FAQ about our Directory
About Our Directory
We built our directory to help homeowners find contractors to bid on their swimming pool and other outdoor living projects, while also providing small to medium-sized businesses an opportunity to showcase their business offerings and craftsmanship. All contractor information presented in our directory and throughout our site is self-reported or sourced by various resources on and offline. All information published in an active contractor listing has been attested to being accurate and valid by the contractor at the time the information is published. We ask all active contractors to keep their information current and to notify us when information in their listing has changed. Where possible, we cross-reference the information each contractor provides to us using additional resources on and offline. While we take our independent research seriously, we are a small business with limited resources, and incorrect or outdated information may unintentionally appear on our site. By using the National Pool Contractor website and directory, you understand and accept that mistakes may be published, and you do not hold us liable for any incorrect information you find on our site. We strongly encourage every visitor to use our directory as an informational starting point, and to perform their own research on any company they are considering doing business with. If you find erroneous contractor information published on our website, please contact us immediately so that we can correct our oversight. Please share your experience about any of our contractors listed, or if you know of a contractor you think we should add to our directory, use our feedback form.
About our contractors
Most of the contractors in our directory are small to medium-sized businesses, including many family-owned and operated companies, small partnerships, and sole proprietorships that specialize in the swimming pool industry or the designing, maintaining, and building of outdoor living spaces. All self-reported information appearing in our directory is provided by the company’s business owner, principal, or relevant manager. Contractors interested in listing their company in our directory provide us with pertinent information about their business by either speaking to one of our team members directly in a one-on-one interview, or by completing an extensive questionnaire online that we may follow up with one or more brief discussions for clarification. During this signup process we gather information about their services, their geographical service area, and their credentials. We also ask for images of their work.
How contractors are added to our directory
During the signup interview or questionnaire, contractors are asked to provide us with a list of credentials. In some instances, we will also ask contractors to provide us with a list of references. Only contractors with insurance and a valid license, where required, are given active membership status in our directory.
Active, Inactive, and Unclaimed directory listings
Only contractors with liability insurance and a valid license, where required, are given active membership status in our directory. We verify contractor license information using licensing agency websites and share that information with you. When a contractor operates in a location that does not have an official agency issuing licenses for the service(s) that the contractor provides, we share that information with you as well.
All active directory-only contractors verify their profiles before they are added to our directory. Before profiles are published, contractors preview the information to be published then sign our contract attesting that their company information is accurate and valid. There are several types of active memberships. Only featured contractors are both members of our directory and our network of contractors. Our network of contractors is a more selective group that we routinely match with homeowners interested in estimates for their swimming pool projects. For example, if you are interested in getting a quote from us and fill out one of our forms, you will be matched with contractors from our network. Many of these contractors have been working with us for over 5 years. Unless otherwise noted, membership types primarily denote the size of a subscription, that is, the amount of content contractors want to publish to their profile, and the amount of content we host on our website.
Inactive or unclaimed contractor directory listings are not verified. Inactive listings represent previously active contractors whose contracts with us have expired, and we can no longer verify that their directory profile is accurate and up-to-date. Unclaimed listings represent contractors who have never been active members of our directory. Contractors labeled unclaimed in our directory have not claimed nor verified the information we publish; however, all of the information provided in an unclaimed listings is public. We include inactive and unclaimed contractors in our directory to help homeowners broaden their search for companies that may provide the services that help homeowners design and complete their outdoor living space. We expect homeowners to do their due diligence for all contractors, especially those listed as inactive or unclaimed, before requesting an estimate.
Contractor Credentials
Each active directory listing includes a list of verified credentials. Every active contractor listed in our directory has responded to a series of questions about their credentials. Their self-reported answers are published in our directory to give homeowners a snapshot of each contractor’s qualifications and other indicators that might help homeowners assess a contractor’s suitability. While each contractor’s list of credentials is self-reported, before we activate a contractor’s listing, they must sign a legally binding contract attesting that the information they have provided us is accurate and valid to the best of their knowledge. The list of credentials we ask contractors to provide us, includes but is not limited to the following: years in business; license number, where required; if they have liability insurance, if they are bonded, if they offer any warranty or guarantee; if they offer financing, and if they hold any other certifications or if they have received any awards for their work. If a contractor’s listing is missing some of the credentials we ask them to provide, it only means that they have not provided it to us or did not attest to having those credentials when they signed up for our service. While we ask every active contractor to keep their profile up-to-date, some will likely neglect to do so. Always ask your contractor about the most essential credentials: their license, their insurance, and if they are bonded. You can also ask them to provide you with proof of these credentials. Some of the credentials you might see listed in a contractor’s directory profile are explained below.
Contractor License
Requirements for a contractor’s license vary by location and trade. Often, licenses have specific eligibility requirements such as experience under a contractor licensed in their area of specialization such as an apprenticeship; education, training in safety and building codes; insurance, bonding; and background checks. Typically, contractors must pass an exam specific to their specialization, submit an application, and pay a fee before receiving their license. To maintain their license, contractors must participate in continuing education courses, renew their insurance (and bonding), pay renewal fees, and alert their licensing authority of any changes to their business.
Commonly, contractor licenses are issued by the state where a contractor works. However, some states do not issue trade licenses, or they do not issue licenses for the specific work a contractor performs (e.g. they offer a general contracting license but not a license in their specialized trade, like building swimming pools). In these instances, cities and counties may issue contractor licenses. Some states may require contractors to hold both state and local licenses to perform their work. Additionally, some states will issue a general contractor license while others require contractors who practice more specialized trades (e.g., electrical, plumbing, etc.) to obtain licenses for those specializations, or additional certifications. In some areas, the terms registered and licensed are used interchangeably, but in other areas, they mean different things. In some areas, being a registered contractor might require fewer preconditions than a licensed contractor. In addition, there is no nationally accepted nomenclature for licenses of the same trade. For example, the license for someone who practices the trade/ profession of Pool Sales Construction & Installation might hold a Swimming Pool Contractor license, or a General Swimming Pool Contractor license, or a Swimming Pool Builder License, or a Residential Pool/Spa Contractor License, etc., depending on what state they work.
Liability Insurance
Broadly speaking, contractors with liability insurance are protected from financial loss in the event they are found legally responsible for causing harm, injury, or damage to someone else or their property. Specifically, liability insurance helps businesses cover the cost of legal fees, settlements or court judgments. Incidents where coverage might be needed include accidents, negligence or mistakes. There are several types of liability insurance. Individual policies will carry various coverage limits and types of exclusions. The four common types of liability insurance include: general, professional, product, and employer. For a homeowner, general and professional liability insurance are important when hiring a contractor. General liability insurance covers businesses against accidents, damages, and injuries caused by their business activities. Professional liability insurance protects companies against negligence, failure to perform their professional duties, or mistakes in their work. Product liability protects against claims related to products a company manufactures or sells. Employer liability insurance covers work-related claims not covered by workers’ compensation. If contractors have employees, they should also carry workers’ compensation insurance. If a contractor hires subcontractors, they should ensure they have the appropriate insurance.
Bonded
While you often hear “bonded and insured” as a phrase where both terms are used together, they are separate types of safeguards a companies purchases to protect themselves and their clients. (Read about liability insurance above). When a contractor is bonded, it means they have purchased a surety bond (from a bonding company) that guarantees the contractor will fulfill their obligations according to the terms of their contract. If the company fails to meet its obligations, the bonding company will cover the costs up to the amount the company is covered. This means that when a company is bonded, you, as a homeowner, have some protection that you can recover financial damages to complete or repair the contractor’s work. For example, if a contractor is bonded and does not complete the work as specified in the contract they signed with you, you can file a claim with the bond company to recover the expense of getting the work finished or repaired, so long as it does not exceed the limits of the contractor’s surety.
Warranty or Guarantee
Some businesses will offer a warranty or guarantee on parts and labor. If you are installing or repairing a manufactured product, learn about their product warranty or guarantee, if available. This is especially true when installing or repairing a fiberglass or vinyl swimming pool.
Contractor Images Published in our Directory
A contractor’s membership level determines the number of images we post to their profile.
At signup, we request images from each directory-only contractor with a photo gallery in their membership package. As part of a contractor’s agreement, they attest that the images they provide us are original or representational. Representational images are stock photos that represent the type of work the contractor does. We label contractor images appearing in a contractor’s profile as “representational” based on the information they attest to.
In some cases, we will publish representational stock images for the contractor. Most often we do this when the contractor cannot provide us with original images at the time of their signup, or the quality of the images they provide us is too low to adequately showcase their projects on our website. When possible, we use stock images as placeholders and request contractors to provide us with images of their projects as soon as possible. Until we receive original images, we label the stock images as “representational.”
Ratings and Reviews
We do not publish ratings and reviews on directory listings. While we believe gathering reviews about a contractor is an essential part of your overall research of a potential hire, we could not adequately assure the validity of visitor ratings and reviews on our website. Additionally, other websites offer this type of information far better than we ever could. That said, we want to know about your experience with any pool professional in our directory or network. Visit our feedback form here.
On selecting a contractor for your next estimate
We always encourage homeowners to do their own research when selecting a contractor to work on their next project. We’ve published an article in our blog on best practices. The article is accompanied by a PDF with a checklist.