WageTime is payroll for irrigation and sprinkler contractors: irrigators, technicians, and helpers each pay at their license tier, every card is flagged before it expires, and the two-peak season of spring startups and fall blow-outs settles in one run.
There are roughly 2,425 sprinkler-installation contractors counted in the United States for 2024 (an IBISWorld estimate, and an undercount, since it leaves out the irrigation divisions inside full-service landscape companies), and their payroll follows the license, the certification, and the season, not the calendar month.
Irrigation is a licensed trade in much of the country. In Texas the state issues a Landscape Irrigator license, an Irrigation Technician license, and an Irrigation Inspector license, and a technician may connect a system to the water supply only under a licensed irrigator’s supervision. Each tier earns a different rate and carries its own continuing-education deadline, so the crew sheet is also a pay table and a compliance calendar.
Every system tied to a potable line needs a backflow assembly tested every year by a certified tester, with the test kit calibrated annually too. Let the tester’s ASSE 5110 or ABPA card lapse, or the kit fall out of calibration, and the billable testing route stops until it is renewed. A spreadsheet never sends the reminder.
An install crew trenches and sets systems on project time, often on day rates. A service tech runs a year-round route of startups, repairs, and audits, usually hourly with per-call incentives and an on-call rotation for the 9 p.m. broken mainline. One weekly payroll has to pay both models, each blending into overtime its own way.
Landscaping lays crews off in the fall; irrigation gears up. The winterization blow-out is one of the two busiest stretches of the year, a wave of short per-system calls, and a tech can close a dozen or more in a day. Per-system pay still owes minimum wage for the hours worked and overtime in the surge weeks.
Hours land in ServiceTitan, Aspire, or Jobber coded two ways: to an install job that pays a day rate, or to a service ticket that pays hourly plus per call. The export flattens both into one column, and whoever re-keys it after dark cannot tell them apart. The wrong pay model gets applied, not just the wrong job number. The next install bid gets priced off the blur.
WageTime pays an irrigation crew by license tier in one run: the licensed irrigator, the licensed technicians working under their supervision, and the unlicensed helpers each on their own rate, set once and applied every payday.
| Worker | Hours | Gross |
|---|---|---|
| Marco T.Landscape Irrigator (LI) | 40.0 | $1,360.00 |
| Dee W.Irrigation Technician (IT) | 40.0 | $1,040.00 |
| Luis P.Irrigation Technician (IT) | 40.0 | $1,000.00 |
| Sam K.Helper (unlicensed) | 40.0 | $740.00 |
| Ana R.Helper (unlicensed) | 38.0 | $684.00 |
Replaces the rate guessed from memory, and the crew sheet that never showed who held which license.
A lapsed backflow tester card quietly stops the billable annual test, so WageTime flags every card 30, 60, and 90 days before it expires. New hires self-onboard from a phone with e-signatures, so their cards go on the record from day one.
| Employee · credential | Expires | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Dee W.Backflow cert (ASSE 5110) | Aug 15, 2026 | Expires 24d |
| Luis P.Irrigation Technician license | Sep 20, 2026 | 60-day alert |
| Marco T.Landscape Irrigator 24 CEU hrs | Nov 30, 2026 | 90-day alert |
| Marco T.Irrigation Contractor (CIC) | Mar 31, 2027 | Current |
| Ana R.Backflow tester cert (ABPA) | Jun 30, 2027 | Current |
Replaces the lapsed backflow card found on the morning a test was due, and the bid lost to an expired CIC.
WageTime pays a service technician’s week the way it actually runs: hourly for time on the clock, a per-call or per-system code for startups and audits, on-call standby for the rotation, and paid drive time between stops, all in one paycheck.
Replaces the service-tech week that four different rules touched, reconciled by hand.
The winterization surge pays the way irrigation crews earn it: a per-system pay code for each blow-out, cleared against minimum wage for the hours actually worked and blended into overtime in the surge weeks, with every stop GPS-stamped from the truck.
| Stop · service | Time on site | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 118 Maple CtWinterization · 1 system | 0.4 hr | In geofence |
| 240 Birch LnWinterization · 2 zones | 0.6 hr | In geofence |
| Cedar Ridge HOAWinterization · 6 systems | 2.1 hr | In geofence |
| 77 Elm StWinterize + repair · 1 system | 0.9 hr | Off geofence |
| Fairview office parkWinterization · 4 systems | 1.8 hr | In geofence |
| Riverside duplexWinterization · 2 systems | 0.6 hr | In geofence |
Replaces the clipboard tally of blow-outs re-keyed at the shop after dark, and the per-system pay nobody checked against minimum wage.
Water-district rebate and audit contracts can require an Irrigation Association credential like the CLIA, while the job’s labor pays on a wage determination. WageTime tracks the credential and runs prevailing wage and WH-347 certified payroll as an add-on, scoped and priced on the demo.
Replaces the water-district audit bid that went elsewhere while we hunted for a current CLIA.
Full-service payroll is $10 a month per person paid that month, plus $50 a month per company, with unlimited runs. No long-term contracts, no per-run charges.
Off-cycle runs and bonuses cost nothing extra. No long-term contracts; cancel anytime.
Example: 50 people paid × $10 + $50 company = $550 for the month
HR & hiring, onboarding, PTO, time tracking, benefits, and workers’ comp are optional add-ons, priced separately when you’re ready.
See a demoYes, in much of the country. WageTime pays each tier (licensed irrigator, technician, and helper) at its own rate in one run and keeps every license and its continuing-education deadline on the employee record. For context, Texas licenses Landscape Irrigators, Irrigation Technicians, and Irrigation Inspectors through the TCEQ, with technicians working under an irrigator’s supervision; licensing rules vary by state.
Yes, and it matters most for the backflow card: a lapsed tester certification stops the billable annual test until it is renewed. WageTime alerts you 30, 60, and 90 days before the backflow cert (ASSE 5110 or ABPA), the state irrigator or technician license, and Irrigation Association credentials like the CIC expire. Renewal reminders run as workflow tasks, and the test kit is tracked as assigned equipment.
Install crews on day rates and service techs on hourly-plus-per-call run in one payroll, not two systems. Each blends into overtime on the weighted-average regular rate, every hour is checked against minimum wage, and on-call standby and mileage post as their own pay codes on the same check.
The blow-out is paid with a per-system or per-call pay code, cleared against minimum wage for the hours worked and blended into overtime in the surge weeks. Every stop is GPS-stamped from the truck and flows into the run. Priced per person paid that month, the quiet stretch between peaks costs almost nothing.
Yes. Certified payroll is offered as an add-on, scoped and priced on the demo. WH-347 reports generate from the payroll run, each classification carries its own project-specific prevailing-wage rate, and fringe is tracked per worker as cash or benefit plans. Bring the wage determination and your project list to the demo.
We import clock hours so there is no double entry, and each hour keeps its install-job or service-ticket tag, so it pays as a day rate or as hourly plus per call. Tell us your field-service software on the demo and we will confirm the exact flow for your setup. No app? Crews can punch on WageTime’s own GPS-stamped, geofenced mobile clock instead.
A new-install week and a service route, last week’s hours from your field app, and your crew list with their licenses and cards. Twenty minutes with a payroll specialist on a live demo company: you’ll see the tier pay, the credential alerts, the service-week blend, and what a blow-out day actually pays.
Book a 20-minute demo