Pool service agreement template: a weekly service contract with card-on-file billing, repair approval and a condo/HOA rider (free Google Docs, Word and PDF)

Published November 9, 2026 · Florida rules checked November 9, 2026

• Free. Click any link below, enter your email, and I'll send you the files.
• Deepsel is our product. It is free estimate, invoice and scheduling software for contractors with a service plans module on its $29 plan, and the section before the FAQ says what it does and doesn't do for a pool route.
• Not legal advice. Have a local attorney read the template before you use it. The Florida notes in it need a Florida attorney's read.

This is a free pool service agreement template for weekly or every-other-week residential service. It says what each visit includes and what costs extra, which chemicals are in the monthly price, how rained-out weeks and five-week months work, how the card on file is charged on the 1st and when an unpaid account stops getting service, how much a repair can cost before you have to ask, and who pays when the pool turns green or won't hold water. An optional rider covers condo, HOA, apartment and hotel pools: who keeps the daily health department log and where your certification gets posted. Florida notes sit next to the clauses where Florida law changes the answer. It's written in plain English, with a first-visit condition report at the back.

Get it three ways: make your own copy in Google Docs (opens in your Drive), download the Word version (.docx), or download the PDF. Enter your email and I'll send the links to all three. It's the pool edition of my pest control and landscaping agreement templates, rewritten for a weekly route that bills monthly and does repairs on top.

Owners keep asking each other for this document. One, in July 2026: "Any chance you'd be willing to share your service agreement? I'm drafting one myself and it would be a great help, rather than having to amend it after a customer is already pissed off lol."¹⁰ What ranks for the search today is pool companies' own PDFs, generic contract forms with "pool" typed into the title, and software companies' toolkits. None of them explains why a clause is there, and none says what changes in Florida.

What a pool service agreement should include

A pool service agreement (or pool service contract; Google counts the two as one search) should list what each visit includes and what's extra, name the chemicals in the monthly price, set the service day and the rules for rain, holidays and five-week months, authorize the card on file and say what happens when a payment is late, make access the customer's job, set a dollar amount for repairs you can do without asking, and say who pays for a green pool, a leak, and a new finish someone else started up. Then cancellation. Each clause below is a numbered section in the template, with the owner problem it answers.

What's included and what's extra (Section 1)

Section 1 is a table: skim and empty baskets, brush, vacuum, test, add chemicals, check the equipment, backwash, filter clean, salt cell, and a service note after every stop, each with how often and whether it's in the price. One owner's advice to a new route in July 2026: "Draw up your service agreement and explicitly state everything included or what is extra. Set the expectations at the beginning."⁸

Owners split on how. A Florida owner says "it's more important to clarify the things you don't do, than the things you do do." A Florida commercial operator answered in the same thread that a list of exclusions invites "your contract doesn't say you don't do it," so he would "List what you do and the frequency" instead.³ The template does both. Section 1.1 says anything not in the table is extra work at the Appendix A prices, and 1.2 names the usual arguments anyway: extra visits, green-to-clean, storm cleanup, acid washes, drain and refill, start-ups, leak detection, decks, screen enclosures, fountains, and turnovers for short-term rentals. A second-season owner who learned this the hard way: "I definitely need to re work my service agreement with more detailed/explained prices."⁵

One Florida line sits in the filter row. Florida's pool licenses cover "any cleaning or equipment sanitizing that requires at least a partial disassembling, excluding filter changes."¹² Swapping a cartridge is fine without a license. A DE filter teardown may not be. Section 6.3 explains it, and the edge is one of the lawyer questions at the end of this page.

Chemicals, and the clause for when chlorine prices jump (Section 2)

Page 1 offers the three plans owners sell: full service with routine chemicals included, full service plus chemicals, and chemical-only. Most pros include them: in Skimmer's 2025 survey of pool pros, over 54% bill monthly with chemicals included and 20% monthly plus chemicals.²⁴ So Section 2.1 names what "included" means (chlorine, acid, alkalinity increaser, and salt up to a set amount if you tick it), and 2.2 lists what's always billed: stabilizer, calcium, phosphate remover, stain treatments, and the algaecide and extra chlorine of a green recovery.

Section 2.4 is the chemical price clause. If your cost for chlorine or tablets rises more than a set percentage, you can raise the price or add a surcharge after 30 days' written notice, and the customer can cancel before it starts. Trichlor supply really does break: after a 2020 fire at a BioLab trichlor plant in Louisiana, C&EN reported in May 2021 that it was "already causing shortages and price hikes."²³ An owner on how he justifies his yearly raises: "Chemical price increases, insurance price increases, software fee increases are the biggest three I rely on for my annual rate hikes."¹¹ With the clause signed, that conversation becomes a 30-day notice.

The service day, rain, holidays and the five-week month (Section 3)

Section 3.1 promises a day, give or take one, and never a time. An owner who suggested exactly that also suggested a combination lock on the gate, "so you don't have to keep a key and you can have anyone cover the route."⁷ Section 3.2 is the rain visit, in one owner's words: "We work in the rain; our service agreement states that we will do only chemistry, empty baskets, and check equipment, and their fee remains the same."⁷ Lightning is a different rule. Another owner's policy for it ends in one word: "bye."⁷

Section 3.3 settles the four-versus-five-week question that comes up every summer on r/PoolPros. The default is the one several owners in a July 2026 thread use: "52 actual weeks in a year, but because you bill monthly and not weekly it comes out to 48wks- those extra 4 weeks are used for holidays, vacation and training." Another spelled out his: "1 week at thanksgiving, 1 week at Christmas, 1 week at new years, and 1 week whenever I feel like it."⁶ A Dallas owner wrote the same trade into his agreement years ago: no charge for the fifth week, no credit for holidays, "So, it all comes out in the wash."¹ If you'd rather bill each visit ("If you typically charge $300 per month for a 4-week visit, I'd charge $375 for a 5-week month"⁶), there's a tick box for per-visit billing instead.

Section 3.4 is for Florida and the Gulf: no service while a tropical storm or hurricane warning is in effect, securing furniture is the customer's job, and storm cleanup past 45 minutes is billed by the hour. A Florida commercial operator lists "Tropical Storms/Hurricanes (we're in FL! lol)" as its own clause.³ The 45 minutes comes from the Dallas agreement, which bills heavy post-storm cleaning by the hour starting 45 minutes into the visit.¹

Card on file, billing on the 1st, the late fee and the pause date (Section 4)

This is the clause that decides whether the route pays you. From a post in August 2026: "me and my business partner have a really hard time with customer who don't pay us for service." An owner answering "what do you wish you'd known" in November 2026: "How to handle collections…lost 300 on one customer and 600 on another."^4,11 The owners who don't have the problem all describe the same setup:

• "We don't take on new customers unless they agree to put their CC or ACH on file for autopay in our skimmer account. Full stop."
• "I bill on the first, due on the 15th, and skip service on the first of the following month along with late fee."
• "After the 15th they get a $25 late fee."
• "I started charging late fees a couple years ago. Now I don't chase any payments and most now sign up for auto-pay."⁴

Section 4 is that recipe with the numbers as blanks. 4.2 is the card authorization: the monthly price charged on the 1st for that month, plus extras approved under the agreement, until the customer cancels, with a receipt for every charge. When a charge will differ from the usual amount, the customer gets the amount and date in writing at least 10 days ahead, or (their choice) only when it's more than a set amount above usual. That mirrors the federal rule for automatic debits from a bank account, which requires a signed authorization, a copy to the customer, and 10 days' notice of a transfer that varies in amount, and lets the customer choose notice only outside a range.²¹ 4.4 sets the late fee (or the most your state allows, if less), retries a failed card twice with a link to update it, and pauses service on the 1st of the next month with written notice first. If the pool goes green while the account is paused, Section 7 bills the recovery. As one owner put it: "Green pool because of a lapse in service? Additional charge."⁴

Access: gates, dogs and the visit that still counts (Section 5)

"Dogs are the big one," one owner wrote when another asked what goes in a pool contract. "If Dogs are out, I reserve the right to refuse service that day with no refund."² Another owner in the same thread said to "dedicate a section to the things that would keep you from servicing their pool," and his list ran from dogs and swimmers to "nude sunbathers" and snakes.² Section 5.1 makes access the customer's job on the service day: gate open or a code, animals in, automatic cover open or working. 5.2 says what happens when it isn't: the tech tries to reach them, waits up to 5 minutes, leaves a note with a photo, and the visit counts, with a same-week return trip at a set price. 5.3 has you close and latch every gate you use and leaves the pool barrier, alarms and safety cover with the homeowner, along with a line that you aren't a lifeguard. What Florida requires of that barrier, from the fence height to the gate latch, is on the Florida pool fence requirements page.

Repairs: the approval amount and the license (Section 6)

Section 6.2 sets a dollar amount the customer pre-approves for parts and small repairs, so a $12 o-ring doesn't take three texts. A Florida owner described his: "Our default was a $25 pre-auth, and we let the customer set it to whatever. Some picked 0, some picked $100, which made things real easy."² The Dallas agreement pre-authorizes $50 and lets the customer decline a part within 15 days of the invoice, with the part removed and the charge reversed.¹ The template takes both ideas: the amount sits on page 1 (with a $0 box), and the 15-day decline is in 6.2.

Then the license. A commercial operator would pre-approve repairs under $150 "Just so I didn't have to chase down approval to change a leaking pump seal or a multi port diverter gasket."³ In Florida, that pump seal is a repair of existing equipment, and the statute makes that licensed work. The servicing contractor's scope includes "the repair or replacement of existing equipment," cleaning that needs "at least a partial disassembling, excluding filter changes," new equipment, heaters, perimeter and filter piping, and "the substantial or complete draining of a swimming pool... for the purpose of repair or renovation." Cleaning that doesn't affect the structure of the pool or its equipment needs no license.¹² What each class of license covers, and where cleaning stops, is on the Florida pool contractor license page. A licensed Florida owner described the gap between the law and the market: "you can't legally even cut a pipe on equipment without a license, O-rings and filter elements really... but we all know how that goes lol 90% of the guys in my area don't have a license."¹¹

Three Florida rules follow, and the template carries each:

• Your certified or registered license number "shall appear in each offer of services, business proposal, bid, contract, or advertisement," so it goes on page 1.¹³
• A contract for work you aren't licensed to do is "unenforceable in law or in equity" by you, and you get no lien for it.¹⁴ That's why page 1 has a box for "we hold no contractor license" and 6.3 sends repairs to a licensed contractor named in the quote.
• A pool contractor may work on power wiring only "on the load side of the dedicated existing electrical disconnecting means"; installing, replacing or upgrading that circuit takes a licensed electrical contractor.¹⁵

Section 6.6 covers work by others, from an owner whose customer took his filter quote to a cheaper company. The top answer, with 32 upvotes: "Just express that you are not responsible for any repairs done by someone else."⁹ And 6.7 sends any repair over $2,500 to its own contract. In Florida that contract needs the Recovery Fund statement and the construction lien notice, and a deposit over 10% starts permit and start-date clocks; the wording and a template are on Florida construction contract requirements.¹⁶ If a repair customer doesn't pay, the steps are on the Florida mechanics lien page.

The green pool clause (Section 7)

A Long Island owner started a June 2026 thread about a customer whose pool kept turning green between visits, unsure whether he could charge for the follow-up trips. A Florida owner answered: "If it's your fault it turned green, you gotta fix it for no charge. If it's not your fault, you can charge."⁵ Section 7 writes that down. 7.1 quotes a green-to-clean before weekly service starts. 7.2 makes a green pool you caused your cost. 7.3 lists the causes the customer pays for: equipment off or not repaired after you reported it, an unrepaired leak, power or timer changes, storms and debris, a party, chemicals someone else added, a service pause for an unpaid balance, and a day you couldn't get in. The optional 7.4 is the Dallas agreement's algae-free promise for paid-up, chemicals-included customers: back within 3 days or on the next service day, whichever comes first, at no charge unless a 7.3 cause applies.¹

Leaking pools and the water level (Section 8)

The same Long Island customer's pool lost "4-6 inches of water a week," the owner was topping it up with a hose, and the customer blamed him for the algae. The Florida owner's reply: "Your maintenance contract is to maintain a non-leaking pool. If that's not in your service agreement, add it now." He also said to "offer a free bucket test if you suspect a leak," so the conversation starts from data.⁵

Section 8.1 says the agreement is for a pool that holds water and offers the bucket test. 8.2 gives the customer a set number of days after your written notice to fix the leak; after that, the extra chemicals are billed, algae, staining and damage from the leak aren't yours, and you can end the agreement. 8.3 makes the water level the customer's job, with an option to add water through a hose timer, written the way an owner wrote his after a mistake that had him back at a customer's house at 10 pm "to shut it off": "we would add water if a hose and timer were provided and that we were not liable if the timer failed."⁹ 8.4 says you never drain without a signed work order, because draining can let groundwater lift a shell or liner.¹ In Florida, draining for repair or renovation is licensed servicing work.¹²

New plaster, start-ups and what was there before you (Sections 9 and 10)

A Southwest Florida owner in August 2026: "the customer hires us and we have no idea at the startup wasn't done right and the Builder tries to blame us for curing problems." Another: "Every single customer who's had to call the company that built their pool would blame me."⁹ Section 9.1 leaves the start-up of a new finish with the builder or plasterer unless you sign a separate start-up agreement, starts weekly service when the start-up ends, and excludes finish problems from a start-up you didn't do. 9.2 is the first-visit condition report in Appendix C: water, surface, tile, each piece of equipment, drain covers, water level, gates, sent to the customer with photos. Anything on it is outside your responsibility. Section 10 lists the rest (equipment age, the fill water, weather, other people's work) in the same spirit as the Dallas agreement, which excludes "bather discomfort, plaster etching, calcium build-up and other chemical-related issues" it can't control,¹ and caps your liability at 12 months of fees except for your own negligence or where the law forbids a cap.

Cancellation (Section 11)

One owner's whole clause: "service can be cancelled at anytime, by either party, without reason given, as long as a written notice (text or email is fine) is delivered and the billing account is settled within three days."⁸ Section 11 is that, month to month, with 7 days' notice before the next billing date and no fee. Another owner's reason to keep it easy: "if you make cancelling easy than their last memory of you won't be how you billed them for 2 months after they tried to cancel."² If you discount the first month, an optional line has the customer pay the discount back if they leave before a set number of payments, which is a lighter version of the Dallas agreement's fee for cancelling before the fourth invoice.¹

Two legal notes sit here. If you change the agreement to a fixed term of 12 months or more that renews by itself, Florida's automatic renewal law applies: the renewal must be disclosed "clearly and conspicuously," the customer gets a written notice "no less than 30 days or no more than 60 days before the cancellation deadline," and you must let them cancel "in the same manner, and by the same means" they signed up; breaking the rule voids the renewal clause.²⁰ And if you sign customers up at their home after offering the service there, the federal Cooling-Off Rule covers sales of $25 or more at the buyer's residence, "including those in response to or following an invitation by the buyer," and Florida's home solicitation law has its own "BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL" statement.²² The template has a tick box in the signature block to attach the notice; both notices and how they differ are on Florida construction contract requirements.

The condo, HOA, apartment and hotel rider (Appendix B)

Appendix B turns the agreement into a commercial one for pools that health departments treat as public. In Florida that includes pools serving "subdivisions, or the cooperative living-type projects of five or more living units, such as apartments, boardinghouses, hotels, mobile home parks, motels, recreational vehicle parks, and townhouses."¹⁷ A North Florida owner on the requirement: "If in FL, you need your CPO which is no big deal. It's just an added requirement that most pool pros don't have."¹¹ Who the certificate rule reaches, small condo associations included, is on the Florida pool contractor license page. The rider settles who does what under Florida's rules:

The rest of the rider is commercial housekeeping: visits a week, an annual price billed in equal monthly payments (a South Carolina HOA operator: "Generally our contracts run 13-15k annually per body of water. And it's billed evenly each month."¹¹), net-30 terms, an additional-insured certificate on request, and what isn't included (restrooms, clubhouse, furniture, lifeguards). Price in the residents, too. An owner with 16 upvotes: "I always price HOA contract with an extra half hour of labor per visit," because some resident will want to discuss the chemistry.¹¹ Outside Florida, replace the Florida notes with your state or county health department's public pool rules.

The Florida notes in one place

The template works in any state. These are the clauses where Florida law changes the wording, all read on November 9, 2026 in the 2026 Florida Statutes and the current Florida Administrative Code. Have a Florida lawyer read every one before you rely on it.

What I checked for recent changes: the amendment history printed under each section. s. 489.105 was amended in 2025 and 2026, and the pool definitions quoted here are from the current 2026 text; s. 489.126 was amended in 2025, and the deposit rule reads as described; s. 501.165 was last amended in 2022; ss. 489.119, 489.128, 489.1425 and 713.015 and the chapter 514 sections cited were last amended in 2016 or earlier. The 2025 bill that would have rewritten the pool scopes (SB 570 / HB 453) died in the Senate, so the cleaning exemption still reads as quoted. The questions I'd put to a lawyer are where filter cleaning becomes "partial disassembling," which repairs a servicing (class C) license covers, whether weekly cleaning carries lien rights, and whether a service company may close an association's pool under B.6.

Appendix A ships as blanks with a few example numbers in brackets (a $95 service call, parts at cost plus 30%, a $25 late fee). Replace them with yours. Florida owners' own prices for the monthly rate, filter and salt cell cleans, repairs and green-to-clean are on pool service pricing, with a free sheet that works out yours from your route.

More for pool companies

• Florida pool contractor license: what the commercial, residential and servicing classes cover, the cleaning exemption, condo and HOA pools, and your first 30 days.
• Pool service pricing: what Florida owners charge a month, for repairs, filter cleans and green-to-clean, with a free price sheet.
• Pool service software compared: what Skimmer, Pool Brain and 14 other tools cost at 60, 200 and 450 pools, and which ones handle autopay on a card on file.
• Florida pool fence requirements: the barrier rules a new pool meets at final inspection, and the buyer notice.
• Florida construction contract requirements: the Recovery Fund statement, the lien notice, the 10% deposit rule and the 3-day cancellation notices, with a template for repair and remodel jobs.
• Florida mechanics lien: getting paid on a repair or remodel the customer won't pay for.
• Contractor insurance: what to buy first and what it costs.
• How to hire your first employee: payroll, workers' comp and the paperwork for your first tech.
• Pest control and landscaping agreement templates: the siblings for other route businesses.

Where Deepsel fits

Deepsel, the product this site sells, is free estimate, invoice and scheduling software for home-service contractors, and it isn't pool route software. Its chemistry side is basic: a tech can log free chlorine, pH and cyanuric acid on the visit's checklist and gets a flag when one is out of range, but there's no readings history per pool, no dose suggestions, and no chemistry report goes to the customer after a stop. It has no route optimization, though weekly stops do run as a recurring job series, set once on the job. What Free gives you is scheduling and dispatch, quotes, invoicing, card payments, and customer and equipment records, with a Pool & spa equipment type for pumps, filters, heaters, heat pumps, salt chlorinators and automation (pump horsepower and speed, filter type and area, heater BTU), with 30 estimates and 30 invoices a month for your whole team. Repair quotes go out with options, and the customer approves and signs on screen.

On Pro, at $29 a month with unlimited users, estimates and invoices, two parts of this agreement run themselves. You can save the agreement as your own contract template, attach it to the quote for weekly service, and the customer signs it when they approve. And the service plans module (a plan attaches to one piece of equipment on the customer's record, such as the pump) charges the monthly price to the card on file every month, on the date the plan started (there's no setting to move every customer to the 1st, so start plans on the 1st or write the plan's date into Section 4.2), sends a heads-up email before each charge (renewal reminders are on unless you turn them off), and when a charge fails it emails the customer a link to update the card with the next retry date, emails your office, and marks the plan past due. Customers who won't keep a card on file can be set to pay outside: Deepsel emails them the amount due before each period and a past-due notice if it's late, and you record the payment. Customer lists import from Jobber or Housecall Pro, with no per-user or per-pool charge (pricing). Until you need Pro, the free maintenance agreement tracking spreadsheet keeps a list of who's on which plan and when each started.

Frequently asked questions

What should a pool service agreement include?

What each visit includes and how often, what's extra, which chemicals are in the monthly price, the service day and what happens in rain, on holidays and in five-week months, the card-on-file authorization, the late fee and the date service pauses for an unpaid bill, the customer's access duties (gate, dogs, cover), a dollar amount for repairs you can do without asking, who pays when the pool turns green or leaks, the start-up of a new finish, cancellation, and your license number if you hold one. The template has a numbered section for each, plus a rider for condo, HOA, apartment and hotel pools.

What is the difference between a pool service contract and a pool service agreement?

In pool service, nothing: owners use the two names for the same document, and Google counts "pool service agreement" and "pool service contract" as one search. Some companies call it terms of service. What decides whether it protects you is what's in it, and whether the customer signed it before the first visit.

Should a pool service contract be month to month?

Most weekly routes run month to month: either side cancels in writing, and the customer pays for the month that's started. The template does that, with 7 days' notice before the next billing date. A fixed 12-month term that renews by itself is a different animal. In Florida it triggers the automatic renewal law (s. 501.165): the renewal has to be disclosed clearly, the customer gets a written notice 30 to 60 days before the cancellation deadline, and they must be able to cancel the same way they signed up. Other states have their own versions, so ask a lawyer before you add a term.

Can a pool company charge for a visit when the gate is locked or the dog is out?

Yes, if the agreement says so before it happens. Section 5 of the template makes access the customer's job on the service day (gate open or a code, dogs in, cover open), and says that when the tech can't get in or it isn't safe, the tech tries to reach the customer, waits up to 5 minutes, leaves a note with a photo, and the visit counts. A same-week return trip is offered at a set price.

Who pays when a pool turns green?

Under the template, you do if the cause is yours (a missed visit, too little chlorine), and the customer does if it isn't: equipment that was off or not repaired after you reported it, an unrepaired leak, a storm, a party, chemicals someone else added, or service paused for an unpaid bill. A Florida owner put the rule in two sentences: "If it's your fault it turned green, you gotta fix it for no charge. If it's not your fault, you can charge."

Can a pool cleaner do repairs in Florida without a license?

Not equipment repairs. Florida's pool/spa contractor scopes include "the repair or replacement of existing equipment" and "any cleaning or equipment sanitizing that requires at least a partial disassembling, excluding filter changes," plus heaters, piping, and draining a pool for repair. Cleaning that doesn't affect the structure of the pool or its equipment needs no license. A contract for work you aren't licensed to do is "unenforceable in law or in equity" by you, so you can't sue to collect for it (s. 489.128). Where exactly cleaning ends and licensed work starts is a question for a Florida lawyer.

Do I need a CPO certificate to service an HOA or condo pool in Florida?

You need a public pool service technician certification (a Department of Health-approved course of at least 16 hours plus a test, such as a Certified Pool Operator course), or a pool/spa contractor license, which counts as certification for the person who holds it. Your helpers need their own: a certified technician may not delegate the work to anyone who isn't certified (rule 64E-9.018). Proof of certification is posted in the equipment room of each pool or kept available for inspection.

Sources

1. Jerry Jurden (Champion Pool Service, Dallas), "How to Create a Rock-Solid Service Agreement," Pool & Spa News, January 10, 2018: a $50 pre-authorization with 15 days to decline; cancellation in writing 7 days before the billing cycle and a fee before the fourth invoice; rain checks; holidays; "if there are five service days in a month, we don't charge extra for that fifth visit. So, it all comes out in the wash"; hourly storm cleaning after 45 minutes; the algae-free guarantee; draining and hydrostatic pressure; "bather discomfort, plaster etching, calcium build-up and other chemical-related issues." poolspanews.com, read November 9, 2026.
2. Reddit, r/PoolPros, "What are some specifics you put in contracts?" (September 7, 2025): ncxqq9j (dogs), ncxvwje (a Florida owner's $25 pre-authorization and water level), ncy0mrr (access section, easy cancelling). Read live November 9, 2026.
3. Reddit, r/PoolPros, "Things I should include in my service agreement that I might not be thinking about" (February 5, 2026): o3w5yuv (a Florida owner: clarify what you don't do), o4fgxq6 (a Florida commercial operator: list what you do; hurricanes), o3ye782 and o4j8ouq (automatic repair approval, $150). Read live November 9, 2026.
4. Reddit, r/PoolPros, "Pay me!" (August 20, 2026): post, p4rd8mk, p4rbwra, p4rr7si, p4xmfa4, p4r59rg. Read live November 9, 2026.
5. Reddit, r/PoolPros, "How do you guys charge for extra services?" (June 13, 2026): ori8hj1 (green pools), orl3125 (4 to 6 inches a week), orl67ki (a non-leaking pool), orlpv50 (bucket test), orldfqi. Read live November 9, 2026.
6. Reddit, r/PoolPros, "Four vs five pool service days per month" (July 31, 2026): p14pje0 (48 weeks), p0w5yoq (holiday weeks), p0vyey1 ($375 for a 5-week month). Read live November 9, 2026.
7. Reddit, r/PoolPros: "How to respond to client?" (June 2026), oq58peh (rain visits) and opfh7ew (a day, give or take one, and a combination lock); "Lightning and rain policy" (August 15, 2025), n8u2h5r. Read live November 9, 2026.
8. Reddit, r/PoolPros: owib5re (July 9, 2026, included or extra, card on file); orbpf2s (June 12, 2026, cancellation terms). Read live November 9, 2026.
9. Reddit, r/PoolPros: "Does anyone actually follow the plasters association startup guide..." (August 25, 2026), post and p5tjgmh; of9yj4o (April 9, 2026, repairs by someone else, 32 points); okxqb5v (May 10, 2026, hose and timer). Read live November 9, 2026.
10. Reddit, r/PoolPros, oxsxc78 (July 16, 2026), asking to see another owner's service agreement. Read live November 9, 2026.
11. Reddit, r/PoolPros, checked live November 9, 2026: 19s2voxrxb2uc (November 3, 2026, collections); osgm3as (June 18, 2026, annual rate hikes); owd6997 (July 8, 2026, a licensed Florida owner); "HOA Pool" (August 28, 2026), p6ifciw (CPO in Florida) and p6ibgji (an extra half hour, 16 points); ph0pk9o (October 16, 2026, a South Carolina HOA operator).
12. Florida Statutes § 489.105(3)(j), (k) and (l) (2026): the commercial, residential and servicing pool/spa contractor scopes, including "the repair or replacement of existing equipment, any cleaning or equipment sanitizing that requires at least a partial disassembling, excluding filter changes," and "the substantial or complete draining of a swimming pool, or hot tub or spa, for the purpose of repair or renovation"; "a license is not required for the cleaning of the pool or spa in a way that does not affect the structural integrity of the pool or spa or its associated equipment"; no "direct connections to a sanitary sewer system or to potable water lines." leg.state.fl.us, read November 9, 2026.
13. Florida Statutes § 489.119(5)(b) (2026): "The registration or certification number of each contractor shall appear in each offer of services, business proposal, bid, contract, or advertisement, regardless of medium." leg.state.fl.us, read November 9, 2026.
14. Florida Statutes § 489.128 (2026): contracts by an unlicensed contractor "shall be unenforceable in law or in equity by the unlicensed contractor"; no lien or bond claim for them. leg.state.fl.us, read November 9, 2026.
15. Fla. Admin. Code R. 61G4-12.011(15): pool/spa electrical work is "power wiring on the load side of the dedicated existing electrical disconnecting means. If installation, removal, replacement, or upgrading of this circuit is necessary, the work shall be performed by a licensed electrical contractor only." flrules.org, read November 9, 2026.
16. Florida Statutes § 489.1425(1) (Recovery Fund statement in contracts "for repair, restoration, improvement, or construction to residential real property," except where labor and materials do not exceed $2,500), leg.state.fl.us; § 713.015(1) (lien notice in "Any direct contract greater than $2,500" for dwellings of up to four units), leg.state.fl.us; § 489.126(2)(a) (more than 10 percent of the price: apply for permits within 30 days and start within 90 days after the permits issue), leg.state.fl.us. All read November 9, 2026.
17. Florida Statutes chapter 514 (2026): § 514.011(2), the public pool definition; § 514.031(4), "the permit must be posted in a conspicuous place"; § 514.075, public pool service technician certification. leg.state.fl.us, read November 9, 2026.
18. Fla. Admin. Code R. 64E-9.018, Public Pool Service Technician Certification (16-hour course and test; no delegation to uncertified people; contractors licensed under § 489.105(3)(j), (k) or (l) deemed certified; operator exemption; (6) proof of certification posted). flrules.org, read November 9, 2026.
19. Fla. Admin. Code R. 64E-9.004(10) to (12) (amended June 11, 2023): test kits on the premises; the daily record on form DH 921 "shall be the responsibility of the pool owner or operator," with pH and disinfectant tests "at least once every 24 hours" and weekly cyanuric acid where chlorinated isocyanurates are used; "Any able person can test the pool water and record it in the report"; the CDC's fecal incident recommendations. flrules.org, read November 9, 2026.
20. Florida Statutes § 501.165, "Automatic renewal of service contracts" (2026; last amended 2022): renewal for "a specified period of more than 1 month"; clear and conspicuous disclosure; for terms of 12 months or more, notice "no less than 30 days or no more than 60 days before the cancellation deadline"; cancellation "in the same manner, and by the same means"; a violation "renders the automatic renewal provision void and unenforceable." leg.state.fl.us, read November 9, 2026.
21. 12 CFR § 1005.10(b) and (d) (Regulation E): preauthorized transfers from a consumer's account "may be authorized only by a writing signed or similarly authenticated by the consumer," with a copy to the consumer; written notice of a varying amount "at least 10 days before the scheduled date of transfer," or by agreement only outside a range. ecfr.gov, read November 9, 2026.
22. 16 CFR Part 429, the FTC Cooling-Off Rule (§ 429.0, door-to-door sale: $25 or more at the buyer's residence, "including those in response to or following an invitation by the buyer"; § 429.1, the notice), ecfr.gov; Florida Statutes §§ 501.021 (home solicitation sale; excludes a sale "that results from a request for specific goods or services by the purchaser"), leg.state.fl.us, and 501.031 ("BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL"), leg.state.fl.us. All read November 9, 2026.
23. C&EN, "Shortages of trichlor, a popular pool sanitizer, threaten summer fun" (May 6, 2021): "a fire last summer at a BioLab trichlor factory in Westlake, Louisiana, is already causing shortages and price hikes." cen.acs.org, read November 9, 2026.
24. Skimmer, "The State of Pool Service 2025" (survey of pool pros): "over 54% of respondents are using a monthly including chems model. Only 20% are using" monthly plus chemicals. PDF, read November 9, 2026.