Five facts behind an always on time swimming pool company in Cairo
A promise about time is easy to print on a brochure. These five are on paper, and every one of them can be checked before you sign.
- The date is in the quotation. A 90-day programme for a standard residential build, written into the quotation. Larger, rooftop, indoor and custom pools are scheduled individually.
- Our own engineers. Structural, hydraulic and MEP engineering is done inside the company. Questions about steel, pipe sizes or the electrics get answered by people on our side of the table.
- Our own site crews, on our payroll. The people fixing your steel and pouring your shell work for us, rather than labour hired for one job and gone the week after.
- Payment follows inspected stages. Milestone payments, or a deposit and six monthly instalments against post-dated cheques. On milestone terms, each instalment falls due when a construction stage is finished and inspected.
- The warranty is written. On pools we build: 25 years on the structure, 10 on the waterproofing, 5 on the electromechanical works, in writing.
Put the five together and keeping to time becomes our problem, on paper. The date is in the quotation, the people are ours, and on milestone terms the money moves when a finished stage passes inspection.
Twenty five years under one name, from one office in Nasr City
The company was founded in 2001, so this is twenty five years of pool work in Egypt under one name. There is one office, at 15 El-Lewaa Mahmoud Samy Basha, Al Mintaqah as Sādisah, Nasr City, a minute off Abbas El-Akkad. Office hours are Saturday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm. Closed Friday. Our crews are out six days a week.
A build programme is a promise about a date three months from now, and a warranty is a promise about the next twenty five years. Both are only worth something if the company is still at the same address with the same phone when you need it. Twenty five years at one name and one number is something you can check before the first payment.
The five stages of a pool build, in plain words
Every pool we build passes through the same five stages, in this order, whatever its type or wherever it sits.
| Stage | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| 1. Consultation | We see the plot, the access and the levels, and hear what you want from the water. The site visit and the consultation are free. |
| 2. Design and engineering | Our engineers size the shell, the steel, the pipework, the pumps and the electrics, and the quotation comes off our own rate book. |
| 3. Construction | Excavation, steel fixing, the reinforced concrete shell, the waterproofing and the pipework. |
| 4. Equipment and finishing | Pumps, filters, heating, lighting and automation go into the plant room, and the tile, mosaic or stone goes onto the shell. |
| 5. Commissioning and handover | Water in, every piece of equipment started and set, and the pool handed over with the warranty in writing. |
The construction stage is the one you see from the house. The two stages before it set the date, the volume of water, the edge and the plant room, which is why they come first, before any digger reaches the site.
The pool types we build, and the stage pages that cover them
We build skimmer, overflow, infinity, knife edge, panoramic, horizon, zero entry, indoor, rooftop, kids, competition and custom pools. Each one starts at the same consultation and ends at the same handover. What changes is the edge, the plant room and the structure under the water.
Skimmer pools
The water sits a hand below the edge and is drawn off through skimmer openings set into the wall. It has the simplest plant room of any pool type, and the fewest parts to look after once the water is in.
Overflow and infinity pools
An overflow pool brings the water right up to the brim, and it spills over the edge into a channel running around the pool. An infinity pool lets the water fall over one edge into a catch channel below, so from the terrace the surface meets the view. Both need a balance tank and an edge set dead level along its full length. Edge levels, the balance tank and the pump that feeds the edge are all covered under infinity and overflow pool construction.
Rooftop and indoor pools
A rooftop pool is a tank of water sitting on a building slab, so the load, the waterproofing and the drainage get designed with the building itself. An indoor pool needs ventilation and dehumidification designed alongside it, because the moisture in the air goes into the walls and the ceiling. Both are scheduled individually, outside the 90-day standard, with the programme set at the design stage. The full stage is under rooftop and indoor pool construction.
Zero entry, kids and competition pools, and the water around them
A zero entry pool slopes in from the deck like a beach. Kids pools and competition pools are on the same list. Jacuzzis, spas, saunas, steam rooms, waterfalls, fountains and water walls get designed in with the pool and built by the same team, so the whole garden sits on one set of drawings.
The names inside the shell and the plant room
Pumps, filters and fittings come from Hayward, Pentair, AstralPool and Aqua Water Systems. Control panels and automation come from Schneider Electric. Waterproofing systems come from Sika and BASF Master Builders Solutions.
These are the brands published on our site as our equipment and material partners. Ask for any of them by name at the design stage, and look each one up before you sign.
Pool work for developers, architects and main contractors
If you are building a project rather than a house, the question you ask a pool contractor is whether it keeps to your programme. Resort, hotel and compound pools are designed with your architects and consultants. Structural, hydraulic and MEP engineering stays in house, so drawings, revisions and site questions come back from one company. Larger projects are scheduled individually, and the programme for the pool is set before work begins.
Project management and consultancy are part of the service list, and our own site crews do the building. You deal with one accountable team from design through to maintenance, which keeps the pool off your list of things to chase.
Measured against the cheapest quote on the table
The cheapest quote usually leaves the finish date open, puts a crew together for the one job, and gives you a warranty in words. You find out how long the build takes by waiting for it.
Against that you get a date in the quotation, engineers and site crews on our payroll, payment tied to finished and inspected stages, and the warranty written into the contract. Compare the two on the day the quotation says the pool fills.
Who should build with another contractor
If the lowest figure on the page decides it for you, we are the wrong company, and we will say so on the first call. Our own engineers, our own crews and a written warranty cost more than a crew put together for a week.
If you want the digging to start before anyone has designed the pool, go elsewhere. Our builds start with the consultation and the design, in that order, because those are the stages that make the 90-day date possible.
And if your plot is outside Greater Cairo, we confirm it after a site visit, before any date is promised.
How the price is decided, after a free site visit
Six things set the figure, and none of them can be judged down the phone.
- Size and volume of water. Length, width and depth.
- Pool type and edge. A skimmer pool and an infinity pool with a balance tank are different builds.
- The finish. Tile, glass mosaic or stone, and the coping.
- The plant room. Pumps, filters, heating, lighting and automation.
- Access to the plot. How the excavation and the concrete get in and out.
- Where the pool sits. On the ground, on a roof, or inside the house.
A figure given before those six are known gets corrected later, so we come and see the plot first. Seeing the plot costs you nothing. The consultation is free too, with no obligation, and the figure comes off our own rate book.
Call or WhatsApp +20 102 626 1818 and pick a time for the site visit this week.
Where our build crews work across Greater Cairo
Crews leave our Nasr City office six days a week. Before you choose any swimming pool company Cairo has to offer, check that its crews can reach your plot on every working day of a 90-day programme. These are the places we build.
| Part of the city | Areas |
|---|---|
| East Cairo | Nasr City, where our office is, Heliopolis, Madinaty |
| New Cairo | New Cairo and the Fifth Settlement, Mostakbal City, the New Administrative Capital |
| West Cairo | Sheikh Zayed, 6th of October |
| Outside Cairo | the North Coast, Ain Sokhna, the Delta, Upper Egypt |
Work outside Greater Cairo is confirmed after a site visit, because a date only goes in the quotation once we know we can keep it.
Seven things to get in writing from any pool contractor
Whoever you hire, ask for these on paper before the first payment.
- The execution period in days, written into the quotation, with the start and the finish.
- The payment schedule, tied to stages you can inspect.
- The warranty, split between the structure, the waterproofing and the equipment, with the years against each one.
- Who does the engineering, and whether it is done in house.
- Whether the site crew is on the contractor's payroll, or hired for the job.
- The equipment and waterproofing, by brand.
- Who looks after the pool after handover, and on what terms.
A contractor who keeps to time can answer all seven on the first visit.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to build a swimming pool? A 90-day programme for a standard residential build, written into the quotation. Larger, rooftop, indoor and custom pools are scheduled individually, and the date is set before work starts.
How do you keep to the date? The date is in the quotation, the engineering is in house, and the site crews are on our payroll. On milestone terms, each instalment falls due when a construction stage is finished and inspected.
What does a new pool cost? It depends on the size, the pool type and edge, the finish, the plant room and the access to your plot. The site visit and the quote are both free, off our own rate book, and there is no obligation.
How do I pay for the build? Milestone payments, or a deposit and six monthly instalments against post-dated cheques. You choose one at signing.
What warranty comes with a new pool? On pools we build: 25 years on the structure, 10 on the waterproofing, 5 on the electromechanical works, in writing. On a repair to another company's pool, the term is agreed per job and written on the quote.
Do you build pools in New Cairo and Mostakbal City? Yes. Pools in New Cairo and the Fifth Settlement and pools in Mostakbal City are both inside the area our crews cover from Nasr City, on the same 90-day standard.
Do you work in Sheikh Zayed and the New Administrative Capital? Yes. We build pools in Sheikh Zayed on the west side of the city, and work with developers, architects and main contractors on pools in the New Administrative Capital, where larger projects are scheduled individually.
Do you maintain the pool after handover? Yes. One team carries the pool from design through maintenance, so the people who built it are the people you call afterwards.
Book the site visit and get your date in writing
Tell us the size of the plot, where you want the water and what kind of pool you have in mind. After the site visit you get a quotation off our own rate book with the programme in it. Say no and you owe us nothing.
Call or WhatsApp +20 102 626 1818, email info@arcgroup-eg.com, or start your free quote online. The office is at 15 El-Lewaa Mahmoud Samy Basha, Al Mintaqah as Sādisah, Nasr City, Cairo Governorate 10506, Egypt. Office hours are Saturday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm. Closed Friday.