Who pays if a lawn care crew hits a sprinkler head?

Your written policy should say. Many shops repair or replace a head they clearly hit when the head was marked or reasonably visible. A buried, unmarked, already-broken, or after-hours leak is a different conversation. This is not legal advice. It is an ops habit so the truck and the office tell the same story.

Should customers flag irrigation heads before mowing?

Ask them to flag low or new heads, especially after a landscape install or a winter blowout. Your crew should still look. Flags reduce surprises; they do not make you a mind reader. Put the flag request on the property note and the welcome packet, not only in a one-time text.

What photos should crews take after sprinkler damage?

Photo the head, the surrounding turf, the mower path if it matters, and the flag or lack of a flag. Photo existing cracks or a dry leak stain if it looks old. Attach the photos to the visit the same day. A camera-roll dump on a personal phone is not a record.

How do I tell a new break from a head that was already broken?

Look for dirt in an old crack, dry staining, a head already sitting below grade, or a customer who has been hand-watering that zone. Fresh shear and a wet fan you created today look different. You will not win every argument. You will win more if the photo exists.

Should I just pay every sprinkler claim to keep the customer?

Not as a default. Paying every claim trains the neighborhood that your mower is a warranty on their irrigation. Pay when your policy says you own it. Document and decline when the head was unmarked, already failed, or outside the mow path. Courtesy credits should have an end date and a note.

How do irrigation flags fit a quality checklist?

Add one line: look for flags and obvious heads before the first pass on problem properties. Do not add a twenty-item irrigation inspection. The walkaround still owns the last look. Flags are a start habit, not a new department.

What should I say to a customer who texts “you hit my sprinkler”?

Acknowledge, ask for a photo, and say you will check the visit record the same day. Do not argue in the thread. Call if money or blame is in play. Then apply the written policy once (repair, split, or decline) and write the outcome on the property so the next crew sees it.

MowProHQ Blog/Quality

Irrigation Flags, Sprinkler Damage, and “You Hit My Sprinkler”

A field policy for irrigation flags, photos, and sprinkler-head claims, when you pay, when it was already broken, and how to keep the argument short. Not legal advice.

Croft Business SolutionsAugust 21, 20269 min read

“You hit my head” arrives as a text, usually after the water is already on. Sometimes you did. Sometimes the head was buried, cracked last August, or sitting an inch below grade where no flag ever lived. If the shop has no policy, the owner becomes a claims adjuster in the driveway, and two crews tell two stories.

This is an ops policy: flags, photos, when you pay, when you do not. It is not legal advice and not an irrigation-repair manual. Follow your contracts and your insurance. The goal here is a short argument and a truck that does not invent the rules at the curb.

Write the policy before the first claim

If it is not written, every claim is a negotiation. Write one page the office and the crew can repeat.

A usable policy usually covers:

Visible / flagged heads you hit, you repair or replace the head (or pay a stated cap)
Unmarked, buried, or newly installed heads, you document; you may offer a courtesy or decline
Already broken, you document; you do not buy their irrigation system
After you left, a leak that shows up two days later needs a photo timeline, not an instant yes
Who decides, owner or office, not the helper in the yard
Cap, a dollar or a “head only, not the zone” limit so one claim does not become a redesign

Put a short version on the welcome packet and the website service notes. Customers should hear “please flag low heads” before the first mow, not after the break.

This is quality, not theater. Pair it with the same job checklist habit you already want: look, finish, note. Do not add a full irrigation audit to a 20-minute mow.

Situation	Default posture	What you store
Flagged head, fresh shear	You own the head	Photo + repair note
Unmarked, below grade	Document; decide per policy	Photo of grade and no flag
Dry crack, dirt in the break	Already failed	Photo; decline or courtesy
Zone leak, not at a head	Not a mower story by default	Photo; they call their irrigator
Customer wants a new system	Refer	Do not estimate a redesign in a text

Courtesy is allowed. Write it as courtesy with a date. Recurring “we always just pay” is a hidden warranty.

Pop-up sprinkler running on a maintained lawn — A flag is a conversation you had before the deck got there. No flag is not automatic guilt, and not automatic innocence. The photo decides which story you can tell.

Flags are a start habit, not a magic shield

Ask customers to flag:

New installs and winterized systems just turned back on
Low-pop or damaged heads they already know about
Heads in the mow path after a landscape crew moved things

Your crew still looks. Flags reduce the surprise. They do not make you responsible for every unmarked head on earth, and they do not make the customer responsible for every chip if your policy says you own a visible hit.

On the property note, keep it short:

Irrigation: flag low heads at driveway and west bed. Crew: first-pass look. Policy: we cover flagged/visible hits; unmarked buried heads are documented.

If the second helper cannot run that note, the note is a paragraph of history. Cut it down.

Commercial and HOA sites often have more heads and a contractor who already hates you. Put site rules on the property: who they call, whether you are allowed to cap a head, whether a work order is required. Do not let a helper “just fix it” on a site that bills through a portal.

Photos are the claim file

The argument is almost never the water. It is the story of when it broke.

Crew habit when something looks wrong, before or after the pass:

Photo the head and the turf around it
Photo any flag or the empty spot where a flag should be
Photo a wide shot so you can see it was (or was not) in the mow path
If it looks old: photo dirt in the crack, rust, a dry stain
Attach to the visit the same day

Do not dump forty nearly identical shots into a personal camera roll. One or two honest frames beat a roll nobody will search on Saturday.

If you already use before and after photos for extras and damage, sprinkler claims are the same rule: sparse, attached, dated. Dispatch can answer the text without calling the crew off the next stop.

MowProHQ dispatch board where a damage note can live on the same day’s route — The claim should sit on the property and the visit. If the only copy is a text thread, the next helper will hit the same head next week.

When you pay vs when it was already broken

You will not be perfect. You can be consistent.

You are more likely to own it when: the head was flagged or obvious, the shear is fresh, the crew was in that path, and your policy says visible hits are yours.

You are more likely to decline when: the head was buried, unmarked after you asked for flags, the break is old and dirty, the leak is a zone or a pipe, or the customer watered at 9 p.m. and found a problem you could not have seen at 10 a.m.

Split or courtesy when: the story is muddy, the account is a keeper, and you want the argument over. Write the split. Do not silently eat a $400 zone because you felt awkward.

Call, do not thread-fight, when money or blame is live. Texting is for “we got the photo, we will handle it today.” The decision goes on the record.

If you repair, repair the head you owe. Scope creep (“while you are here, the whole zone is weak”) is a different quote or a referral to an irrigator. Your mow crew is not a free irrigation company unless you sold that product.

Worked conversation (keep it short)

Customer: You hit my head. The whole side is soaked.

You: Thanks, send a photo of the head and the wet area. We’ll check today’s visit and call you this afternoon.

Then: look at the photos, the note, the crew. Apply the policy once. Reply with the outcome: we will replace the head Thursday / we see an old crack and can cap it as a courtesy this once / this looks like a zone leak, here is an irrigator we trust.

One outcome. Written. Next week the crew sees “west head replaced 8/21, flag that row.”

Train the truck so the office is not the last to know

Helpers will either hide a hit or over-confess. Train the middle:

Stop and photo if you hear or see a head
Do not bury a broken head and drive off
Do not promise a new zone in the driveway
Call the lead; the lead calls the office if it is more than a cap
Write it before the next stop

The lead’s walkaround includes a glance at known irrigation trouble spots. That is enough. A twenty-item irrigation checklist will be skipped the first wet Tuesday.

If the same property generates a claim every month, the product may be wrong: too low a cut, a deck that does not belong on that lot, or a system that needs an irrigator. Raise the height, change the machine, or fire the account. Paying a head tax forever is not a quality program.

MowProHQ calendar showing a follow-up repair visit instead of a vague promise — If you owe a head, it is a job with a day. ‘We’ll get it’ is how the same text returns in two weeks.

Keep lawyers and insurance in their lane

You are writing an ops habit. You are not writing a statute.

Do not admit legal fault in a text to “make it go away”
Do not ignore a claim that belongs with your insurance person
Do not invent a waiver in the driveway and call it a contract
If a situation is bigger than a head (injury, a flooded interior, a commercial site) stop and get the right people, not a blog post

The photo and the written policy still help those people. That is the whole point of the record.

How MowProHQ keeps the claim on the property

MowProHQ keeps the property note, the visit, and the outcome in one place so “you hit my head” is not a thread only the owner has. Core CRM, scheduling, quotes, invoices, dual Regular vs Cash pricing, the customer portal, and the website editor stay free with two seats. Card processing on Free is 4% + $0.30. Growth is $39 with unlimited seats, a 30-day trial, dispatch and routes, event-based GPS, chemical tracking, timeclock, a live site with leads, and cards at 3.5% + $0.30. Pro at $89 adds AI website, Get Found, and reviews. Sign up when you want the flag note and the repair visit on the same board, not a Saturday argument with no picture.

Who pays if a lawn care crew hits a sprinkler head?: Your written policy should say. Many shops repair or replace a head they clearly hit when the head was marked or reasonably visible. A buried, unmarked, already-broken, or after-hours leak is a different conversation. This is not legal advice. It is an ops habit so the truck and the office tell the same story.
Should customers flag irrigation heads before mowing?: Ask them to flag low or new heads, especially after a landscape install or a winter blowout. Your crew should still look. Flags reduce surprises; they do not make you a mind reader. Put the flag request on the property note and the welcome packet, not only in a one-time text.
What photos should crews take after sprinkler damage?: Photo the head, the surrounding turf, the mower path if it matters, and the flag or lack of a flag. Photo existing cracks or a dry leak stain if it looks old. Attach the photos to the visit the same day. A camera-roll dump on a personal phone is not a record.
How do I tell a new break from a head that was already broken?: Look for dirt in an old crack, dry staining, a head already sitting below grade, or a customer who has been hand-watering that zone. Fresh shear and a wet fan you created today look different. You will not win every argument. You will win more if the photo exists.
Should I just pay every sprinkler claim to keep the customer?: Not as a default. Paying every claim trains the neighborhood that your mower is a warranty on their irrigation. Pay when your policy says you own it. Document and decline when the head was unmarked, already failed, or outside the mow path. Courtesy credits should have an end date and a note.
How do irrigation flags fit a quality checklist?: Add one line: look for flags and obvious heads before the first pass on problem properties. Do not add a twenty-item irrigation inspection. The walkaround still owns the last look. Flags are a start habit, not a new department.
What should I say to a customer who texts “you hit my sprinkler”?: Acknowledge, ask for a photo, and say you will check the visit record the same day. Do not argue in the thread. Call if money or blame is in play. Then apply the written policy once (repair, split, or decline) and write the outcome on the property so the next crew sees it.