RAINWISE
Contractor Resources
RainWise is a rebate program that helps eligible property owners manage stormwater by installing cisterns and/or rain gardens on private property. Contractors must go through our Orientation or Academy program to install for RainWise. Contractors must also be licensed. See Contractor Licensing Requirements for more information.
Please email rainwise@seattle.gov with any questions.
Want to become a RainWise contractor and learn the requirements to install cisterns and/or rain gardens on private property in specific Seattle neighborhoods? Attend our next free 3-day RainWise Contractor Orientation for contractors and landscape professionals. This orientation is required to perform RainWise installations. Email us for updates on the next orientation.
Need more than an orientation? Attend the RainWise Academy for an in-depth, 48-hour free training over 12 weeks to help you become an independent contractor for RainWise. You will learn small business, customer service, and marketing skills, RainWise design and construction of rain gardens and cisterns and more! Email us for updates on the next training.
Existing RainWise Contractors – Sign up for RainWise Events here! 
Become a RainWise Contractor – Next Steps
After completing your RainWise Contractor training, refer to these documents to become a RainWise contractor:
RainWise Project Paperwork Forms
Before the Project Starts
Before construction begins on a RainWise project, contractors are responsible for the completion of these forms.
- RainWise Customer Understanding Form
- RainWise Infiltration Test Form
- Sample Site Plan
- RainWise Rebate Calculator
Project Completed: Rebate Paperwork
Here are the forms that need to be completed by the property owner and contractor to receive final rebate payment.
- RainWise Rebate Checklist for Customers
- RainWise Rebate Overview Form
- Vendor Payment Option Form
- RainWise Property Owner Agreement
- 2018 W9 form
- Rain Garden Warranty Form
- Cistern Warranty Form
- Rain Garden Statement of Function Form
- Cistern Statement of Function Form
- Rockery Release Form
For efficiency/ease, here is a consolidated packet of forms that contractors will need to complete with the customer.
Financial Support Options
For contractors:
- Vendor Payment Option (VPO): For homeowners who choose to have the rebate go directly to their contractor.
- RainWise Pilot Access Loan (RPAL): Offers a subsidized low-cost loan to RainWise contractors upfront for RainWise projects.
- Please fill out this Rebate Assignment Option form with the homeowner.
- Craft3: Provides pre-construction rebate advances to RainWise contractors.
For property owners:
- RainWise Access Grant: Provides up to an additional $1000 for RainWise eligible homeowners and non-profit community organizations (including religious groups) for income limited and underserved communities
- Access Grant and Mini-Grant in Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Korean
Marketing, Design and Maintenance Materials & Resources
Marketing:
- RainWise FAQs in English.
- RainWise One Pager in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Traditional Chinese, Somali, Tigrayan.
- Cistern Fact Sheet available in English, Cambodian, Traditional Chinese.
Design Specifications:
- Rainwise_Rebate_Calculator
- Design Details for Rain Gardens and Cisterns
- How to install a pump to a cistern
Guides for Plant Selection:
Use these plant suggestions and plans to simplify your design process and share options with customers.
- Sightline Institute – Using Cistern Water for Edibles
- RainWise Planting Plan
- SPU Natural Drainage Systems Plant Palette 2000-2006
- Seattle Green Factor Plant List
Maintenance:
Teach your customers how to maintain their cistern and rain gardens. Use our maintenance guide or “how-to” videos. These are all available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.
- Rain Garden and Cistern Maintenance Guide (English)
- Rain Garden and Cistern Maintenance Guide (Spanish)
- Rain Garden and Cistern Maintenance Guide (Vietnamese)
- Rain Garden and Cistern Maintenance Guide (Traditional Chinese)
- Rain Garden and Cistern Maintenance Guide (Cambodian)
- Rain Garden and Cistern Maintenance Guide (Somali)
- Rain Garden and Cistern Maintenance Guide (Tigrinya)
Contractor Skill-Building Webinars
These webinars are for current and prospective RainWise contractors and are held virtually using the Zoom Webinar platform. Recording are located on YouTube.
“Building a RainWise Rain Garden”
Watch the recording to learn the basics of Building a RainWise Rain Garden with Kat with a K Landscaping. You will learn the basics of preliminary planning and design, excavation best practices, and how to complete the installation for a rain garden. BONUS: How to connect a cistern to a rain garden!
- Recording: Building a RainWise Rain Garden
- PDF of presentation: Building a RainWise Rain Garden
- PDF of RainWise design specs: Design Details for Rain Gardens and Cisterns
“Getting Your RainWise Business Online”
Watch this recording of the Contractor Skill-Building Webinar to learn strategies to getting your RainWise business online. Join RainWise outreach team members to go through useful platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook Business, Yelp, Houzz, and more!
- Recording: Getting Your RainWise Business Online
- PDF of presentation: Getting Your RainWise Business Online
- One-pager of useful tips: Getting Your RainWise Business Online
“Design Challenges – How do you make it work?”
Watch this webinar with RainWise contractor Roseann Barnhill of Dirt Corps to learn more about the challenges when installing a RainWise project. Also, you will learn how to complete an initial site design for a RainWise project.
- Recording: Design Challenges – How do you make it work?
- PDF of presentation: Design Challenges – How do you make it work?
“Cistern Installation Basics – Dry fit and Pipe Gluing”
Watch this webinar where you will join Jake Harris of Stone Soup Gardens to learn about the basics of installing a cistern system. At this webinar, you will learn how to dry-fit a cistern installation, pipe-gluing techniques, and more!
- Recording: Cistern Installation Basics – Dry fit and Pipe Gluing
- Sign up for future GRiP meetings here: 700milliongallons.org/about/green-infrastructure-partnership-grip/
- For more resources, check out venturesnonprofit.org which is a Seattle-based nonprofit that empowers aspiring entrepreneurs with limited resources and unlimited potential.
Contractor Newsletter
The RainWise Program emails and mails its Contractor News and Tips Newsletter to RainWise contractors. The purpose of this newsletter is to provide contractors with important program updates and events. If you are a RainWise contractor and you are not receiving the newsletter by mail or email, please contact us at rainwise@seattle.gov to let us know. Please also let us know if you change your address. We want to make sure we are mailing the newsletter to the right place!
Additional Information
- Vendors for Cistern & Rain Garden Plumbing Supplies
- Map of RainWise Basins
- Maps of rain garden eligibility – Maps of each basin showing which properties are likely eligible for rain gardens.
- RainWise Contractor Program Participation Criteria
- Seattle stormwater manual Seattle SDCI – 2021 Stormwater Code
- Rain garden handbook for western Washington fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/publications/1310027.pdf
- Seattle right-of-way improvements manual streetsillustrated.seattle.gov/
- Seattle standard specifications and plans seattle.gov/util/engineering/standardspecsplans/
- Seattle side sewer permit requirements seattle.gov/dpd/permits/permittypes/sidesewer/
- Seattle director’s rules web6.seattle.gov/dpd/dirrulesviewer/
- Seattle land use code seattle.gov/dpd/codesrules/codes/landuse/
- Additional resources from western WA 12000raingardens.org/resources/#