I recently had a leak by my city meter here in San Antonio Texas and was told by the plumber that the installation was not correct. The depth for the manual shut off valve and PRV was only 4-5 inches below the grass and that the PRV should be next to the meter before the manual shut off valve. I had another plumber confirm this but when the builder had his plumbers come out to inspect they seemed like it was no big deal. I need help to know if this is substandard work or not following the codes for plumbing?

The 4 to 5 inches below the grass is a problem, in my opinion. I'm sure that San Antonio doesn't have the winters that other areas do. In Northwest Arkansas, the general rule is 16" of cover on a water line. I'm not sure what the norm in San Antonio is but 4 or 5 inches doesn't seem adequate if you have any freezing nights at all.

From my experience, when a water system requires a manual shut off at the meter, they require it to be BEFORE the PRV. At some point, the PRV will need to be changed and thus you have a manual shut off before the PRV which would enable the homeowner to shut the water off and change it out without having to turn the water off on the meter itself.

I don't personally see anything substandard or unordinary about your set up.

A typical water meter set up runs like this. The supply from the street. A shut off valve in case the meter has to be changed. The water meter. Then a PRV, (pressure regulating valve) if needed. And then a service line into your home. Regards, Tom