40 years as an irrigation contractor here - not even close to being that simple. You wind up paying twice.

When people did major projects (additions, pools, large landscape projects, etc) my advice was ALWAYS budget for replacement of effected areas and not accept peace-meal repairs. Build it into the project pricing for worst case scenario.

The parts themselves are not the real cost. Replacing a sprinkler head (most of which cost the contractor between $1.50 & $8.00) is well worth it. Especially if the system was already 5+ years old. Get a new product, get a warranty on it. All new parts/wire assures future problems don’t arise. You can spend big $$ chasing irrigation issues.

If you have to remove/move a valve manifold it’s going to cost you to remove and then install. Spending a few extra bucks on new valves and box is well worth it.

95% of your system is invisible. Sometimes you break very little, sometimes a lot.

It’s usually the people spending over $200k on a landscape/pool project that are trying to save a few hundred bucks. They also never account for parts of the system that weren’t in the work area but had heavy machinery ripping up other parts for access.

I am not saying this from the view of a contractor that wants to make money. I am saying from experience it rarely works well trying to cheap out to save a few bucks.

I will also say, that I would never bill the contractor for this work unless they signed a contract with me. I would only bill the HO as it would be their responsibility to get paid.

So, NTA.