Use this checklist to vet any installer, whether you find them through our partner Angi or on your own. It covers what to verify, what to ask before you sign, and when to walk away.
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Click through to Angi and share your location, fence type, and timeline. Takes about a minute, no credit card needed.
Angi sends your request to installers in its network who serve your area. Angi says business owners pass a background check and attest to their licensing; check license and insurance yourself.
Receive quotes from local pros, compare pricing and timelines, and choose the installer that fits your project.
Any installer you hire should meet these standards. Use this list when vetting a contractor, whether you find them through Angi or on your own.
Verify the contractor's license number with your state licensing board. Confirm they carry general liability and workers' comp insurance before work starts.
A good installer handles the permit process, not just the installation. They should know your city's specific requirements and coordinate the final inspection.
Requirements vary by city and county. Your installer should know the specific height, gate hardware, and opening standards for your jurisdiction.
For mesh fences, the installer should specify only ASTM F2286-compliant commercial-grade mesh, not budget consumer mesh that may fail inspection.
Ask for a written warranty covering both materials and labor, and read how long it lasts.
Ask for 2–3 recent local references, and actually call them. A strong installer in your area will have verifiable local clients willing to vouch for their work.
Most pool fence disputes trace back to something that was never put in writing. Work through this list on the phone or at the estimate visit, a competent installer will have answers ready.
This is the part of a pool fence project homeowners underestimate most often. Knowing the split before work starts helps avoid two costly outcomes, a stalled project and a fence that has to come back out.
Submitting the permit application with a site plan showing fence placement relative to the pool, property lines, and any house wall used as a barrier side.
Scheduling the inspection once the fence is up, and being present or reachable when the inspector arrives.
Correcting anything the inspector flags, such as latch height, gate swing, vertical spacing, or a gap at grade.
Confirming the permit was actually pulled. Ask for the permit number and look it up on your city or county portal. Contractors occasionally skip this on small jobs.
Checking HOA rules before signing anything. An HOA can restrict height, material, and color independently of code, and approval often takes longer than the permit itself. See our HOA pool fence rules guide.
Keeping the final inspection record. It matters at resale and, in some states, for a homeowners insurance discount or a required disclosure.
Requirements vary considerably between jurisdictions. Check the rules for your state on our state requirements pages before you request quotes, so you can tell whether an installer's answers line up with your local code.
None of these alone proves bad faith. Two or more together is a reason to get another quote.
Almost every jurisdiction that regulates pool barriers requires one. An installer who says otherwise either does not know the code or intends to skip inspection.
A single number with no breakdown of linear footage, gate count, material grade, or permit fee makes change orders impossible to challenge later.
Deposits above roughly a third of the job, especially cash-only, leave you with no recourse if the crew does not come back.
Warranty work is worthless if the company cannot be found in eighteen months. Verify a real business address, not just a phone number.
Expiring "today only" discounts are a sales tactic, not a pricing reality. A legitimate quote holds for at least a couple of weeks.
Ask the installer to name the mesh product and its manufacturer in the quote, so the product you pay for is the one that goes in.
Yes, completely free for homeowners. You complete your request on Angi, our installer-matching partner, at no cost. We may earn a commission when you do, but you never pay a thing.
After you submit on Angi, local installers typically reach out within a few hours to a couple of business days, depending on your location and project type.
No obligation whatsoever. Angi simply connects you with local options, the decision is entirely yours.
That's completely fine, you can note "not sure" on Angi. Our pool fence guide and cost calculator can help you think through the options first.
Yes. When you submit on Angi, mention that you need permit help, you'll be matched with installers who routinely handle permits in your city.
Three is the practical sweet spot. One quote gives you no reference point; five turns into a scheduling burden. With three you can see whether an outlier is unusually cheap because it omits the permit or uses a lower material grade.
Your building department decides. A pool barrier is inspected when its permit is finaled; ask whether your jurisdiction inspects again at resale or when other pool work is permitted. In California, a home inspection done for a sale must report which drowning prevention features the pool has (California Business and Professions Code 7195, as amended by SB 442 in 2017). Our inspection checklist covers what an inspector actually looks at.
In many places yes, though some jurisdictions restrict permits for barrier work to licensed contractors. Removable mesh is the most realistic DIY option; welded aluminum and glass generally are not. Our DIY options guide walks through where the line usually falls.
Angi is a large national contractor marketplace. We do not employ or dispatch installers ourselves, so we send quote requests to Angi rather than claim a network we do not have. We may earn a commission when you submit a request there; it costs you nothing and does not affect which contractors reach out to you.
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