Randy Beard — Swimming Pool, Spa & Hardscape Construction Defect Expert (California)

When a swimming pool, spa, deck or retaining wall fails, the question in the case is usually simple: was it built the way the plans, the codes and the trade require, and if not, what does a proper repair cost? Randy Beard has been answering that question from the builder's side of the trade since 1979.

Background

Randy spent decades running a pool construction company of more than 60 employees, with its own masonry, tile, plumbing and steel crews, building residential, hotel, health-club and commercial pools across Southern California. He holds California contractor license #871188 (C-53 Swimming Pool and C-27 Landscaping), served several years as an investigator for the Contractors State License Board, and performed plaster inspections for the National Plasterers Council. He has taught hydraulics to city building inspectors and pool equipment and water chemistry to Orange County Health Department inspectors, and in 2026 presented pool heating and bonding-grid requirements to the ICC Orange Empire Chapter.

Typical matters

• Pool and spa shell cracking, leaks and failed repairs; gunite and shotcrete quality
• Plaster and interior finish failures: discoloration, white spotting, streaking, delamination, start-up problems
• Hillside, vanishing-edge (infinity) and perimeter-overflow pools; slope setbacks and soil movement
• Hydraulics, catch basins and equipment failures
• NEC Article 680 equipotential bonding and grounding; Title 24 pool heating
• Pool barriers and drain covers in drowning and entrapment matters (code review)
• Pool decks, pavers, masonry and retaining walls; drainage
• Contractor standard of care and licensing questions; cost of repair

Services

Site inspection with underwater and photographic documentation, document and plan review, written reports, cost-of-repair opinions, deposition and trial testimony. Remote reviews are available for matters outside California. Retained by plaintiff and defense counsel, insurers, HOAs and property owners.

Testimony

Deposition testimony in more than 100 construction defect matters; trial testimony before juries in San Diego and Los Angeles Superior Courts. Case list available to retaining counsel.

Rates

$350 per hour for review, inspection, reports and travel; $400 per hour for deposition and trial. Full terms: exteriorart.com/fees. CV, articles and teaching videos: exteriorart.com.