Will the home inspector check the sprinkler system?
Not unless your inspector agrees to include it. Under the Texas home inspection standards, a landscape sprinkler system is an optional system. The inspector is not required to inspect it, and the inspection report form lists it in a separate optional systems section.
So when you book the inspection on a New Braunfels house with sprinklers, add the sprinkler system to the order. Ask whether there is an extra fee and make sure the inspector can get to the controller on inspection day. Then, when the report comes back, look for the optional systems section. The form has boxes for Inspected, Not Inspected and Not Present, so confirm the sprinkler line is marked Inspected. If the house is on New Braunfels Utilities water, the utility also lists irrigation systems as a backflow concern, so this is one system worth paying to have checked.
Book it the same way you would book a termite inspection, at the same time as the home inspection, so every report comes back while you still have your option period. My guide to whether you need a separate termite inspection walks through that timing.
What does the inspector check?
If the inspector agrees to inspect the sprinkler system, the standards spell out the work. The inspector runs every zone or station by hand from the controller. Then the inspector reports these as deficient:
- No rain or moisture sensor
- Zone valves that don’t work
- Water leaking at the surface
- No backflow prevention device
- No shutoff valves between the water meter and the backflow device
- Problems with how the controller works or is mounted
- Missing or damaged parts
- Sprayer heads, rotors, bubblers or drip lines that don’t perform
That list is a good field check. If the inspector writes up a missing backflow device or a missing sensor, you know that before you decide whether to ask for a repair or a credit.
What the inspection leaves out
The standards also say what the inspector does not have to inspect. Read this list before you treat a clean sprinkler write-up as a clean system:
- Whether the system covers the yard well
- Whether the controller’s automatic schedule works
- Whether the rain, moisture, wind, flow or freeze sensors work
- The sizing and effectiveness of the backflow device
- How an underground zone performs
Those limits matter. A zone can pop up and spray on inspection day and still leave a dry corner of the yard all summer. The controller can run fine by hand and still have a schedule that waters at the wrong time. The standards leave both of those outside the required inspection.
Why does the backflow device matter in New Braunfels?
First, confirm who provides the water to the house before you lean on New Braunfels Utilities’ rules. My guide to water and wastewater service for New Braunfels buyers walks through that check.
If the house is on NBU water, the utility treats an irrigation system as a backflow concern. NBU lists irrigation systems among the properties that may require backflow prevention, along with pools, spas and properties with auxiliary water sources, and its customer service inspection certificate has a line for a sprinkler or irrigation system.
Backflow is water running the wrong way. A pressure drop can pull lawn water, fertilizer and whatever else is in the lines back toward the drinking water system. A backflow prevention device stops that.
The device is the owner’s responsibility. Backflow prevention devices and inspections may be required when a property has an irrigation system, and NBU’s backflow policy puts installing, operating, testing and maintaining approved assemblies on the customer. Assemblies are tested when they are installed, and the test results go to the water utility. Once you own the house, the customer is you.
So ask the seller two questions during the option period:
- Is there a backflow device on the sprinkler system, and where is it?
- Do you have the test and maintenance reports for it?
If the seller has the reports, keep copies with your closing papers. If there is no device, or nobody knows, you have a specific item to take to your agent while you can still negotiate.
What paperwork should you ask the seller for?
The inspection tells you what showed up on one day. The seller’s paperwork tells you how the system has been treated. Here is what I would ask for:
- The backflow test and maintenance reports. Ask for every one the seller has, including any from a repair.
- A zone map or a list of what each zone waters. The inspector runs the zones but is not required to judge coverage, so you want to know which zone is supposed to reach the dry spot.
- The controller’s make and model. You will need it to reprogram the schedule.
- Recent repair invoices. If a repair touched the backflow device, ask whether the device was tested again afterward.
- Any rain or freeze sensor details. The inspector reports a missing rain or moisture sensor but is not required to test whether a sensor works.
Look for the installer’s paperwork
Texas irrigation rules give you a head start here. When a licensed irrigator or irrigation technician finishes installing a system, the rules require four things:
- A final walk-through with the owner to explain how the system works
- A signed maintenance checklist, with the original going to the owner
- A permanent waterproof sticker on each automatic controller with the irrigator’s name, license number, company name, phone number and warranty dates
- The irrigation plan, also called the as-built drawing, showing how the system was installed
The maintenance checklist is the useful one for a buyer. It includes the controller’s manual, a seasonal watering schedule for spring, summer, fall and winter, and a list of parts that need regular maintenance and how often. The as-built drawing shows the system as it was installed, which beats guessing where a zone runs.
These completion rules took effect January 1, 2009, and apply to systems installed since then. An older system may never have come with this paperwork, so treat a missing checklist on an older house as a gap to fill.
So ask the seller whether they still have the checklist and the drawing from whoever installed the system. Then look at the controller itself during your inspection visit. If there is a sticker, you have the installer’s name, license number and phone number, and you can call to ask for copies. If the installer’s warranty dates on the sticker have not passed, ask the installer what that warranty covers.
When you hire someone to repair or change the system later, ask for their irrigator license number. It is the same number the rules put on the controller sticker.
If the yard matters a lot to you, ask about any rainwater setup tied into the watering plan too. My rainwater collection guide for New Braunfels buyers covers those systems.
What can you do after you move in?
If you are on NBU water, book the free help. NBU offers free assessments that cover water and irrigation use, and its irrigation page offers a free visit to assess your system. Bring the controller schedule the seller left behind to that conversation.
Keep the backflow paper trail going. If a repair or a project touches the backflow device, call your water provider first and ask what testing and paperwork it needs from you.
If the house is on NBU water, ask NBU about the customer service inspection (CSI) before closing. Ask whether a valid certificate is on file, what inspection is required when ownership changes and who can perform it for your address. Keep that paperwork with the backflow reports.
If you plan a big irrigation or plumbing change after closing, ask NBU whether that work triggers a new inspection.
If you are lining up inspections on a house now, my buyer page has the rest of the steps.
