Top 50 Builders

The Pool & Spa News Top 50 Builders program recognizes the leading pool-building firms in the industry, based on their total residential construction revenue.

Background

The program, instituted in 2002, was designed to honor builders who are unsurpassed in their field. While the magazine recognizes a firm's craftsmanship, customer service, technical skill, expertise and excellence as additional measures of success, it chose to look at participant's financial health as a way to rank the Top 50 Builders. For the most part, the information is supplied by participating companies, who are asked to vouch for its accuracy. Submission forms typically are available in the spring for the current year's contest.

Notable Statistics

For evidence of new growth, look no further than the lower third of the 2011 Pool & Spa News Top 50 Builders chart, where ranking shake-ups abound. Though 2008 brought its share of new contenders to the list, the past year marks a sharp increase in Top 50 debuts in comparison to 2009.

The revenue for many of these newcomers also exceeds early-recession levels: Several have leaped onto the chart with residential construction revenue in the $5 million range, a notable increase from the $3 and $4 million showings that dominated the 2009 chart’s lower reaches.

Meanwhile, average pool prices for some of the higher-ranked builders have dropped from 2008 and 2009. Some of this change reflects the recession’s bidding wars, but it also speaks for the payoffs of staying adaptable.

One ongoing trend was the persistent growth of renovation revenue accounting for 13.2 percent of the Top 50’s combined revenue, up even from 2009’s remarkable 10.3 percent. All these trends demonstrate that even in times like these, the industry continues testing new ideas.