How do we maintain and run the pool lift at our HOA pool?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 26, 2026

How an HOA board keeps a pool lift working: when the ADA applies, 2010 Standards specs, battery charging, weekly checks, seasonal storage, rules and a log.

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

Whether your pool needs a lift, and why it still needs care

Start with who uses the pool. The Department of Justice says a community pool tied to a private residential community and limited to residents and their guests is not covered by the ADA accessibility requirements. That changes if the association opens the pool to the public, for example by selling summer memberships to outside families, renting it to a club, or hosting a swim team whose members mostly live elsewhere. A pool made available to the public is covered by Title III. For a new or altered pool with less than 300 linear feet of wall, which describes almost every HOA pool, the 2010 Standards require one accessible means of entry, and it must be a fixed lift or a sloped entry. Existing covered pools must add one when doing so is readily achievable. Even a members-only pool may end up with a lift because an owner asks for one under fair housing law, or because the board bought one years ago. Once the lift is on the deck, treat it like the gate lock or the pump: if it fails on a Saturday in July, the one resident who depends on it can't swim. Rules vary by state, by the facts and by your governing documents. This guide is education, not legal advice, so have the association's attorney confirm whether the ADA reaches your pool if anyone outside the community uses it.

When an owner asks the board to add one

In a members-only pool, a lift request usually arrives under fair housing law as a reasonable modification of a common area. Texas Property Code 301.025(c)(1) and Florida Statutes 760.23(9)(a) both treat refusing a reasonable modification as discrimination and both say the modification is made at the expense of the person with the disability. Colorado's version, C.R.S. 24-34-502.2(2)(a), bans refusing reasonable modifications but leaves out that expense phrase, so ask counsel before telling a Colorado owner who pays. The board's ongoing cost is easier to predict. The 2008 HUD and DOJ joint statement on reasonable modifications says that when a modification sits in a common area the housing provider normally maintains, the provider maintains the modification. A pool lift on the association's deck fits that description, so plan on the association charging, inspecting and repairing it no matter who bought it. Our guide on reviewing an owner request for a wheelchair ramp or accessibility change walks through the request, the paperwork the board may ask for, and the approval letter.

What a compliant lift looks like

Section 1009.2 of the 2010 Standards is the best buying checklist available, even where the ADA does not apply. The lift goes where the water is 48 inches deep or less. In the raised position the seat's centerline sits over the deck at least 16 inches back from the pool edge. Beside the seat, on the side away from the water, there must be clear deck space at least 36 inches wide, running 48 inches forward from a line 12 inches behind the seat, and that deck can't slope more than 1:48. The seat stops between 16 and 19 inches above the deck when raised, is at least 16 inches wide, and submerges at least 18 inches below the water line. Footrests move with the seat; spa lifts are exempt from the footrest rule. The user must be able to run the lift alone from both the deck and the water, which matters for anyone swimming without a helper who needs to call the seat back. A single-person lift carries at least 300 pounds and holds a static load of one and a half times its rating. DOJ treats a lift as fixed if it is attached to the deck in any way, including a portable model locked into a deck anchor. For a covered pool, a lift bought after March 15, 2012 generally must be fixed where that is readily achievable.

The routine that keeps it working

Most lift failures are dead batteries. DOJ's own pool guidance tells operators to have enough batteries to keep a lift charged through open hours, and a second battery is cheap insurance against a resident sitting on the deck waiting. Follow the charging schedule in the manufacturer's manual, charge indoors on the charger that came with the unit, and keep the charged spare in a known spot inside the pump room or office. Put the lift at poolside and ready before the gate opens each day. Never move it to the storage room during open hours to make space for lounge chairs. Once a week, have the pool volunteer or the pool contractor run a full cycle from the deck controls and from the water controls, with nobody in the seat. Look at the seat, seat belt and footrest for cracks or fraying. Check the anchor socket and mounting bolts for looseness and for rust, because chlorinated water and splash eat hardware. Wipe down and rinse the frame if your manual calls for it. If anything binds, clicks or stops partway, take the lift out of service with a tag and call the dealer that day.

Opening and closing for the season

At closing, take out the battery, charge it fully and store it indoors where it won't freeze, then follow the manual's instructions for keeping it charged in storage. Remove a portable lift from its anchor, cap the socket so it doesn't fill with debris, and store the lift dry. A permanently mounted unit gets its cover. Write down every part that looked worn and order replacements over the winter, when dealers aren't backed up. At opening, reinstall the lift and battery a week before the first swim day, run several full cycles from both control points, and confirm the seat reaches its full depth at the current water level. Add those two lines to the opening checklist in our guide on opening an HOA pool for the season so they don't get forgotten in the rush to fix the heater and the gate.

Rules and a sign the board can post

Keep the lift rules short. Anyone who needs the lift may use it, with no sign-up, fee or doctor's note. Children may not ride or play on it. Only the user or a helper the user chooses runs the controls. Nobody blocks the clear deck space with chairs, coolers or strollers. A sample sign: 'Pool lift available during all open hours. If the lift is not working, call [phone number] and the association will send someone. Please keep the area beside the lift clear. Children may not play on the lift.' If the lift's controls need a key or a remote, post where to find it or give it to the people who use the lift. A remote locked in a director's car is a lift that doesn't work. Put the same wording in the pool rules and the welcome packet so new residents know the lift exists.

The log and a sample year

Keep one log at the pool office or in a shared folder with these columns: date, who checked, battery charge, deck controls tested, water controls tested, seat and anchor condition, problems found, and date fixed. Keep receipts for parts and service with the log. If a resident ever complains that the lift was down, that page is your record. A sample year runs like this. March: order batteries and parts, schedule the dealer if the lift is due for service. One week before opening: install, charge, test and sign the first log line. Weekly through the season: cycle test and log. Every open day: lift out and ready. Closing week: battery out and charged, lift stored or covered, parts list written. A motion the board can adapt: 'The board adopts the attached pool lift rules and inspection log, names [director] responsible for weekly checks, and authorizes up to $[amount] per year for batteries, parts and service from the pool maintenance budget.'

Mistakes boards make

Storing the lift in the pump room during open hours and asking residents to request it. Running one battery until it dies. Letting the deck anchor corrode until the lift wobbles. Parking lounge chairs in the clear space beside the seat. Assuming the pool contractor checks the lift when the contract never mentions it, so put the lift in the scope. Opening the pool to a summer swim team from outside the community without asking counsel whether the ADA now applies. Telling an owner who asks for a lift that the HOA is private and the request is closed. Each of these is easy to fix, and each one is the kind of thing that turns into a complaint.

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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