How do we hire a lifeguard or pool attendant company for our HOA pool?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 29, 2026

How an HOA board hires a lifeguard or pool attendant company: guards vs attendants, direct hire vs contract, staffing plan, certifications, insurance and a timeline.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Decide first whether you are buying lifeguards, pool attendants, or nothing at all, because those are three different jobs with three different price tags and risks. If you want people on the deck, hire them through a staffing company rather than putting teenagers on the association's payroll. Write a scope that states hours, the number of guards per shift and who does what. Require a roster with certification expiration dates before opening day, and make the company carry the insurance. Start in January. Good lifeguard companies fill their summer schedules early, and an association that asks in April gets whoever is left. Pool rules come from your state, your county or city health department and your governing documents, and they differ a lot. Use this as a planning guide, not legal advice.

Lifeguard, attendant or neither

A lifeguard watches the water and makes rescues. Texas defines one as a person holding a current American Red Cross, YMCA or equivalent lifeguard certificate plus current first aid and CPR training that covers adults, children and infants and the use of an AED and a bag-valve mask (25 TAC 265.182(41)). A pool attendant, sometimes called a monitor, checks fobs, counts guests, enforces the posted rules and calls 911. An attendant is not a rescuer, and nobody should describe one as a lifeguard in a notice or on a sign. Most HOA pools have no legal duty to guard, but some situations change that. In Texas, a pool normally run as a Class C pool must meet the Class B lifeguard standard whenever it is open to the general public, and at least two lifeguards are required at any pool with raised entries such as diving boards or slides, and while a pool hosts youth groups such as camps or visiting school groups (265.191(a)). Florida sets the credential for any lifeguard at a public pool: certification from the American Red Cross, the YMCA or another nationally recognized program, plus current first aid and CPR (514.071). Florida also exempts pools serving associations of no more than 32 units or parcels from most state supervision, but not from water quality and anti-entrapment rules (514.0115(3)). Colorado's pool regulation, 5 CCR 1003-5, exempts private pools used only by residents of homes, condominiums or apartments and their guests, though local health agencies may set their own rules. If nothing requires guards, the choice turns on your insurance carrier's conditions, the pool's depth and features, and how many unsupervised children use it. Our guide on how to open an HOA pool for the season covers the permit and signage side.

Why a company beats hiring guards yourself

The IRS treats a worker as your employee under the common-law test if you can control what will be done and how it will be done. Lifeguards who follow the association's schedule and rules fit that description, so a board that hires guards directly takes on payroll tax withholding, the employer's share of Social Security and Medicare, and unemployment tax. Florida requires workers' compensation coverage for private employers with four or more employees outside construction (440.02), and a summer guard crew gets there fast. Then there are the child labor rules. Federal rules let 15-year-olds, but not 14-year-olds, work as lifeguards at traditional pools if they are certified by the American Red Cross or a similar organization (29 CFR 570.34(l)). When school is out, a 15-year-old can work at most 8 hours a day and 40 a week, between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day (570.35). A good lifeguard company handles all of this, plus recruiting, training, substitutes when a guard calls in sick, and the records a health inspector asks for. You pay a markup for that. For an association run by volunteers, the markup is usually cheaper than getting any one of those pieces wrong.

What the scope and staffing plan should say

Put these items in the request for proposal and later in the contract. List the dates and daily hours, including holidays and any extended hours. Give the number of guards on duty at each hour, and say whether a supervisor is on site or on call. Texas requires a written lifeguard staffing plan that provides adequate supervision of all users at all times, kept on site for inspectors (265.191(d)). Ask the company to draw the surveillance zones on a pool map. The CDC's Model Aquatic Health Code, a voluntary model that many health departments borrow from, calls for zones a guard can reach the far edge of within 20 seconds and a rotation so no guard watches the water for more than 60 continuous minutes. Spell out duties beyond the water: fob checks, guest counts, restroom checks, and whether guards may test and record chemicals or must leave that to the service company. State who can close the pool for weather, water quality or behavior, and who tells the board. Ask for the price per guard hour, any minimum hours per day, the holiday rate, the charge for extra hours at an event, and what happens to the bill on a day closed for storms. Ask for the emergency action plan the company will use at your pool, and require a drill before opening.

Credentials, training and records to require

Require a roster at least two weeks before opening with each guard's name, certifying organization and expiration dates for lifeguarding, first aid and CPR. The Model Aquatic Health Code caps lifeguarding and first aid certification at 2 years and CPR/AED at 1 year. Refuse anyone whose card lapses mid-season unless the company shows a renewal date. Texas requires lifeguards to get at least 60 minutes of in-service training for every 40 hours worked (265.191(h)) and requires the pool to keep each guard's certification and training records for three years (265.191(j)). Put in the contract that the company keeps those records, hands copies to the association at season's end, and produces them for an inspector on request. Texas also lists equipment for guarded pools, including an AED, a first aid kit, a backboard with head immobilizer, rescue tubes and elevated stands with shade where the water is deeper than 5 feet (265.191(k) through (m)). Decide who supplies each item. If the association owns the AED, the contract should say who checks it daily.

Insurance and the indemnity clause

This is where lifeguard contracts go wrong. Require the company to carry commercial general liability, workers' compensation and auto coverage, with limits your insurance agent recommends, and to name the association as an additional insured. Ask your agent whether to also require abuse and molestation coverage, since the guards will supervise children. The indemnity clause should run from the company to the association for claims caused by the company's staff. Read it for the reverse: some forms make the association indemnify the company, or cap the company's liability at one month's fees. Strike those or take the contract to the association's attorney. Send the draft to your own insurance agent before signing and ask whether guards change anything in your policy. Our guide on HOA vendor contract red flags walks through auto-renewal, termination and other clauses to check.

A timeline and a motion

January: the pool lead confirms with the health department and the insurance agent whether guards are required, and the board decides on guards, attendants or neither. February: send the request for proposal to at least three companies. March: interview the top two, call two references each, preferably other associations, and bring a recommendation. The motion can read: 'Moved that the association contract with [company] to provide two certified lifeguards daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., May 23 through September 7, at [rate] per guard hour, not to exceed [amount], subject to receipt of a certificate of insurance naming the association as additional insured and review of the indemnity clause by the association's insurance agent.' April: sign, collect the certificate, and set the pre-opening drill. Two weeks out: receive the roster and staffing plan. Opening week: the pool lead walks the deck with the supervisor and checks the posted signs match the staffing. After Labor Day: collect the records and write down what to change next year.

Mistakes boards make

Calling attendants 'lifeguards' in the owner newsletter, which invites owners to leave children alone. Leaving the 'NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY' sign up on guarded days, or taking it down and forgetting to put it back on unguarded days. Hiring a board member's teenager and a friend as guards with no payroll setup and no written plan. Signing the company's form without reading the indemnity. Letting a visiting day camp use the pool without asking who supplies the guards. Paying for guards and then never checking whether they sit in the stand or on their phones. Walk the pool unannounced twice a season and write down what you see.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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