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paysagement

Irrigation estimator

Amounts before taxes. GST (5%) and QST (9.975%) are added and shown separately.

OverviewMaterialsHoursContractorSources

Good to know before you start

The potable water connection, shut-off and backflow preventer are plumbing work: a CMMTQ member plumber (RBQ subcategory 15.5). Piping downstream of the device is exempt (Construction Code, chapter III, art. 3.02.01).
The potable water connection, shut-off and backflow preventer are plumbing work: a CMMTQ member plumber (RBQ subcategory 15.5). Piping downstream of the device is exempt (Construction Code, chapter III, art. 3.02.01).
Before you digTrenches often cross cables: file a free Info-Excavation request and dig by hand near the marks.
Trenches often cross cables: file a free Info-Excavation request and dig by hand near the marks.

Source: Régie du bâtiment du Québec, Travaux d'excavation · APSAM (Association paritaire pour la santé et la sécurité du travail, secteur affaires municipales), Fiche technique 34, Protéger les services publics souterrains

PlumberThe connection to drinking water, the shut-off and the backflow preventer are plumbing: done for others, they require a CMMTQ plumber. For your own house, we strongly recommend a plumber.
The connection to drinking water, the shut-off and the backflow preventer are plumbing: done for others, they require a CMMTQ plumber. For your own house, we strongly recommend a plumber.

Source: LégisQuébec, Éditeur officiel du Québec, Code de construction, RLRQ c. B-1.1, r. 2 · Régie du bâtiment du Québec, Liste des sous-catégories de licence (document 1592, édition 2025-10)

MunicipalityCheck the municipal drinking water bylaw: permitted hours for automatic watering, rain sensor, backflow preventer requirements.
Check the municipal drinking water bylaw: permitted hours for automatic watering, rain sensor, backflow preventer requirements.

Source: Soumission Rénovation, Prix de la tourbe au Québec : combien coûte le gazon en rouleau en 2026?

Other notes from the calculation (4)
  • Automatic watering: check your municipality's current restrictions (days, hours, rain sensor).
  • In Quebec the system must be drained every autumn before the freeze (manual, automatic or compressed-air blowout, ideally by a specialist) and started again in spring; insulate the backflow preventer without blocking its vents.
  • No machine within 1 m of the locate marks: expose utilities by hand.
  • RBQ licence: subcategory none for this kind of excavation (licence required: false).

Where the money goes

Before taxes, one scale for both bars.

Do it yourself, money spent

$1,503
  • Materials$945
  • Equipment rental$131
  • Subcontracts$426

Contractor, typical price

$2,859
  • Materials$874
  • Labour$369
  • Equipment and rentals$131
  • Subcontracts and fees$426
  • Overhead$772
  • Margin$286

True cost: money and time

Before tax, one scale for every bar.

Your time
2
$35.05/h
By default, the average hourly wage in Quebec:
Money spentYour time ($35/h)Contractor's rangeTypical price ($2,900)
Do-it-yourself true cost and a contractor's price, before tax
Money, do it yourself$1,503
True cost, beginner$3,001
True cost, intermediate$2,520
Contractor$2,400 to $3,400 ($2,900)

Your time

Money, hours, days, value of the time and true cost, beginner and intermediate
MeasureBeginnerIntermediate
Money spent$1,503$1,503
Person-hours43 h29 h
Days of 8 h, 2 people3 days2 days
Your time at $35/h$1,498$1,018
True cost$3,001$2,520

Working days only: add rain days and waiting times (curing, deliveries).

Hiring costs less if your time is worth more than:

estimate
$32/h
Based on beginner hours.

At $35/h: hiring costs less.

Break-even = (the contractor's typical price minus the money spent doing it yourself) divided by your person-hours. Before tax on both sides: GST and QST apply to both.

Actions

Estimates are computed in your browser: no account, and your projects stay on your device. The page link holds your choices: copy it to come back or to share it. "Save this project" keeps it in this browser only, nothing is sent. My projects

Step-by-step guide

Phases, "done when" checks, safety, common mistakes and sources, with your project's quantities.

Read the guide
Do it yourself

What you buy, rent and pay for

Quantities in orderable units, retail prices before taxes, with the source, date and region of every price.
estimate
Do-it-yourself cost detail
ItemQuantityUnit priceAmountSource
Materials
4-zone controller1 unit$88.00/unit$88.00$88.00/unit
Rotor head9 units$29.31/unit$263.81$29.31/unit
Polyethylene pipe270.7 ft82.5 m$0.79/ft$213.83$0.79/ft
PVC schedule 40 pipe, 3/4 in5 lengths50 ft · 15.24 m$17.99/length$89.95$17.99/length
Rain sensor1 unit$78.00/unit$78.00$78.00/unit
Swing joint9 units$5.98/unit$53.82$5.98/unit
Valve box2 units$17.88/unit$35.76$17.88/unit
Electric valve2 units$36.56/unit$73.11$36.56/unit
Multiconductor wire1 roll50 ft · 15.24 m$39.21/roll$39.21$39.21/roll
Waterproof wire connector4 units$4.92/pack$9.84$4.92/pack
Equipment rental
Walk-behind trencher4-hour blockUse: 3.8 machine h-$130.78
Total before taxes
$1,502.57
GST (5%)
$75.13
QST (9.975%)
$149.88
Total with taxes
$1,727.58

GST and QST are computed on purchases and rentals; your own work is not taxed.

Notes on prices(1)
  • Price for "Connection by a plumber (CMMTQ)" is an estimate (no published price list).
Your time

How many hours, at what pace

Person-hours (p-h): a professional's hours times a documented factor for your experience, rework and machine learning included, plus the guide's planning and checks (planning, locate request, permits). The factors are in the assumptions.
estimate
Beginner
43 h
about 3 days of 8 h with 2 people
Work
21.6 h
Rework
2.2 h
Learning the machines
1.5 h
Planning and checks
17.5 h

Beginner: has never compacted a base or cut pavers.

Intermediate
29 h
about 2 days of 8 h with 2 people
Work
15.7 h
Rework
0.8 h
Learning the machines
0.5 h
Planning and checks
12.1 h

Intermediate: has done at least one similar project.

For comparison, a professional: 8.2 h of work, about 0.5 crew days.

Step by step, from the guide

Each guide step, timed by the same calculation as the total: each task's hours at your level's pace, rework included. Hover a value to see the range.

Hours per guide step, beginner and intermediate
StepBeginnerIntermediate
1Measure static pressure and available flowguide rate1.51
Draw the zones and place the headsguide rate5.84.1
Check the precipitation rate and run timeguide rate1.51
2Request a locate and read the watering bylawguide rate1.51
Have the connection and backflow preventer installedguide rate1.51
3Dig the trenches and lay the pipeweather8.45.9
4Build the manifold and flush each zone5.84
Mount the controller and run the wires2.92
5Fit the heads and backfill the trenches6.64.6
Program and test each zoneguide rate2.92
Shut the system down before frost and start it up in springguide rateweather2.92
Learning the machines1.50.5
Total (p-h)42.829.1

The rows add up to the total: 25.3 h of work calculated by the engine, plus 17.5 h of planning and checks at the guide's rate (beginner). 2 steps depend on the weather. Read the full guide

Detail by calculation task(4)
Detail by calculation task
TaskProBeginnerIntermediate
Irrigation trenching2.98.55.9
Sprinkler head installation2.36.64.5
Valve installation25.84
Controller installation12.92
Learning the machines-1.50.5
Total8.242.829

Person-hours per task. Beginner and intermediate hours include rework.

Hire a contractor

What a contractor would charge

Range before taxes for the same project built by a crew: labour, equipment, materials, overhead and margin.
estimate
Low
$2,400
Typical
$2,900
High
$3,400

Before taxes

Where the money goes (typical price before taxes, $2,859)

Breakdown of the typical price before taxes
Materials30.6%$874
Labour12.9%$369
Equipment and rentals4.6%$131
Subcontracts and fees14.9%$426
Overhead(estimate)27%$772
Margin(estimate)10%$286
Typical price before taxes$2,859
GST (5%)$142.93
QST (9.975%)$285.15
Typical price with taxes$3,287
Rules in Quebec

Permits, licences and neighbours

What applies to this kind of work, with the source of every rule.
Assumptions

Calculation parameters

Typical value (low to high), source, date, region and confidence grade of every parameter in the calculation.
See the assumptions(22)
Calculation parameters
AssumptionValueSource, date, regionGrade
Contractor overhead (share of price)27% (20% to 35%)
Net profit (share of price)10% (3% to 15%)
Contractor discount on retail prices7.5% (15% to 0%)
Crew round trip to the site1 hfixed rule-
Non-productive time per person per day0.5 p-h (0.25 p-h to 1 p-h)
Job Bank median wages, no CCQ ratesJob Bank medians, no CCQ ratesfixed rule-
GST5%fixed rule-
QST9.975%fixed rule-
Base hourly wage: foreman$28.00/h ($22.00/h to $40.03/h)
Base hourly wage: heavy equipment operator$36.00/h ($24.00/h to $43.40/h)
Base hourly wage: labourer$21.89/h ($17.36/h to $28.50/h)
Base hourly wage: operator$36.00/h ($24.00/h to $43.40/h)
Base hourly wage: paver installer$27.00/h ($20.00/h to $38.00/h)
Time multiplier, beginner2.65 x (1.88 x to 3.81 x)
Time multiplier, intermediate1.92 x (1.52 x to 2.44 x)
Rework, beginner0.1 x
Rework, intermediate0.05 x
Learning time per machine, beginner1.5 h (1 h to 2 h)
Learning time per machine, intermediate0.5 h
People working (do it yourself)2
Productive hours per day (do it yourself)6 h
Fuel price$1.51/L

Region: Quebec · prices as of October 13, 2026 · engine 1.2.0. These three values are enough to reproduce this calculation.

Sources

Where the numbers come from

Every price and parameter on this page points to one of these sources.
  1. 1.paysagement (research), Costs: equipment rentals, labour, production rates and contractor sell prices (Quebec, 2025 to 2026)October 10, 2026 · Amérique du Nord · 10 values
  2. 2.paysagement (engine plan), Engine parameter registry seed list (estimates with no external source)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 3 values
  3. 3.Job Bank (Guichet-Emplois), wage report, EI survey data 2023-2024, updated 2025-11-19November 19, 2025 · Québec · 2 values
  4. 4.Home Depot Canada product page (price read from the search engine's copy of the page; direct fetch refused)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
  5. 5.Home Depot Canada product page (price read from the search engine's copy of the page; direct fetch refused)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
  6. 6.Home Depot Canada product page (price read from the search engine's copy of the page; direct fetch refused)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
  7. 7.Home Depot Canada product page (price read from the search engine's copy of the page; direct fetch refused)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
  8. 8.Home Depot Canada product page (price read from the search engine's copy of the page; direct fetch refused)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
  9. 9.Home Depot Canada product page (price read from the search engine's copy of the page; direct fetch refused)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
  10. 10.Home Depot Canada product page (price read from the search engine's copy of the page; direct fetch refused)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
  11. 11.Home Depot Canada product page (price read from the search engine's copy of the page; direct fetch refused)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
  12. 12.Job Bank (Guichet-Emplois), wage report, EI survey data 2023-2024, updated 2025-11-19November 19, 2025 · Québec · 1 value
  13. 13.Job Bank (Guichet-Emplois), wage report, EI survey data 2023-2024, updated 2025-11-19November 19, 2025 · Québec · 1 value
  14. 14.Job Bank (Guichet-Emplois), wage report, EI survey data 2023-2024, updated 2025-11-19November 19, 2025 · Québec · 1 value
  15. 15.Patrick Morin, Tuyau en poly, 75psi, 1 po (prix au pied)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
  16. 16.Patrick Morin, Tuyau en pvc, csa, 3/4 po x 10 pi (Xirtec, collection Schedule 40)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
  17. 17.Simplex (product page, CAD before tax)October 10, 2026 · Québec · 1 value
See the result : Yourself$3,000*Contractor$2,900before taxes, estimate