Water agency rebate files for commercial irrigation, assembled for a person to review before your customer submits them.

A water agency rebate has its own form, dates and evidence, and it changes with the agency. Your invoice is usually the document everything else leans on, so the request lands on your branch even though the customer is the one applying. Someone reads the program page, pulls the sale and works out what the file still needs.

For the test, AI reads copies of your invoice, the product list and the program's rules and assembles the file: eligible product fields for each line, pre-approval and install dates, site and meter fields, the photos and screenshots the program requires, and a list of what's missing. It decides nothing about eligibility and submits nothing. Your reviewer compares each file with what the customer actually sent in and what came back.

The approval date comes first, and each agency runs its own clock. The Metropolitan Water District's commercial rebates in Southern California want a confirmed reservation before the purchase, and a reservation expires 60 days after its effective date. East Bay Municipal Utility District, EBMUD, says commercial customers must apply before purchase or installation, then gives nine months to buy and install. Alameda County Water District and Chandler, Arizona each allow 90 days after written approval or a Notice to Proceed, and San Antonio Water System's rebate offer, once approved, is good for 12 months. The file lines up approval, purchase, install and expiry, and flags an invoice dated ahead of the approval, so a person can see the order of events before anyone sends anything.

Product fields change by line. Metropolitan's rebates need the receipt to show the model number, purchase date and proof of full payment, and they set device minimums of 30 rotating nozzles, 8 sets of large rotary nozzles or 25 in-stem flow regulators. EBMUD pays only for nozzles replacing an entire zone from its qualifying list, and a pressure regulator has to be brass or bronze, one per property. Alameda wants a WaterSense certified controller with a rain sensor unless the model carries its own on-site weather component, and EPA notes labeled controllers can be stand-alone, add-on or plug-in devices. Lines the programs leave out matter too: EBMUD excludes tax, labor and fees, and Alameda excludes installation, site upgrades and subscription fees and subtracts any manufacturer rebate. The file shows each line against the program's list as the customer's copy of the rules states it. Rebate amounts and caps stay as field names, and the file never calculates one.

Site and meter fields have to agree with the water bill, not your ship-to. Metropolitan says the address on the application must match the water bill exactly, wants a separate application for each street address, and issues checks only to the customer listed on that bill, under a W-9 whose name matches. Alameda pays the water account holder. Chandler wants the owner or the party legally responsible for the bill, and EBMUD lists irrigation-only meter properties among its commercial applicants. San Antonio asks for costs itemized by meter. Station counts come from the site as well: Metropolitan and Alameda count only stations physically connected to an in-use system, and Alameda counts the existing controllers. The file flags where your invoice's ship-to, usually a contractor, differs from the bill, for a person to reconcile.

Photos and screenshots have assigned subjects. EBMUD wants the old controller, the new one installed, connected valve wiring, and screenshots of at least two active zones, active schedules with weather features on and a live connection to a weather network or station. Alameda wants the installed controller with its WaterSense label in the picture. Chandler wants two photos, an itemized receipt, proof of payment, a project cost estimate or bid and a signed W-9, without which it won't process the application. San Antonio asks for backflow assembly test records and an Annual Irrigation Checkup report. Metropolitan's inspection vendor makes three attempts to reach the applicant, and the applicant or a designee has to stay for the whole visit. The file lists each item the program names and whether it's in hand.

Some terms outlast the sale. Alameda wants the controller running for at least five years, subscription fees included. San Antonio wants internet connectivity and a contracted licensed irrigator for at least three years. Southern Nevada's program conditions run ten calendar years or until title transfers, and equipment replaced through the program can't be reinstalled in its service area. The file notes these for your customer to read, because they're your customer's to accept. Your reviewer checks every date, field and photo line against the customer's actual submission. Rules and funding change, and Alameda warns its money can run out without notice, so this is a reading of published program pages, not legal advice or a promise of payment.

Once your reviewer approves, new rebate requests get the same file for about 30 days.

A person at your branch reviews every file before it goes to your customer, and your customer submits it, the same way it works today.

Live files keep being compared with what the agency asks for. Any further job is your decision, priced on its own.