Chicago, IL
IRRIGATION / SPRINKLER ESTIMATING.

## Irrigation Estimating in Chicago Moves on a Short Clock Chicago's growing season runs roughly late April through October. That gives you maybe 24 weeks to install, retrofit, and winterize systems before the ground freezes. Compressed scheduling means you're bidding multiple jobs simultaneously, often from a truck between site visits. A slow estimating process doesn't just cost time — it costs contracts to whoever sends a number first. Estimate.Pro gets you from a job walkthrough to a sendable bid in 8 minutes. No templates to hunt down, no spreadsheet math to double-check at midnight. --- ## What Makes Chicago Irrigation Bids Different **Freeze-thaw soil conditions.** Chicago sits in USDA Hardiness Zone 5b/6a. Frost depth runs 42 inches per local code, which affects head placement, main line burial depth, and winterization scope. Your bids need to reflect those material and labor realities — not a national average. **Backflow preventer requirements.** The City of Chicago and surrounding Cook County municipalities require backflow prevention on all irrigation connections to the potable supply, per the Illinois Plumbing Code (ILCS 225 Act 320) and Chicago Municipal Code Title 18-29. Most jobs require a reduced-pressure zone (RPZ) assembly and an annual test by a licensed tester. That's a line item many contractors undercount when bidding competitively. **MWRD and municipal tie-in rules.** If the property connects to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District sewer or to a municipality's water main, separate permits and inspections apply beyond the basic landscape irrigation permit. Suburban jurisdictions — Naperville, Evanston, Schaumburg — each run their own permit windows and fee schedules. Build buffer time into your bids. **Prevailing wage exposure.** Public-sector irrigation work (parks, schools, municipal properties) in Illinois falls under the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. Crew rates for landscape laborers on covered projects in Cook County run materially higher than private residential rates. Estimate.Pro lets you maintain separate saved material and labor cost workspaces so you're not manually adjusting rates job by job. --- ## How Estimate.Pro Handles Irrigation Scope Walk the property. Use the AR measurement tool on supported devices — ONNX-assisted live measurement — to capture zone areas, head spacing, and run lengths directly in the app. On properties where you're working from photos or plans, measurements are flagged as estimates so you know exactly what to verify before finalizing. The AI scope-of-work engine translates your walkthrough notes into a line-item estimate covering: - Zone count and controller spec - Head type and spacing (rotors, fixed spray, drip) - Main line and lateral pipe quantities - Backflow preventer assembly and test - Valve manifold and wire runs - Winterization blow-out scope (critical on Chicago jobs) - Permit allowance You review, adjust any line, and send. The median contractor using Estimate.Pro hits a sendable bid in 8 minutes. --- ## Pricing Built for Irrigation Businesses of Every Size Estimate.Pro runs on a free forever tier — no credit card required to start. When your volume grows: - **Pro** — $39/seat/month. Core estimating, AR measurement, saved cost workspace. - **Elite** — $79/seat/month. Adds Stripe Connect invoicing, invoice exports, and advanced workflows. - **Crew** — $399/month flat. Unlimited seats for larger operations running multiple crews across the metro. Stripe Connect platform fees are 3% on Free and 0% on Pro and above. You collect payments without handing a cut of every invoice to a platform. --- ## Built for Chicago Irrigation Contractors You're competing against established landscape-irrigation firms that have been working the North Shore, the western suburbs, and the city's park district contracts for years. Winning more work comes down to who sends an accurate number fast. Estimate.Pro is built to get you there — without SaaS overhead that doesn't understand what a freeze-thaw cycle costs you. Start free. No credit card. Your first bid is waiting.