Once upon a time a homeowner wanted an irrigation system installed so he hired a irrigation contractor to install one. After the contractor finished the installation and was paid for the work, the homeowner found that the system didn’t work and called the contractor. The contractor’s phone was disconnected and he had disappeared. The homeowner then called another contractor to check the system out and was shocked to learn that only a few sprinkler heads and the controllers were installed. The sprinkler system had no wire, valves, or pipe and wasn’t even connected to the water supply. This isn’t a fairy tale, it is true.
Here today and gone tomorrow is an old adage that is especially applicable to many people and companies who homeowners have contracted with for the installation of lawn sprinkler systems only to have the contractor fold up and disappear in the next few days or weeks.
The result is that the homeowner pays much of the contractor’s fees in advance for sprinkler system installations that aren’t completed. In other cases homeowners have found out too late that they have paid for inferior materials and workmanship and that the entire job must be redone. Some homeowners have determined that they have a sprinkler system that failed because of defective parts and that they can’t repair or replace with standard parts.
For nearly four decades homeowners have faced the same problems when choosing landscape and irrigation contractors. Each state has an association such as the international Irrigation Association and the Associated Landscape Contractors for that state that can assure the homeowner that the contractor has passed a test indicating a specific level of expertise. When a homeowner chooses an irrigation contractor he should take some precautions such as calling the Better Business Bureau, obtain copies of the contractor’s certificates of insurance for liability and workman’s compensation insurance, obtain and check out several references, ensure the contractor is certified by an association(s), determines the contractor’s education and work experience, and determine the number of years the contractor has been in business. There is absolutely no reason why a homeowner should lose money if the find a sprinkler system contractor that is reputable.
