Heavy clay soils will require closer and shallower installation than sandy or loamy soils. These details will also be influenced by the typical rainfall of the locality and the "worst case scenarios" for the location.

Sand is not a solution by itself. Sand is very limited in water and nutrient holding abilities. It has very limited chemical buffering if you make a mistake with any fertilizer, herbicide or fungicide. Properly selected organic amendments, such as peat, can give you the insurance you need without sacrificing drainage. Agricultural specifications will not suffice for urban landscapes.

Perforated drain pipe buried 3-5 feet deep and 40 feet apart will be insufficient in areas with heavy soils and frequent rainfall. Turf applications run in the range of 18 inches to 3 feet deep and 15-20 feet apart. Where leaching out salts from root zones is necessary, closer spacing will be needed for the drain pipe. A well-designed drainage system can remove salts from the primary root zone when used in conjunction with a flushing irrigation cycle.

Vertical drainage structures are an alternative to buried perforated pipe. They can function as both a collector of surface and subsurface drainage. These prefabricated drainage structures are usually installed in narrow trenches. The top of the structures should be below the depth reached by aerifier tines. For surface drainage, the drain should not be covered with soil. Instead, cover it with sand to the surface.

French drains are trenches filled with pea gravel sloped to carry water away from an area. They are an option to concrete drainage culverts. 

Channel drains might be a better solution than French drains in some areas. These are essentially buried gutters covered by long and narrow grates. Like any drainage structure, they are sloped and lead to a storm sewer or drainage sump. The grates can be removed to clean the gutter beneath the surface.