Reference · know where you stand
Is your sprinkler system actually compliant? Find out in two minutes.
North Texas irrigation has real rules — a backflow test, a rain sensor, a watering schedule, a permit for new systems — and most homeowners have no idea where they stand on any of them until a notice shows up or a sale falls through. So I built the thing I wish existed: answer a few questions about your system and get a plain-English checklist of exactly what applies to you, what's handled, and what needs attention.
Most of this is the same across every Mid-Cities community because it's state law, not a local trap — and almost all of it is routine to fix. This isn't here to scare you into a service call. It's here so you actually know, instead of guessing.
Your personalized compliance check
Five quick questions. Nothing is sent anywhere — this runs right here in your browser and just tells you where your system stands.
Backflow testing: the one with teeth
Every lawn sprinkler system in Texas has to connect to your home's water through a backflow prevention assembly — a device near the meter that stops sprinkler water (and whatever's in your soil) from being siphoned back into your drinking water if pressure drops. That's not optional, and it's not new.
The part that catches people is the annual test. State rules require the assembly to be tested when it's installed; and in any city that's adopted the International or Uniform Plumbing Code — which the Mid-Cities have — that becomes a yearly certified test. Your water provider tracks the due date, sends notices, and in the worst case can shut off water for chronic non-compliance. The test has to be done by a licensed tester and filed with the city on a state form.
A licensed irrigator can install and service the assembly, but testing it requires a separate license — a Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester. I hold the irrigator license (LI0031476), so I install and maintain your assembly and make sure it'll pass, then coordinate the certified test with a licensed tester. One point of contact, a compliant result, and no pretending a single license covers something it doesn't.
Rain / freeze sensor: required, not optional
This surprises people: a rain or moisture shut-off sensor is required by state law (30 TAC 344) on every automatically controlled irrigation system — and replacing an old controller triggers the requirement too. Many North Texas cities spell out rain and freeze sensors by ordinance. A fully manual system isn't covered, but the moment there's a timer, the sensor rule applies.
Compliance aside, a working sensor is just sensible: it stops your system from running in the rain — which your city's schedule prohibits anyway — and saves the water you'd otherwise dump on a soaked lawn. The catch is that sensors fail or get bypassed and nobody notices, so "I think I have one" is worth a real check. Installing or replacing one is squarely within what I do as a licensed irrigator.
Watering schedule: two days, not midday
Across the Mid-Cities, lawn sprinklers run on a twice-a-week schedule tied to your address, and never between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. The crucial exemption — the one nobody explains — is that drip and foundation watering is allowed any day, because it's specifically protected to let homeowners keep their slabs and high-value landscaping alive. I've put the exact days for each city, even/odd address logic, and the foundation exemption in one place:
→ North Texas watering restrictions, by city — pick your city and address and it shows your assigned days.
Permits & new installs
Putting in a new system? It needs a city permit before any work starts, and the work has to be done by — or supervised on-site by — a licensed irrigator. There's one exception: a homeowner installing on their own homestead may pull the permit and do the work themselves, but they still have to meet the same design, sensor, and backflow rules. A compliant install also means a written contract with the required TCEQ statement, the irrigator's license number, an isolation valve between the meter and the backflow assembly, a final walk-through, and the maintenance documents.
That's a lot of boxes, which is the point of hiring it out: when I install a system, all of that is handled and documented, and you're compliant from day one instead of discovering a gap at resale.
What I can do — and what I won't pretend to
Here's the straight version of where I fit, because the whole point of this page is honesty:
Install, repair, and maintain your system, backflow assembly, and isolation valve — licensed irrigator, LI0031476.
Install or replace a rain/freeze sensor and get you on a compliant watering schedule.
Permit and install a new system to state and city spec, fully documented.
Coordinate your annual certified backflow test with a licensed tester — one point of contact.
The one thing I don't do under my own license is certify the backflow test — that's a separate tester's license, and I'd rather coordinate it cleanly than blur the line. If you want a straight read on where your system stands, the self-check above is a start, and a free in-person look will tell you the rest.