Swimming Pools

Home

Choosing

Choosing a Swimming Pool Professional

Signing the Contract with the Builder

Guide to Swimming Pool Construction

Swimming Pool Site Preparation and Excavation

Swimming Pool on Problem Soils

Swimming Pool Special Soil Conditions

Swimming Pool on Fill and Rock

How a Contractor Build a Swimming Pool

Swimming Pool Finishes and Trims

Swimming Pool Accessories

Signing the Contract

Without a singed contract between you and your builder, you'll both have nothing but trouble. A contract is an agreement between two parties covering the performance of certain work for a certain amount of money.

A good contract – whether it's that standard contract used by the builder or one prepared by your attorney – protects both your interests and the builder's. It must be tightly written, describing everything to be done and by whom, as well as everything not to be done. Don't sign it until you read and understand all of it.

“Musts” for the contract

A well-written, standard contract may cover both sides of a A4 sheet of paper in type considerable smaller than what you're reading. Any builder should be willing to give you a copy of the contract form in advance.

A contract should contain the following information:

Plans and Specifications.

These must be in sufficient detail so as to allow no question about what is to be built. A plan drawn to scale and attached to the contract should show the location of the pool on your propery; the swimming pool's shape, size, and dimensions; and the location of the support system, including filter and pump, solar panels (if any), heater, return lines, and main drain with pipe sizes, skimmers, and accessories.

Air-sprayed concrete (gunite) swimming pools cannot be built to exact dimensions. The built should contain a tolerance provision with a financial consideration for undersized and over-sized dimensions. If a dimension comes out small than what you contracted for, you get a rebate. If larger, you pay an additional fee. If your tolerance is 5 percent over or under, the dimension on a 12 meter-long swimming pool can vary from 11.5 to 12.6 meters.

Performance

The contract should specify all the work to be done, materials to be used, equipment to be installed, including manufacturers and model numbers, and any optional features to be considered. The date work will start and end should be stated as well as the time when the owner becomes responsible for maintenance. It should also lay down conditions for suspension, arbitration, and termination.

Excavation and Grading

The contract should state the cost of gaining access to the site, relocating utilities, and excavation of unknown underground hazards whether man-made or natural. It should also assign responsibility for final grading and for the removal of building debris and surplus earth and rock.

Costs and Payment

Outlined in the contract should be the cost of the specified work and any options, the payment schedule, and the question of ownership ion the case of bankruptcy.

Consider the payment schedule carefully. On the one hand, to ensure that you won't have't paid in full for an uncompleted swimming pool, you may want to make partial payments as different stages of the work are completed. The builder, on the other hand, would prefer to be paid before the work is completed, in order to be paid in full by the time the job is finished.

Legal Conditions

Legal provisions in the contract should include the validity period for the agreed-upon price, responsibility for permits and zoning compliance, and provisions for mechanic's lien releases as the labor and materials used are paid for. Whey are these releases necessary? Because even though you've paid the contractor, if he or she has not paid those who have done work or supplied material on your property, under mechanic's lien laws you can be liable for the amount they are owed. In addition to requiring lien releases every time you make a payment, you can request that the swimming pool builder post a bond assuring payment to subcontractors.

Liability for damages and personal injury and guarantee provisions for the contractor's work and any equipment installed should also be written into the contract.