Are pool and spa inspections a good add-on?

The InterNACHI Standards of Practice say the inspector is not required to inspect swimming pools or spas, or swimming pool wiring. The 2014 ASHI Standard excludes "recreational facilities," and its glossary puts spas and swimming pools on that list. ASHI's revised Standard, approved in January 2026 and not yet in force, names swimming pools, spas, and hot tubs outright.

Some state laws draw the same line. Pennsylvania and Iowa both write pools and spas out of the legal definition of a home inspection, as limited exams of a single system. See Pennsylvania and Iowa, and check your own state's rules before offering the service. For the full comparison, see home inspection standards of practice.

ASHI publishes a separate Residential Pool and Spa Standard for one- and two-family homes. It is a useful outline for anyone building the service.

The standard also has the inspector describe the pool type, finish, filter, barrier, cleaning system, and heater fuel. Equipment age belongs in the report too, so the buyer can plan for replacement.

A few habits from Russ Motyko's practice make the report worth the fee. Surface cracks in older plaster are common and often cosmetic, but they still get written up. A crack through the shell is a bigger finding and calls for a pool contractor. Photos of the equipment pad and its data plates show the age of each part. Close-ups of cracks and bonding problems let the buyer and any contractor see what was seen.

The electrical items carry the most risk. The National Electrical Code (NEC) calls for equipotential bonding around a pool. That means tying the metal parts together, such as the shell steel, deck steel, metal fittings, pump motors, and fixed metal close to the water. An IAEI Magazine article on NEC 680.26 explains the purpose: to remove voltage differences in the pool area.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) knows of 33 electrocution deaths in pools and spas since 2002. Its table of incidents runs through 2018. Missing bonding, a broken bond wire, or a GFCI that will not trip goes in the report. Add a photo and a referral to a licensed electrician.

CPSC's Safety Barrier Guidelines for Residential Pools are advice, not law. The booklet says so itself and notes that some states and cities have written the guidelines into their codes. Its main points:

• The top of the barrier at least 48 inches above grade.
• Gates that open out from the pool and close and latch on their own.
• A latch release under 54 inches from the bottom of the gate sits at least 3 inches below the top, on the pool side.
• Where the house wall is part of the barrier, door alarms or a pool cover.

Drain covers are easy to get wrong. The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act requires public pools and spas to have anti-entrapment drain covers. The same barrier booklet says residential pools are not required to have them, though CPSC recommends them. A home inspector reports whether entrapment prevention parts are present, not whether a backyard pool meets a law written for public ones.

InterNACHI offers a How to Inspect Pools and Spas course, free to its members, with 12 quizzes and a 75-question final exam. It covers circulation, heating, and filtering systems, the electrical parts, and safety issues.

The kit is small: a GFCI tester, a non-contact voltage tester, and a flashlight rated for wet areas. A water test kit can help answer client questions, but chemistry is not part of the inspection.

A covered or winterized pool cannot be fully evaluated. The shell may be hidden and the equipment drained, and the report should say what was not seen. Pools also turn up on a smaller share of jobs than radon does in the Pacific Northwest, where Russ works. The houses that have them tend to be larger, and their buyers want to know what they are getting. For other services to pair with it, see which add-on services pay.