Florida council seeks tech licensing - Making News

Pool & Spa News, Sept 19, 2003 by Bob Dumas

A newly formed Service Council of NSPI-Florida wants to create legislation requiring a state-issued contractor's license for individuals and companies that maintain swimming pools.

More than 40 members of NSPI-Florida's service sector met at a forum in Tampa last month to define the issues and set goals.

"The impetus for this meeting was that nine years ago, the state deregulated licensing for pool service contractors," said Dominick Montanaro, who was named chairman of the Service Council. "You could then clean pools and add chemicals with nothing more than an occupational license from the county."

Montanaro said his group would like to change that.

"What we have is a situation where people are servicing pools and working outside the scope of their licensing," he said. "They're doing things like repairs. They're expanding [their scope of business] and there is no enforcement mechanism in place."

He called the forum "a very positive meeting where a number of issues were brought out."

The group will research which disciplines the proposed license would cover and the criteria that technicians would have to meet to obtain a license for pool work.

The lack of licensing for pool service personnel across the nation is something Florida is well aware of, Montanaro explained. He contended that the state of Florida needs to be a leader. "California [which has licensing for service techs], Florida and Arizona are three of the most populated pool states in the nation," Montanaro said.

"When you look at it from that aspect, [Florida does] need to have some licensing. We are the leaders in the industry," Montanaro said.

NSPI-Florida's Service Council plans to meet again Sept. 26 in Orlando, Fla.