Building a swimming pool should be one of the best decisions you ever make for your home. That moment when your backyard transforms into a space everyone actually wants to spend time in: summer afternoons with the kids, evening gatherings with friends, quiet morning swims before work.
But here’s something we’ve seen too many times in our five-plus decades of building pools across Northern California: homeowners who tried to save money by hiring an unlicensed contractor and ended up paying far more, in dollars, stress, and time, than if they’d done it right from the start.
This isn’t meant to scare you. It’s meant to help you understand what’s really at stake when someone offers to build your pool without proper licensing.
Pools Aren’t a Simple DIY Project
A swimming pool involves serious construction work. We’re talking structural concrete, excavation, underground plumbing, electrical systems running near water, safety barriers, drainage considerations, and local code compliance. Each of these elements requires specific expertise, and when one of them goes wrong, the consequences affect everything else.
A cracked shell doesn’t just look bad; it leaks. A plumbing mistake doesn’t just waste water; it can undermine your foundation. Electrical problems around a pool aren’t just inconvenient; they’re dangerous.
California law requires licensed contractors for pool construction precisely because of these risks. When someone offers to do this work without a license, they’re already demonstrating they don’t follow the rules. That should tell you something about how they’ll approach your project.
What “Unlicensed” Actually Means for You
An unlicensed contractor isn’t just someone who forgot to renew their paperwork. It typically means someone who has never passed state licensing exams, hasn’t demonstrated required experience, doesn’t carry the insurance that protects you if something goes wrong, has no bond backing their work, and isn’t accountable to regulators if they disappear mid-project or deliver shoddy results.
When you hire someone without these protections, you’re essentially taking on all the risk yourself.
The “Savings” That Aren’t
The unlicensed bid always looks attractive. Sometimes dramatically so. And if you’re comparing numbers on a spreadsheet, it’s easy to convince yourself that the cheaper option makes sense.
Here’s what that “savings” often turns into:
You may have no legal protection. If a licensed contractor makes a mistake, you have options: filing complaints with the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), making bond claims, pursuing insurance claims, or enforcing your contract in court. If an unlicensed contractor makes a mistake? You’re often on your own. In many cases, contracts with unlicensed contractors aren’t even legally enforceable. If the job stalls, goes sideways, or gets abandoned entirely, recovering your money can be nearly impossible.
You could be liable if someone gets hurt. Unlicensed contractors often don’t carry workers’ compensation insurance. If a worker gets injured on your property, whether falling into an excavation, getting hurt with equipment, or suffering an electrical injury, you may be financially responsible for medical bills, lost wages, and legal claims.
This isn’t hypothetical. It happens.
Permits get skipped until it’s too late. Many unlicensed contractors will tell you things like “You don’t need a permit” or “Everyone does it this way” or “Permits just slow things down.”
Those are red flags.
When permits are skipped, work may not meet code, inspections can fail, you may be forced to tear out finished work, and selling your home later becomes a problem. And when the city finds out? They don’t go after the contractor first. They go after the homeowner.
Why the State Is Cracking Down
The CSLB has significantly increased enforcement against unlicensed contractors, including jobsite sweeps, undercover sting operations, criminal charges for repeat offenders, and heavy fines.
Why the aggressive approach? Because unlicensed contracting causes real harm: unsafe work, financial loss, consumer fraud, and property damage. Pool projects are a major focus because of their cost, complexity, and safety implications.
If the state considers unlicensed pool work serious enough to pursue criminal charges, that should tell homeowners something.
Pool Problems Hide Until They Don’t
One of the most dangerous things about unlicensed pool work is that problems often don’t show up right away. A pool can look fine at first… until the shell cracks, plumbing leaks underground, decking settles or shifts, electrical issues surface, or water chemistry never stabilizes.
By the time the problem becomes obvious, the unlicensed contractor is usually gone. And fixing it costs far more than doing it right the first time.
What a Licensed Pool Contractor Actually Gives You
Hiring a licensed pool contractor isn’t about paying more for a name. It’s about protection, accountability, and long-term value.
A licensed contractor must pass state exams, prove experience, carry insurance, carry a bond, follow building codes, pull permits, and remain accountable to regulators. That means if something goes wrong, you have recourse. If a dispute arises, there are protections. If defects appear, responsibility doesn’t disappear.
You’re not just buying construction; you’re buying risk management.
When you work with an established builder, you also benefit from a structured process. Understanding how a custom pool gets built from design through completion helps you ask better questions and spot red flags early.
How to Protect Yourself
If you’re planning a pool build, do this before you sign anything:
Verify the license yourself. Don’t take their word for it. Look up the license number on the CSLB website and confirm it’s active, covers pool construction, and is in good standing.
Ask for proof of insurance. Specifically, general liability and workers’ compensation. If they hesitate, walk away.
Get multiple licensed bids. This helps you spot unrealistic pricing, understand the real scope, and compare experience rather than just cost.
Watch for red flags. Be cautious if someone wants large upfront cash payments, avoids permits, refuses to provide documentation, or pressures you to “act fast.” Those aren’t confidence signs; they’re warning signs.
The Pattern We See Over and Over
A homeowner hires an unlicensed contractor to save money. The project runs into problems. The contractor disappears. A licensed professional gets called in to fix it. And the final cost ends up higher than if it had been done correctly from the start.
Cheap bids feel good at signing. They feel terrible at repair.
Your Home Deserves Better
Your home is likely your biggest investment. A pool only adds value when it’s built correctly, legally, and safely.
Hiring a licensed pool contractor isn’t about bureaucracy. It’s about protecting your money, your property, your family, and your peace of mind.
If someone isn’t licensed to do the work, they shouldn’t be doing it on your property.
At Royal Pools, we’ve been building custom-designed swimming pools throughout the Bay Area since 1969. We’re fully licensed, bonded, and insured, and we handle permits, inspections, and every phase of construction with our own in-house crews. If you’re ready to do this the right way, we’d love to talk.
