Irrigation & Sprinkler System Intake Forms & Client Questionnaires

A homeowner calls because there is a dry spot in the front yard. That could be a clogged nozzle on a spray head, a cracked lateral line six inches underground, a valve that is not opening because the solenoid failed, a controller that skipped the zone because the rain sensor tripped during last week’s storm and never reset, or a pressure problem that starves the farthest heads on the circuit. A new-construction builder calls because they need a seven-zone system designed and installed before the sod goes down next Thursday. A property manager calls because the backflow preventer failed its annual test and the water district is threatening a shutdown notice. These are three completely different jobs requiring different expertise, different equipment, and different scheduling — and none of them can be quoted accurately from a two-sentence phone call. The Irrigation & Sprinkler System intake form captures the technical details your crew needs before they load the truck.

The form starts with the service type: new system installation, system repair, seasonal startup, winterization (blowout), backflow preventer testing or replacement, controller upgrade, zone addition, head adjustment or replacement, or a full system audit. Each of these changes the crew size, equipment requirements, and time allocation. A winterization blowout on a residential system might take 30 minutes with a single tech and a compressor. A new installation on a half-acre lot requires a two-person crew, a trencher or vibratory plow, pipe, fittings, heads, valves, a controller, and potentially a permit — plus a design meeting with the homeowner to map zones against plant material and sun exposure.

System Specifications and Component Inventory

For existing system service calls, the form captures the installed system details: number of zones, head types per zone (fixed spray, rotary, rotor, impact, drip emitter, micro-spray, or bubbler), pipe material (PVC schedule 40, PVC class 200, polyethylene, or copper for the main line), and pipe diameter. It records the controller type — mechanical timer, digital programmable, or smart/WiFi-enabled (Hunter Hydrawise, Rachio, RainMachine, Orbit B-hyve, Irritrol) — because troubleshooting a stuck zone on a 20-year-old mechanical timer is a different diagnostic process than troubleshooting the same symptom on a WiFi controller that might have a firmware issue or a lost network connection. The form captures the controller location (garage, basement, exterior wall, utility closet), the number of programs and start times currently running, and whether the homeowner has the controller manual or knows the current schedule.

Water source matters for system design and troubleshooting. Municipal water systems have relatively consistent pressure but may have restrictions on irrigation hours or days. Well water systems depend on the pump capacity and recovery rate, which limits how many zones can run simultaneously and how long each zone can operate before the well draws down. Reclaimed water (purple pipe) systems have their own code requirements for head spacing, signage, and cross-connection prevention. The form records the water source, static pressure (if known or measured), the location and type of the backflow preventer (PVB, RPZ, DCVA, or atmospheric vacuum breaker), when it was last tested, and whether the test report passed or failed. In most jurisdictions, backflow preventers on irrigation systems must be tested annually by a certified tester, and the form captures this compliance history because a failed or expired test can halt a repair job until the device is brought current.

Coverage Problems, Landscape Zones, and Rain Sensors

Coverage gaps are the most common complaint from irrigation customers, and diagnosing them requires understanding the relationship between head spacing, nozzle selection, operating pressure, and the landscape being irrigated. The form captures where the dry or wet spots are (front yard, back yard, side yard, flower beds, garden, slope, parking strip), what type of plant material is in each area (turf, ground cover, shrubs, trees, annuals, vegetable garden), and whether the landscaping has changed since the system was installed. A system designed for a lawn that now has mature trees with root systems that have shifted heads and shaded out turf needs a different fix than a system with the original landscape that simply has worn nozzles. Head-to-head coverage that was correct at installation can degrade as tree canopies grow and block the spray pattern.

The form also captures the status of water-saving components: rain sensor (wired or wireless, make and model, location, whether it is functioning), soil moisture sensor, flow sensor, and weather-based ET adjustment (if the controller supports it). Smart controllers that adjust watering based on local weather data can malfunction in ways that look like system problems — a Rachio that received incorrect weather station data might have skipped three days of watering during a heat wave, causing brown spots that the homeowner attributes to a broken pipe. Capturing the controller type and its connected status at intake helps your tech distinguish between a hardware failure and a software configuration issue before they start digging.

New Installation Design Requirements

For new system installations, the intake captures a different set of information. Property dimensions and a site sketch or survey (if available) form the basis of the hydraulic design. The form records the point of connection to the water supply, available pressure and flow rate (measured or estimated), soil type (sandy, loam, clay, rocky), grade changes and slopes, existing hardscaping (driveways, walkways, patios, retaining walls), root zones of established trees, and any underground utilities that need to be located before trenching. It asks about the customer’s watering priorities: do they want the lowest water bill possible, the greenest lawn possible, or a balance of both? This drives the choice between conventional spray heads, high-efficiency rotary nozzles, and drip irrigation for bed areas. For customers adding zones to an existing system, the form captures the current system capacity, available valve wire runs, and whether the controller has open zone terminals or needs to be upgraded to accommodate more stations.

Intake vs. Client Questionnaire

The intake form is your internal field document. Your service tech or dispatcher fills it out during the initial call or on the first site visit, recording system specifications, component locations, pressure readings, and diagnostic observations. It includes fields for the zone-by-zone inspection results, parts needed, and labor estimate. The companion client questionnaire is what you email or text to the customer when they schedule service or request a new installation quote. It asks them to describe the problem in their own words, identify their controller type (with photos if possible), note how many zones their system has, describe any recent changes to the landscape, confirm whether they have had the backflow preventer tested, and indicate their scheduling preferences. For new installations, it asks about their watering goals, plant material preferences, and budget range. Getting this before the site visit means your designer or tech arrives with the right parts on the truck and a preliminary understanding of the system before they open the controller box.

Pricing

Each form is $12.99 for the complete set (intake + questionnaire), $9.99 for intake only, or $6.99 for questionnaire only. All PDFs are fillable in Adobe Reader and password-protected against editing.

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