Swimming Pool Expert Witness & Designer Ground Movement

The Importance of a Soils Report and Soils Engineer

Few, if any swimming pool designers or contractors are trained geologists or soils engineers.  And none are doing their clients any favors by not including a soils expert on a project team.  

Why is this so important, you ask?  Buildings rest UPON the soils, wherein a swimming pool is built entirely WITHIN the soils.   Pools are even more dependent upon the soils than a building built upon the surface.  Yet a soils report is always commissioned to assist the structural engineer in designing a building's foundation.

Soils are one of the largest loads upon a swimming pool.  Depending upon the pools' design, loads may also occur from snow, wind, surf, slopes and seismic events.

The International Building Code (IBC) requires that ALL structures be engineered to withstand the anticipated loads that may be placed upon them.  A swimming pool is a STRUCTURE, therefore it must comply with the code.  A version of the IBC has been adopted by every state in the US (the year of edition varies by state), so it applies to every pool built within our borders.  California and Florida have adopted codes that are even more stringent than the basic IBC. 

But those codes are not enforced in my region...  you say.
You're right, building code enforcement across the country is spotty.  In the likely event of structural issues or a personal injury, the codes will be applied and compared to what was actually constructed.  And if the builder deviated from those codes, they will be held financially liable for the repairs.

Incompetent soils that do not support a pool or expansive clay soils that lift or stress a pool are the most common soil defects. 
Mitigating soil conditions UNDER an existing pool are virtually impossible. 

In an attempt to be cost competitive, many pool builders omit the inclusion of a soils expert in their projects.  Some even omit engineered plans from their projects.  In the event of settlement, heave or pool cracking the pool builder is liable for these conditions.

Had these events occurred and they included these experts and followed their recommendations, then the liability would be upon those experts.



Paolo Benedetti 
Aquatic Artist, Consultant & Construction Defect Expert Witness
"Creating water as art."™ 
Aquatic Technology Pool and Spa 
©www.aquatictechnology.com

Swimming Pool Inspection Expert & Construction Defects

Why you need an expert inspection of your vanishing edge, infinity edge, negative edge or basic swimming pool.

Real Estate Sales or Title Transfers
Let's face it... real estate professionals are in the business of making the sale.  They work strictly on commission and if the sale does not happen, they do not get paid!

They are required by law to do their "due diligence" in obtaining the required inspections for their client.  However, does this mean that they are going to find the absolutely best swimming pool expert witness to inspect the pool, spa, waterfall, fountains or watershapes?  Of course not!

Qualified Expert Inspections?
Most real estate agents are only hire a local swimming pool service company.  Some will be even lazier and have the "home inspector" perform the pool inspection.  Most home inspectors are not even qualified to inspect homes and have never been general contractors, let alone swimming pool contractors.  Most of these inspections only cost a few hundred dollars... barely enough to cover their time and gas just driving to the pool site.


The pool service company is merely hoping to gain you as a service client or pick up some equipment repair work.  One of my local pool service company specializes in expansion joint mastic removal and replacement... so, every one of their inspections makes a comment about the serious condition of the mastic (caulking).

Very few of the owners of these companies have ANY experience designing or constructing swimming pools.  They are simply looking at the obvious things that an untrained layperson would identify... cracked tiles, loose coping, decayed plaster, rusting rebars, heaving or cracked pool decks and leaking or noisy equipment.

Exposure to Litigation
By hiring unqualified parties to perform inspections of complex steel reinforced concrete structures, electrical systems, safety bonding grids, hydraulic designs and the finish materials, they are exposing themselves to potential litigation should major issues develop with the pool.

I have been involved in a few of these cases.  Case in point, a real estate agent retained a local swimming pool service company to perform a pool inspection.  The first service company that could perform the site visit the next day and have the report completed that same afternoon was hired.

However, the person who visited the site failed to notice that the pool was slightly out of level, the concrete pool decks were seriously cracked and heaving and the trees on a nearby slope were tilting slightly downhill.

Though the initial inspection report noted that the mastic joint was wider than originally installed, no mention was made of the fact that the decks had actually pulled away from the pool.

When I visited the site, my immediate concern was of the stability of the slope.  Everything indicated that the pool, soils underlying the decks and the nearby slope were actually creeping.

The BIG Picture
I also noted that the stucco and foundation on the residence were cracking.  Though these were noted in the home inspectors report, no mention was made as to the potential cause.  The creeping slope was causing a lot more issues than just with the pool.

A soils engineer performed an inspection of the site & drilled some test bores.  The tests revealed that the site was a "cut & fill" lot and that the backyard soils were improperly compacted, nor were they keyed into the existing slope.  After 40 years, the soils settled and began to slide downhill.

After consulting with structural engineers, repairs to the foundation of the residence were devised and completed.  However, the swimming pool would have to be removed and replaced in order to install a drilled caisson foundation under the pool.

The resulting repairs to the residence and the replacement of the swimming pool cost over $350,000 (the heavy equipment required for repairs required the removal & replacement of landscaping, walkways, fences and part of the driveway).  The home inspector, swimming pool service company and real estate agent (and her broker) were all sued by the client. 

Combined, their insurance companies settled for slightly over $1,000,000.  Why so much more?  The owners stated that they would have not bought the property had they known that the structure, soils and swimming pool were defective.  They were also entitled to punitive damages, loss of use, devaluation to their property and attorney's expenses.

All of this because unqualified people performed inspections to meet a real estate agent's inspection budget and time constraints.

Unqualified inspectors who were not trained to see the big picture...

Paolo Benedetti - Aquatic Artist, Consultant & Construction Defect Expert Witness 
"Creating water as art."™ 
Aquatic Technology Pool and Spa 
©www.aquatictechnology.com