Seattle, WA
IRRIGATION / SPRINKLER ESTIMATING.

## Irrigation estimating in Seattle is not like estimating anywhere else Seattle's rainfall numbers fool people. The city averages 38 inches of rain per year, but nearly all of it falls between October and April. June through September — the exact months your residential and commercial clients want lush lawns and productive kitchen gardens — can go 60-plus days without meaningful rain. That dry-summer pattern drives steady irrigation demand across the Eastside, South King County, and the Snohomish County growth corridor. At the same time, Seattle Public Utilities and Puget Sound Energy both run tiered water-rate structures that push property owners toward smart controllers, drip zones, and ET-based scheduling. Clients ask about water budgets before they ask about head spacing. If your estimate does not itemize controller type, precipitation rate, and estimated water savings, you are losing jobs to contractors who do. ## What makes irrigation bids complicated here **Soil variability.** Glacial till in Bellevue, loam fill in Sammamish developments, and heavy clay in older Renton lots all demand different precipitation rates and run times. A single-zone design number does not travel between neighborhoods. **Backflow requirements.** Washington State WAC 246-290-490 requires testable backflow prevention on all irrigation systems connected to a public water supply. The assembly type — pressure zone, reduced-pressure, or double-check — depends on degree of hazard. Your estimate needs to call out the correct assembly and include annual test costs if you're bundling a service contract. **Right-of-way and side-sewer permits.** Many Seattle residential installs require a side-sewer connection permit from SDCI in addition to the standard plumbing permit. Permit fees vary by project value and scope. **Slope and erosion control.** Seattle's critical areas ordinance flags steep slopes over 15 percent. Jobs in the Madison Park, Magnolia, or West Seattle ridge neighborhoods may need a stormwater component added to scope before the permit counter will accept your application. ## How Estimate.Pro handles irrigation scope You open the app, walk the property, and use live AR measurement on supported devices to capture zone dimensions, head-to-head spacing runs, and mainline routing. Camera and photo measurements are flagged as estimates so you know which numbers need a second look. The AI scope engine reads your walkthrough notes and field captures, then drafts a line-item scope: lateral pipe, mainline, heads by type (rotary, fixed-spray, drip emitter), valve manifold, controller, backflow assembly, wire runs, sleeving under hardscape, and startup/winterization if you include it. You review, adjust zone counts, and swap materials from your saved cost workspace. Median time from site walkthrough to a sendable bid: 8 minutes. The Free tier costs nothing and requires no credit card. Pro is $39 per seat per month and covers the full estimating workflow. Elite at $79 per seat per month adds Stripe Connect invoicing with 0% platform fee and invoice exports — useful when you're running multiple install crews through the summer peak and need payment collection built into the estimate flow. If you're running a crew of four or more, the Crew plan at $399 per month flat removes the per-seat math entirely. ## Winning bids in the Seattle market Seattle-area landscape architects and general contractors review irrigation bids closely because water-efficient design is written into LEED and SITES certification checklists on commercial projects. If you bid multifamily or commercial retrofit work around South Lake Union or the Northgate TOD zone, your estimate should reference WUCOLS plant factor data and match precipitation rates to head selection — the same way an ASHRAE calculation backs up an HVAC load estimate. On residential jobs, the fastest way to close is to put the smart-controller rebate on the face of the estimate. Seattle Public Utilities offers rebates on qualifying WaterSense-labeled controllers. Showing the net cost after rebate on a single page — alongside your five-year water savings projection — converts more kitchen-table decisions than a PDF nobody reads. Estimate.Pro does not replace your irrigation design judgment. It removes the two hours of spreadsheet work between the site visit and the proposal so you can run more bids per week during the April-through-June booking window when every homeowner in the 206 suddenly wants a system before the dry season starts.