COMMERCIAL IRRIGATION - ROLE PROFILE
Irrigation Technician / Installer
Federal figures put this role between $31,150 and $56,730 a year, with a national median of $39,150.
The role
What the job actually is.
Installs, troubleshoots and services commercial irrigation: mainlines and laterals, valves and manifolds, heads and nozzles, controllers and sensors, and the wiring between them. Most service calls are a wire fault, a valve, or a controller programmed by someone who has left.
Pay
What this role pays.
We have not closed enough commercial irrigation searches to publish a band of our own for this seat, so the figures above are the federal 10th to 90th percentile spread rather than a My Trade Talent band. They are national and not adjusted for experience or region.
The federal occupation for this role is Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers (SOC 37-3011), May 2025. Nationally it reports a median of $39,150 , with the middle of the market between $31,150 and $56,730.
Where it pays most.
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers across the metros we cover, May 2025. BLS publishes a median for 100 of them and withholds the rest, where the local sample was too small to be reliable.
| Metro | Median | Employed there |
|---|---|---|
| Boston | $49,030 | 15,120 |
| Seattle | $48,480 | 11,780 |
| San Jose | $48,330 | 6,000 |
| San Francisco | $48,040 | 12,270 |
| Worcester | $47,980 | 2,170 |
| Minneapolis | $47,160 | 11,820 |
| Portland | $46,450 | 6,710 |
| Bridgeport | $46,430 | 4,920 |
| McAllen | $29,060 | 680 |
| El Paso | $30,640 | 1,200 |
| Myrtle Beach | $34,410 | 1,590 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The last three rows are the lowest-paying metros in the same set. Headcount is metro-wide across every industry, not this trade alone.
Credentials
Credentials that move an offer.
- CIT (preferred)
Licensing is a state question, not a national one. The Commercial Irrigation hiring page carries the state-by-state position, and every market page names the authority for that state.
Screening
What separates a strong candidate.
Everyone who applies for this seat will claim the experience. These are the things that distinguish the people who have it, and the questions that find out.
What to look for
- Uses a wire tracker and a solenoid test rather than digging to find the fault
- Knows head spacing and precipitation rate, not just which head fits
- Has programmed smart controllers and understands what the sensors are actually doing
Questions that find out
- A zone will not come on and the controller shows no fault. How do you trace it? A strong answer Splits it at the controller: puts the zone into manual and checks whether the controller is sending voltage to that station. If it is, the fault is in the field - the wire, a splice, or the solenoid - so they check resistance at the controller to see whether the circuit is open or shorted and work from there. If it is not, it is the controller output or the programme. Checks the master valve and the water supply first, because a zone that will not come on sometimes has no water.
- How do you check that a zone is applying water evenly? A strong answer Runs a catch-can test rather than watching it: containers spread across the zone, run for a measured time, and compares what each caught to get the distribution uniformity. Looks at what the result points to - heads mismatched in type or nozzle, spacing that is not head to head, pressure too low or too high, tilted or sunken heads, or something blocking the throw. Fixes the cause rather than adding run time to the dry spots.
- Walk me through winterising a commercial system. A strong answer Shuts off and isolates the supply, drains what will drain, then blows out zone by zone at a pressure below the system's limit and a volume that will actually clear the laterals, keeping each zone running only as long as water is coming out so heads are not run dry. Opens the backflow test cocks and drains the assembly, protects it, and shuts down and drains the controller or sets it to off. Documents what was done.
- How do you handle a valve that will not close? A strong answer Works out whether it is electrical or mechanical: a solenoid still energised, a controller output stuck on, or a manual bleed left open all keep it electrically open, while debris under the diaphragm, a torn diaphragm or a blocked port keeps it mechanically open. Isolates and opens it rather than guessing. Knows a valve that will not close is running the water bill up every hour and treats it as urgent.
- How do you find a wire fault without digging up the whole run? A strong answer Measures first - resistance to ground and between conductors to tell a short from an open - then uses a wire tracer or fault locator to walk the route rather than excavating hopefully. Checks the splices first, because that is where most faults are, and knows where splices are likely: at valve boxes, at changes of direction and anywhere somebody has worked since. Uses waterproof connectors on the repair.
- What is your approach to a head-to-head coverage problem on an existing system? A strong answer Measures the actual spacing and the pressure at the head before changing anything, because the usual cause is spacing designed for a higher pressure than the system delivers, or nozzles changed over the years. Fixes it properly - correct nozzles, pressure regulation, or adding heads - rather than by over-running the zone, which wastes water and still leaves dry patches. Explains the cost of the fix against the cost of the water.
- How do you handle a system that is running up a water bill nobody can explain? A strong answer Starts at the meter: isolates the irrigation supply and watches the meter with everything off to see whether there is a continuous loss, which points at a mainline leak or a valve passing. If it only shows during watering, compares the programmed run times against what the controller is actually doing - overlapping programmes, a second start time nobody knows about, or manual watering left on. Walks the property during a cycle.
- How do you adjust a controller for a property with mixed sun and shade? A strong answer Treats the zones separately rather than running one schedule: shade zones need less and will stay wet, sun zones more, and slope zones need cycle-and-soak so water does not run off. Adjusts seasonally rather than setting it once, and uses the controller's percentage adjust rather than reprogramming every zone. Checks the plant material in each zone, since turf and beds have different needs on the same property.
- How do you perform a full system audit on a commercial property? A strong answer Runs every zone and walks it, recording head type, nozzle, condition, spacing and pressure, with catch-can tests on representative zones for uniformity. Checks the controller programme against what the landscape actually needs, the backflow assembly, the master valve and any flow sensor, and the mainline for leaks. Produces a report with prioritised repairs and the water each would save, rather than a list.
- What is your approach to a mainline break you cannot immediately locate? A strong answer Shuts the water off first and stops the loss, then narrows by isolation - closing section valves where they exist and watching the meter - rather than digging where the water surfaces, since water travels along the trench. Looks for the obvious causes: recent excavation, root damage, a vehicle over a shallow line, or freeze damage. Uses acoustic location where the property is large. Documents the repair and the depth.
- How do you handle a controller with no documentation or labelling? A strong answer Maps it rather than guessing: runs each station in turn and walks the property to see what comes on, recording zone by zone with the heads and area covered. Labels the controller as they go and leaves a map in it. Checks for stations wired but not used and for zones on the property with no station. Says this is an hour that pays for itself the first time anybody else works on the system.
- What is your process for pressure testing after a repair? A strong answer Charges the line slowly to avoid a surge that will break something else, checks the repair under pressure before backfilling rather than after, and holds it long enough to see a slow leak. Flushes the line before putting heads or nozzles back, because debris from the repair will block them. Checks the zone's operating pressure at the furthest head afterwards to confirm nothing is restricted.
- How do you deal with a zone that has mixed head types? A strong answer Knows mixed rotors and sprays on one zone cannot be balanced, because they apply water at very different rates, so one area is always over- or under-watered whatever the run time. Recommends separating them into their own zones or converting to matched precipitation nozzles. Explains to the owner why run-time adjustment will never fix it, and prices the fix against the water being wasted.
- What is your approach to a smart controller or weather-based schedule? A strong answer Sets it up properly rather than installing it and leaving the defaults: the right site data, soil type, slope, plant type, head type and precipitation rate per zone, and a sensible local weather source. Checks what it actually does over the first few weeks rather than assuming. Knows a smart controller with wrong zone data waters worse than a timer, and that most of them in the field were never configured.
- How do you handle a water restriction or ordinance on an account? A strong answer Finds out what the restriction actually says - days, times, exemptions for new plantings or for drip - and programmes to it rather than to habit, then tells the client what it means for the landscape. Documents compliance. Knows the fines and that the account holder carries them. Offers the things that help within the rules: checking uniformity, fixing leaks, and adjusting schedules rather than simply watering less.
- What do you leave with the property manager after a service visit? A strong answer What was found, what was done and what was not, with the zones affected and photographs of anything that needs a decision, plus the controller settings if they were changed and any recommendation with a price. Writes it so somebody who is not an irrigation person can act on it. Says the visit report is how the next repair gets approved, and how the next technician does not start from nothing.
The mistake this seat invites
Hiring landscape labourers into irrigation service. The troubleshooting is electrical and hydraulic diagnosis, and installation experience does not supply it.
Where the role goes next
Technicians move to lead, service manager, or into design and water management auditing. Candidates ask this in the first conversation, and an employer who cannot answer it loses the people who had other options.
Interview kit for this role
- All interview questions for this role in the question bank.
- Printable interview scorecard built from these questions and signals.
- The Commercial Irrigation hiring kit - every role in the trade, with credentials and offer risks.
- Offer calculator starting from this role's pay band.
The search
What the search actually takes.
We have not closed a commercial irrigation search in 2026 year to date, so we publish no timing figure of our own for this seat rather than borrow one. The Hiring Index shows the trades where we do.
Keep reading.
- 2026 Commercial Irrigation Salary Guide - the full benchmark by role.
- Commercial Irrigation recruiting - how we run this trade.
- Salary calculator - the band by experience and region.
- Commercial Irrigation hiring in Houston - one market in detail.
- Hiring Index - how long our searches actually take.
Other Commercial Irrigation roles we recruit
All 56 roles we recruit - every trade, every seat.
