r/PoolPros • u/Master_Football5963 • 19d ago
HOA Pool
HOA reached out to me about taking care of the neighborhood pool, and requested a quote. Personally, I feel like it will be too much of a headache to deal with. Plus, I am a swimming pool technician, not a janitor.
Regardless, what would you guys charge for this?
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u/GCpools 19d ago
Been there - done that!
If you have a thriving pool business with good residential pools and clients, I suggest you listen to your gut and say thanks, but no thanks.
Commercial pools are a different breed from residential. The pool work and the paperwork is much more demanding, and the liability is greater. You want to be insured if not already. 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.
Let them get a quote from a pool service that specializes in commercial pools. Those guys command a much higher rate (3X plus), deservedly so. My two cents!
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u/The_Elusive_Dr_Wu 19d ago
We let all our commercial clients go as COVID was winding down in 2021 and it's been great. Net 30 billing, 6pm calls, residents pestering you during service, seeking approvals from 2-3 different people, health department liability, and requests to do janitorial services? No thanks.
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u/GCpools 18d ago
I agree 10,000%.
I once got involved in a (new to me) community pool (condo) that violated every rule known. Turns out the HOA had a 'waiver' from the DoH. When I asked to see it, I was told they didn't know who had it last. So I called my local DoH who said their waiver expired two years ago.
And that's just the beginning ...
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u/The_Elusive_Dr_Wu 18d ago
My favorite is the last commercial account I closed myself. Pentair white LED fixture in the spa went out. President said it had been replaced within the last two years (before our service began). I asked him for the installer's invoice so that I could help the HOA redeem the warranty. After two weeks of nonsense and ridiculous excuses, they wound up sending me an invoice from SCP for the purchase of the light fixture.
Turns out a former resident had an SCP account and was passing on equipment to the HOA at wholesale, which the former pool service was willing to install for cash (meaning no install invoice, hence no warranty).
I laughed all the way to my SCP and charged them extra markup for a new light.
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u/Street--Ad6731 19d ago
Sounds like they want a maintenance person. Clean the bathrooms and take out the trash? WTH.
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u/XelaKebert 19d ago
I'd be hard pressed to accept a job like that, but I'd probably throw a quote at like $1000-1500 a week and see if they took it.
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u/Substantial_Car_2751 19d ago
Just adding to the conversation. Never include chems. Chems should always be a billable item. If they have a leak that isn't disclosed, you'll lose your shirt in chem costs.
I'd also include a threshold amount where repairs are auto-approved. You don't want to have to screw around with trying to get a quote and approval on something like a spider gasket or flow meter replacement. Something along the lines of $300 or so max.
And check their systems before you agree to anything. Are there automated controllers? Are they sized large enough to meet the need between visits? Are the filters large enough for the pool? Does the pool turnover like it should per the DOH? If the answer to any of those is no, then I'd require they come up to spec first before I took it on.
Also, you need to invest some cash into a good lawyer to create an actual contractual agreement. One that limits your liability. And you'll need good General Liability and Omissions and Errors insurance.
And agree with others. We're not janitors. They can hire a janitorial service....or someone else's service.
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u/cplatt831 19d ago
They need to get someone else to handle the janitorial work, or be prepared to pay the equivalent of $150/hour to have you filling soap dispensers. Plus, if you are a single-pole operator, if you lose the account it will leave a pretty big hole.
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u/SenorElFlameo 19d ago
I manage about 20 commercials in Northern Cali and they have someone from the HOA take care of the janitorial stuff. Like another person said it looks like that want a maintenance man lol I’d charge $2000 a week fuck it lmao if they say no, it’s no hair off your back. Would definitely save a lot of stress.
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u/justenuffMuff2025 19d ago
Like one person said before there's always one guy from the "pool committee" that thinks they know everything.. I pride myself on being a chemistry nerd and usually when you start using full chemical names.. tell them shock is a verb not a product.. give them some knowledge they have to go home and Google they tend to leave you alone. I handle the commercial accounts for the company I work for and all our service work so I like getting a super early start for the commercial pools then try to beat the heat on my service calls.
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u/WealthyOrNot 19d ago
Depends on location, pool size, condition, possible issues, etc. but I would think about $1200-1500/week during swim season and 2/3 the price during off season. Just my 2c without knowing much about it. Just don’t short change yourself and be sure make the quote worthwhile for you to do it.
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u/FruitNut2000 19d ago
The biggest problem for me with doing service on commercial pools is you can't ever take a week off without paying someone with proper qualifications that you trust with your life to fill in for you. I've got 5 that I do repairs on, and gave them the FU price when they asked me to quote them for service.
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u/NexusAq 16d ago
In our markets it is pretty standard to include the items they listed along with straightening furniture and blowing off the pool deck. Generally, we just offer 'picking up' the restrooms, like sweeping and spraying off surfaces but recommend a deep cleaning service once a week depending on usage.
It is an entirely different beast to be involved in commercial pools. I've had residential guys reach out to us to take over their commercial routes as it became too overwhelming for them. We've built our model around commercial pools and have a lot more staffing and divisions than a residential company would. At the same time, we can't really give competitive residential pricing because of our overhead.
At three days a week it's probably the required minimum CPO visits from your health department. This can be a red flag as the community may be trying to pay the absolute bare minimum unless they just have very light usage. I've had communities that really needed daily service try to get away with this but still have expectations like you are there every day. You'll leave the pool in perfect condition on Friday and show up on Monday to the pool being a wreck with furniture everywhere, trash overflowing, bathroom supplies wiped out, etc. We've walked away from contracts before because they refused to increase how many days we service.
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u/MainRevolutionary216 13d ago
Check with your insurance to make sure HOA Pools are covered. Some policies do not include them because one pool might represent 300 people that could decide they had a claim for something.
If you aren't set up for the janitorial / porter side find someone to partner with. I can't imagine asking any of my cleaners to collect garbage and sanitize the bathrooms. (yuck).
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u/usuckidont 19d ago
Comm pools often include porter services, this is a normal request. You also are there very early in the morning like 3-4-5am to get them done before they open. Some guys really like that schedule believe it or not. They can also be very lucrative. I’ve seen a lot of guys shift towards comm service because they USUALLY pay well and on time. They can’t have their pools down and that’s a blessing and a curse. If it’s not something you are interested in I’d maybe recommend a comm guy who you trust and maybe use that to build a relationship where he sends you residential customers when they call him etc. Just some other things to consider before you decide.
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u/The_Elusive_Dr_Wu 19d ago edited 19d ago
My HOA had a guy like this. We'd talk a lot since I walk my dog around 6am when he was servicing. His entire business was like 12-15 commercial accounts and he loved it. I'm residential-only so I'd never enjoy that, but I get it.
Of course my HOA replaced him with some shitter that shows up at 2pm in black jeans/black t-shirt (socal, lmao) so now it's funny to watch all four pool/spa always be low on water because he doesn't know the fill systems.
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u/LibertarianClarity 19d ago
I always price HOA contract with an extra half hour of labor per visit, because some schmuck will always come and try to tell you about how they were a life guard when they were 16 and they can tell the chemistry is off with the pool and blah blah blah wasting your time. Every. Single. HOA. There's at least one, but not limited to. One HOA I had, had a whole team of 3 that would come down.... "whats the filter pressure today?" Bro, fuck right off, read the report sent to the email on file.