per minute. Those numbers together determine whether the design fits the available flow at your source. A quote that will not commit to either is not one you can evaluate.

Ask what heads they are proposing

Not the brand for brand's sake, but the type — spray, rotor, rotary nozzle — and whether they are pressure-regulating and check-valve models. On a hillside property those two features are not optional; they resolve the pressure-drop-with-elevation problem and the low-head-drainage problem respectively. The piece on Okanagan hillside irrigation covers why in more depth.

Ask what backflow assembly is being installed or reused

New installs require backflow protection, and the assembly type — double-check versus reduced-pressure zone — depends on what your purveyor requires. The quote should name the device by type, and either confirm it will be installed by a certified individual or note who will handle that portion. Retrofits should say plainly whether the existing device will be reused, tested or replaced.

Ask what the controller is and why

'A modern controller' is not an answer. Ask specifically: is it a smart controller with weather-based or ET adjustment, or a standard programmable timer? Both are legitimate depending on property complexity, but the difference in what the system will do season to season is meaningful. On a Kettle Valley or Rutland property with any real variability across zones a smart controller pays back in reduced watering; on a small uniform lot the case is weaker.

Ask about pipe size and mainline routing

For a repair this is trivia. For an install, especially on a larger South East Kelowna or Ellison parcel, it is not. Ask what diameter of mainline is being used, what path it takes, and whether the far zones will still have adequate pressure at their heads. Friction loss on undersized mainline is a design failure that shows up as chronically underperforming far zones years later, and no run-time adjustment resolves it.

Ask what is included in commissioning

A new install is not done when the pipe is buried. Commissioning is where the system gets tuned to reality — nozzles adjusted for wind and coverage, arcs set, run times programmed to match plant type, cycle-and-soak configured on any sloped zones, walk-through with the owner. Ask which of that is included and which is billed separately. The answer varies more than you would expect.

Ask about the warranty and what triggers it

Not just the length. What counts as a warranty issue and what does not. A head that fails at the neck within three months is one thing. A head that appears to be misperforming because a shrub grew in front of it is another. Contractors who describe warranty clearly, including what is excluded, are usually the ones who do not need to hide behind ambiguity later.

Ask what happens the following spring

The single question that best predicts whether a contractor will still be servicing your property in two years. A good answer includes some version of: they can be there for spring start-up, they will know your system, they will note items that need adjusting after a season of running. A shrug is a data point. So is 'call us if something breaks' — that is not a service relationship, that is a phone number.

Ask what happens if the ground surprises them

On any property that has been landscaped or built on before, trenching runs into things. Old irrigation runs the previous owner installed, buried concrete, a utility line no one flagged. Ask how the contractor handles unforeseen conditions: is there a change-order process, is there a small allowance built into the quote, or is anything unexpected simply an additional charge at their discretion. Neither approach is wrong, but you should know which one applies to your job before the shovel goes in.

One last thing

The most useful signal in a sprinkler quote is not on the price line. It is whether the contractor's scope reads like they walked your property or like they filled in a template. The former is what you are paying for either way. Choosing between quotes is easier when that is visible.