Websites for pool builders

A pool is one of the biggest purchases a household makes outside the home itself, and people take months to decide. They compare builders, look at display pools and ask neighbours. Your site is where they come back to, so it needs finished pools in good light, a straight explanation of fibreglass against concrete, and a clear account of everything that happens before the first dig.

The work is more than the shell. Council approval, fencing, access for the crane or trucks, landscaping and heating all affect the final bill, and buyers worry most about what they haven't been told. Say what a typical package includes and what it leaves out, show staged progress photos from a real job, and make it easy to send a photo of the yard.

What the site carries

• Finished pools photographed in daylight, with the type, size and surrounds listed under each.
• Fibreglass, concrete and plunge pools on separate pages, with an even-handed note on what suits which yard.
• A plain list of what a package includes, such as excavation, fencing, paving and equipment, and what it leaves out.
• The steps from first visit to first swim, including approval, excavation, shell, fencing and handover.
• Progress photos from a real job, so a buyer sees the work under the finish.
• Who deals with the council and the engineer, you or the customer.
• How access is checked, since a crane, a narrow side path or an overhead power line can change the job.
• A form that takes a photo of the yard, the rough size wanted and the suburb.
• Your pool building licence number beside the business name, where your state licenses this work.
• Pool care, servicing and warranty details after the build, in a few sentences.
• A display pool or visit option, if you have one, with when people can come.

The work your customers look for

• fibreglass pools
• concrete pools
• plunge pools
• pool renovations
• swim spas
• spas
• pool fencing
• pool decks and paving
• pool heating and covers
• pool resurfacing
• landscaping around pools

What they type

• "pool builders"
• "fibreglass pools"
• "concrete pools"
• "plunge pool"
• "pool renovation"
• "swimming pool installation"
• "pool builders near me"
• "swim spa"

Where your state licenses this work, show the licence number beside the business name on every page, and never imply one you don't hold.

A package price should say what it includes, and the total with any compulsory charges has to be at least as prominent as any part price under the ACCC single price rule.

Pool barrier and approval rules differ by state and council, so say which of them your quote covers instead of claiming compliance in general.

Photos of other builders' pools or overseas stock images presented as yours are misleading under Australian Consumer Law.

Words like lifetime or maintenance-free set an expectation Australian Consumer Law can hold you to, so describe the actual warranty and the care a pool needs.

How the rules differ across Australia for pool builders

New South Wales	Whether a pool builder in New South Wales needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with Building Commission NSW. If your work as a pool builder is covered, advertising for licensed residential work carries the licensee's name, the licence number with its category of work, and a phone number, and the rule reaches the internet.
Victoria	Whether a pool builder in Victoria needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with the Building and Plumbing Commission. If your work as a pool builder is covered, domestic building advertising carries the practitioner's name and registration number, print and online, social media included.
Queensland	Whether a pool builder in Queensland needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with the QBCC. If your work as a pool builder is covered, websites head its list of advertising that carries the licensee's name and number, and the name has to match the licence, so a trading name alone can fall short.
Western Australia	Whether a pool builder in Western Australia needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with Building and Energy. If your work as a pool builder is covered, the Building Services (Registration) Act asks for the registration number in any advertising.
South Australia	Whether a pool builder in South Australia needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with Consumer and Business Services. If your work as a pool builder is covered, building work advertising carries the name and the licence number.
Tasmania	Whether a pool builder in Tasmania needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with CBOS. If your work as a pool builder is covered, the site shows the licence number.
ACT	Whether a pool builder in the ACT needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with Access Canberra. If your work as a pool builder is covered, the site shows the licence number.
Northern Territory	Whether a pool builder in the Northern Territory needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with the Building Practitioners Board. If your work as a pool builder is covered, the site shows the licence number.

Rules change. Have your licence and wording checked against your regulator before the site goes live.

• Glossy pictures of pools that aren't yours, often in a style that doesn't suit the yards you build in.
• A price that covers only the shell, so the real cost surprises the customer later.
• Fibreglass and concrete squashed together with no honest word on the limits of each.
• Nothing on fencing or barriers, which is the first practical question after the shell.
• Pictures taken at midday in harsh light that flatten the water and hide the finish.
• No sign of who is actually building it, only a logo.