Pool service in Florida: which license you need, and what community pools ask for

Suppose a two-truck pool route gets a call from the manager of an apartment complex. The manager wants weekly service, proof of the technician's certification for the equipment room, and someone to replace a failing pump. Two state agencies stand behind those requests: the Department of Business and Professional Regulation licenses pool contractors, and the Department of Health regulates public pools and the people who service them.

Do you need a license to clean pools in Florida?

Not for cleaning alone. Section 489.105 of the Florida Statutes defines three pool licenses, and each definition ends with the same carve-outs. A license is not required for cleaning a pool or spa in a way that does not affect the structural integrity of the pool or its equipment. Water treatment that does not require the permanently attached equipment needs no license either, and using that equipment to treat or clean the water needs none unless the work involves constructing, modifying or replacing it.

The licensed side of the line includes repair and replacement of existing equipment, and any cleaning or equipment sanitizing that requires at least a partial disassembling, with filter changes excluded.

What is the difference between a pool/spa contractor and a servicing contractor?

The statute's three categories differ in which pools they cover and whether construction is in scope.

A certified contractor holds a state certificate of competency and may contract in any jurisdiction in Florida. A registered contractor may contract only in the jurisdictions where it met the competency requirements, the same section says. DBPR's Application Center page for certified pool/spa contractors lists the examination application (CILB 1) and separate individual applications for each category: CILB 5-J for commercial, 5-K for residential and 5-L for pool servicing. Insurance is a separate question, covered in our guide to certificates of insurance, and our handyman exemption guide covers the general rules on unlicensed work.

Is a community pool a public pool?

Usually, yes. Under section 514.011, a public pool includes pools serving subdivisions and cooperative living-type projects of five or more living units, such as apartments, mobile home parks and townhouses, whether or not admission costs anything. A private pool is one used only by an individual, family or living unit members and their guests that does not serve cooperative housing of five or more units.

The Department of Health's public pools page explains that it enforces the sanitation and safety rules in Chapter 64E-9 of the Florida Administrative Code through operating permits and inspections, carried out by the Department of Health office in each county.

What certification does a public pool technician need?

Rule 64E-9.018 requires certification for anyone who services a public pool by maintaining its cleanliness, water quality and chemical balance. The technician attends a nationally recognized course of at least 16 hours approved by the department and passes a test acceptable to it. The certification belongs to the individual and cannot be transferred.

Three details matter to a pool company:

• "Certification does not imply any licensure," the rule says, and a certified technician may not affect the structural integrity of the pool or its equipment.
• A certified technician may not delegate work to anyone, employees included, who is not certified or otherwise exempt.
• Anyone licensed under section 489.105(3)(j), (k) or (l), the three pool licenses above, is deemed certified. So is anyone the rule recognizes as certified by a course of national recognition, and the requirement does not apply to the pool's permitted operator or that operator's direct employees.

The health department's page links its list of approved certification courses.

What will a community pool manager ask for?

Most of a manager's requests come straight from the rules the pool is inspected against.

1. 1Proof of certification. Rule 64E-9.018 says it must be posted conspicuously in the equipment room of each pool serviced, or otherwise be available for inspection.
2. 2Your DBPR license number, if the job includes repairs or equipment replacement.
3. 3Entries in the daily log. Under rule 64E-9.004, the owner or operator keeps a daily record on form DH 921, Monthly Swimming Pool Report, or a custom form with the same information, kept at the pool. It must show manual tests for pH and disinfectant at least once every 24 hours, and weekly cyanuric acid tests where chlorinated isocyanurates are used. Any able person may test the water and record it.
4. 4Water within the rule's ranges: pH 7.0 to 7.8, and free chlorine from 1 to 10 mg/L in conventional pools and 2 to 5 mg/L in spa-type pools.
5. 5A recirculation schedule that fits the rule. The system runs whenever the pool is open, may be shut off three hours after closing, must resume three hours before opening, and the shutdown is controlled by a time clock.

Pool service is one of the trades 1Stop dispatches. Vendors pay no listing fee, lead fee or percentage, invoice one company, 1Stop, and are paid net-14. See pool service work with 1Stop, or apply to the vendor network.