Aqualine 02 7 min read Guide
How to choose a pool builder you can trust
What to check before you let anyone quote your pool: licence, insurance, written fixed price, and the provisional-sum trap that hides in cheap quotes.
Short answer: before you let anyone quote, check three things in this order. Is the QBCC licence current and in the right name, is there a written fixed price with no provisional sums, and can you go and see a pool they built locally in the last year. Everything else is detail.
Check the licence before you let them quote
Pool building in Queensland is licensed work. The builder you sign with should hold a current QBCC licence that covers pool construction, in the same name as the business on your contract. Do not take a logo or a glossy brochure as proof. Ask for the licence number, then verify it yourself on the QBCC online register. It takes two minutes and it tells you whether the licence is real, current and clean.
While you are at it, ask for evidence of public liability insurance and home warranty cover. A builder who is set up properly will have these ready. One who stalls or changes the subject is telling you something.
Before anyone quotes, do this
- Ask for the QBCC licence number and look it up on the QBCC register yourself.
- Confirm the licence covers pool building, is current, and matches the business name on the contract.
- Ask to see public liability and home warranty insurance.
- Ask for two or three recent local builds you can visit or phone the owners of.
- Ask the direct question: are there any provisional sums or allowances in this price, and for what.
Get the price in writing, fixed, with nothing left out
A quote is only worth what it includes. The figure that should start your build is one fixed contract price, surveyed up front, with the ground, the access, the fence and the safety certificate all inside it. That is the price that should also finish the build. If the rock, the access or the fencing is sitting in the quote as an allowance or a "to be confirmed", the number you signed is not the number you will pay.
Walk away from this
A "from" price, or a quote with provisional sums and allowances for excavation, rock,
site access or fencing. That is the quote engineered to grow once the machines arrive
and you have a hole in the yard.
This is what good looks like
A builder who surveys the block before quoting, prices the rock and access into a single
fixed number, includes the certified fence and certificate, and gives you a dated program
from dig to handover. At Aqualine that is simply how we quote.
Cheap builder versus the one you can trust
The two can sound alike on the phone. The difference shows up in what they have done before they put a number in front of you, and in what they are willing to put in writing. Here is how to read them side by side.
The cheap builder
The builder you can trust
Quotes a low "from" price over the phone, sight unseen.
Surveys the block before quoting, then fixes one price.
Licence number is "with the office" and never quite arrives.
Hands over the QBCC number and tells you to check it.
Rock, access and fencing sit in the quote as allowances.
No provisional sums. The fence and certificate are inside the price.
No recent local builds you can actually go and see.
Recent Sunshine Coast pools you can visit and owners you can call.
A vague start date and no written program.
A dated build program and a 10-year structural warranty.
What to do next
Shortlist on proof, not on the lowest number. Verify one builder's licence, read their fixed price against the checklist above, and go and stand beside a pool they finished this year. Aqualine has built across the Sunshine Coast since 2008, we are QBCC licensed and a SPASA member, and every site cost is surveyed and named before you sign. When you are ready, start your quote and we will survey first and put one honest price on the whole job.
Common questions
How do I check a pool builder is licensed in Queensland?
Ask for the QBCC licence number, then look it up yourself on the QBCC online register. A real builder will hand the number over without hesitation. Confirm the licence covers pool building, that it is current, and that it is in the same name as the business you are signing with.
What is the single biggest red flag in a pool quote?
A provisional sum, or a "from" headline price. That is a placeholder for work that has not been priced yet, usually rock, access or fencing, and it is the line that balloons once the dig starts. A builder who has surveyed your block can name those costs up front and fix the price.
Should I just take the cheapest quote?
Not on price alone. Two quotes for the same pool are usually far apart because one has left the hard parts out. Compare what is actually included: a written fixed price, the fence and certificate, a dated program, and recent local builds you can go and see. The honest quote often looks dearer on paper and costs less in the end.