Irrigation

AllisonD (Florida)
Posts: 449

Posted:

My neighborhood consists of private homes on quarter to third acre lots. The irrigation system is maintained by the association (pump and timers) on common areas and the main lines, but on the private properties the homeowners repair breaks and sprinkler heads themselves. They have the ability to turn on their irrigation zones (consisting of 3-4 homes each, and discouraged by the board without someone knowledgeable present). What do similarly situated HOA's do about allowing/denying access to irrigation, using only approved vendors, allowing access only during certain hours, charging for damage to common area irrigation during repairs.... you get the idea. Does anyone have a policy they could share? What do you do?

RichardP13 (California)
Posts: 3,868

Posted:

IMO, if the zones are for three to four homes, then it should be the association handling the repairs, thus then they could control or deny access to the individual homeowners.

AllisonD (Florida)
Posts: 449

Posted:

Thanks Richard but the lines are clear; the homeowners are responsible for their own irrigation lines and sprinkler heads. The HOA is responsible for the pump, timers, common area irrigation and main lines. We are trying to establish some guidelines for repairs and damage.

AllisonD (Florida)
Posts: 449

Posted:

Sorry, I meant to say 'the rules are clear'.

JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219

Posted:

The HOA I just left this last November had similar setup. Each lot has an irrigation stub up and each owner was responsible for their own internal irrigation system for their lot. The pump house had an emergency switch on the outside in case any break on one of the main (HOA) lines or a property stub and a need to shut down the pump. If someone had a small leak at their property shut off valve, they would email the Board with estimated date and time frame they needed the system shut down for the repair. All owners would be notified of the shut down time frame ... and sometimes others also would make adjustments to their system also at that time. Because owners were responsible for their lots, they had the option of choosing anyone to fix or some would fix themselves it is their property and their cost.. The HOA was only responsible for the pump house and the main irrigation lines buried in the rear 10' easement.

JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219

Posted:

Also add ... similar to you the HOA was responsible for the two common area grass areas and all irrigation and sprinklers for the common areas.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Just to show there are differences. In our patio home HOA, each home controls their own sprinkler system but the HOA is responsible for the maintenance of such.

AllisonD (Florida)
Posts: 449

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JanetB2 on 02/28/2017 11:00 PM
Also add ... similar to you the HOA was responsible for the two common area grass areas and all irrigation and sprinklers for the common areas.

Janet, did you ever have a situation where the privately hired company damaged the association's irrigation? We had this situation where the private company caused damage to a part of the association's irrigation and we had to fight to get the homeowner to pay for the damage. We are trying to set ground rules. Is your email/shut off the water procedure adhered to?

JanetB2 (Colorado)
Posts: 4,219

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By AllisonD on 03/01/2017 6:52 AM

Posted By JanetB2 on 02/28/2017 11:00 PM
Also add ... similar to you the HOA was responsible for the two common area grass areas and all irrigation and sprinklers for the common areas.

Janet, did you ever have a situation where the privately hired company damaged the association's irrigation? We had this situation where the private company caused damage to a part of the association's irrigation and we had to fight to get the homeowner to pay for the damage. We are trying to set ground rules. Is your email/shut off the water procedure adhered to?

We had a number of times where a contractor when building a home damaged one of the stub ups in the summer when the irrigation was running and I had to run down to the pump house and flipp the switch to turn off the pump. I would call the HOA irrigation guy and the developer and the contractor would pay the bill. Our CCR's state that anyone who causes the damage is responsible for paying for the repair. If the contractor refused the owner would have been responsible to pay and they would then be responsible for going after their contractor. The stub ups are located on each owner's lot where the owner would install their own shut off valve and irrigation filter for their personal watering system of their choice. That way if they have a leak on their system they could shut off at their own valve. Do your CCR's note that the Owner is responsible for damage to the HOA irrigation system? If it does then that is your rule and is more enforceable in the CCR's than just a rule implemented by the board.

The email shut off is adhered to because nobody has irrigation water for that time period, we did not ask we told everyone that you will not have water for X period of time on X date. Once in awhile more time was needed but rarely. Valve repairs required the pump house to be shut down completely.

We had another time when a contractor was digging to install the utilities hit the irrigation line. That one was actually good for the HOA as the original developer did not properly place the line in the easement. The new developer ended up paying for that one because I made them move the line into the proper easement. Because if future repairs were ever required it needed to be in the easement where the HOA had legal access. Needless to say the developer was pissed that the contractor brought that to our attention ... LOL. But it was not the contractor's fault that the line was located in the wrong place.

AllisonD (Florida)
Posts: 449

Posted:

We had a number of times where a contractor when building a home damaged one of the stub ups in the summer when the irrigation was running and I had to run down to the pump house and flipp the switch to turn off the pump. I would call the HOA irrigation guy and the developer and the contractor would pay the bill. Our CCR's state that anyone who causes the damage is responsible for paying for the repair. If the contractor refused the owner would have been responsible to pay and they would then be responsible for going after their contractor. The stub ups are located on each owner's lot where the owner would install their own shut off valve and irrigation filter for their personal watering system of their choice. That way if they have a leak on their system they could shut off at their own valve. Do your CCR's note that the Owner is responsible for damage to the HOA irrigation system? If it does then that is your rule and is more enforceable in the CCR's than just a rule implemented by the board.

The email shut off is adhered to because nobody has irrigation water for that time period, we did not ask we told everyone that you will not have water for X period of time on X date. Once in awhile more time was needed but rarely. Valve repairs required the pump house to be shut down completely.

We had another time when a contractor was digging to install the utilities hit the irrigation line. That one was actually good for the HOA as the original developer did not properly place the line in the easement. The new developer ended up paying for that one because I made them move the line into the proper easement. Because if future repairs were ever required it needed to be in the easement where the HOA had legal access. Needless to say the developer was pissed that the contractor brought that to our attention ... LOL. But it was not the contractor's fault that the line was located in the wrong place.

Our docs say the association is responsible for irrigation which are not within the properties. So we have about 3 homes on each zone and there is a cutoff valve on one of the lawns for the zone. Each homeowner has the ability to turn on the zone when the private company wants to check the sprinkler heads or fix leaks. I wish we had more control of the system but this is what we have and so we are trying to figure out what to do. We could install locks on each of the cutoff valves but its expensive. I think we need to announce to the homeowners that our irrigation rules will be enforced as far as paying for damage. I don't think your shut off rule will work for us because they can each turn the water off and on. I have to get a bigger thinking cap and think harder. I am sure there is a solution I am not seeing. Thanks for your help!!