The winter calendar for HOA pool decisions

By the time the pool closes for the season, most residents stop thinking about it until the gate opens again. For the board and the community manager, the off-season is when next summer actually gets decided. Budgets get set and vendors get chosen, mostly between November and March.

Boards that start early get their pick of vendors, time to read contracts properly and a calmer opening day. Boards that wait until spring tend to take whoever is still available.

When pools typically open in our six states

Your timeline depends on when your pool opens. Here's how seasons typically run in the states we work in. Your own community's dates, set by your governing documents and your board, are the ones that matter.

• Texas: pools typically open around March and stay open into the fall, so Texas boards are on the shortest planning clock.
• Florida: many community pools are open year-round, and the rest have a long season. Planning is often a renewal question rather than a fresh start.
• Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina: seasons typically run from May through September, with Memorial Day weekend as the usual opening.
• Colorado: pools usually open Memorial Day weekend and close after Labor Day, a shorter season that still needs its staffing set by spring.

If your pool opens in March, move every step below up by about two months.

November: look back while it's fresh

The season just ended, and memories are still accurate. This is the month to gather what happened.

• Pull the shift reports, incident records and check-in counts from the season.
• List the complaints the manager received and sort them by type.
• Walk the pool with the manager and note repairs, signs that need replacing and furniture at the end of its life.
• Ask the current staffing vendor for a season summary.

Have ready by the end of the month: a short written recap of the season, with numbers where you have them.

December: budget

Most associations adopt next year's budget in the late fall or early winter, which means the pool line needs a real estimate now.

• Decide the season dates and daily hours you want next year.
• Count the staffed hours, including shoulder weeks, holidays and events.
• Get a rough estimate from your current vendor, or a ballpark from one or two others, to sanity-check the number.
• Add a contingency for added coverage and weather.

Have ready: a pool staffing line based on hours, not on last year's number plus a guess.

January: write the scope and request proposals

With the budget set, write a one-page scope of work and send it to the vendors you want to consider. The scope should list the role (attendant, lifeguard or both), the season dates, daily hours, staff per shift, holidays and events, and the duties you need. Attach your pool rules and guest policy.

• Ask every vendor to quote against the same scope.
• Ask for itemized hours, a certificate of insurance, a sample shift report and their no-show process.
• Give vendors two to three weeks to respond.

Have ready: proposals on the way back, all describing the same job.

February: compare, decide and sign

Line the proposals up in a one-page table for the board: hours, season dates, staffing, insurance, background checks, supervision, reporting, no-show terms and price. Have the association attorney read the contract sections on scope, cancellation and indemnification before anyone signs.

• Vote at the February board meeting if you can.
• Sign the contract and send the vendor your rules, access list process and contact list.
• If you're changing vendors, tell the old one in writing, with the notice the current contract requires.

Have ready: a signed contract and a vendor that knows your pool.

March: rules, signs and residents

The last month before opening is about everything residents will see.

• Review the pool rules and guest policy using last season's records, and adopt any changes.
• Replace faded or outdated signs, and make sure code-required signs meet your state and county rules. Our free pool signs are a good starting point for the house rules.
• Update the access list and decide how residents will check in.
• Draft the opening-day email with hours, the guest limit and how check-in works.
• Book the opening inspection with your county if your pool needs one.

Have ready: rules, signs and resident communication finished before the vendor's attendants meet your pool for the first time.

Before opening day

In the weeks before opening, schedule a walk-through with the vendor. Show the attendants the gate, the phone, the restrooms, the equipment room and where the first-aid kit is kept. Go over the post orders: what the attendant does, who they call and how reports reach the manager. Confirm the schedule for the first two weeks, which is when most surprises happen.

Why the timing matters

Staffing vendors plan their own season in the winter, too. They hire and train attendants against signed contracts, and the best staff are placed first. A board that signs in February gets a vendor that has planned around its pool. A board that signs in May gets whoever is left on the schedule.

There's also a practical benefit inside the association. When the budget, the vendor and the rules are settled by March, the manager spends April and May on the opening itself rather than on a rushed vendor search.

A one-page checklist for your next meeting

If your board meets this month, put these on the agenda:

• Agree on next season's dates and daily hours.
• Assign someone to pull last season's records.
• Set a date for sending out the scope of work.
• Put the pool rules review on the March agenda.

Starting your planning now? Request a free, itemized proposal and we'll price your season against your calendar, so the number in your budget is the number in the contract.