1. Check the license and insurance
- Home improvement license. Nassau and Suffolk counties both license home improvement contractors. Ask for the license number and check it with your county's consumer affairs office.
- Insurance. Ask for certificates of liability and workers' compensation insurance, sent directly from the insurance company.
- Permits. Ask who pulls the permits. It should be the contractor, in their name.
2. Get it in writing
- A written contract with the scope, materials, brands and sizes
- A payment schedule tied to work completed, not just dates
- Start and finish estimates, and what happens if the weather delays things
- Who handles cleanup, hauling and restoring the lawn
3. Ask who actually does the work
Many pool companies subcontract the excavation, masonry and landscaping. That can work, but someone has to coordinate it, and problems fall between companies. Ask who digs, who builds the pool, who lays the patio and who's on site each day. At CMC one team does the excavation, pool, patio, walls, lighting and landscaping with our own equipment. How CMC compares with other pool companies.
4. See it before it's built
A sketch on a napkin isn't a plan. Ask for a scaled layout or 3D design showing the pool, patio, steps, fence and equipment location, so you can change things on screen instead of in concrete.
Questions to ask every builder
- How many pools and patios like mine did you build last year? Can I see them?
- What's included in the price, and what's not (fence, electrical, permits, restoration)?
- How do you build the base under the patio?
- How long from permit to swimming?
- What warranty do you give, and what do the manufacturers give?
- Who do I call if something goes wrong after you're done?
Red flags
- Large cash deposits before any work
- No written contract, or a vague one
- Pressure to sign today for a special price
- Asking you to pull the permit yourself
- No local projects you can look at
Updated November 2026.
