Legal Question in Construction Law in California

"Should" give? Some contractors give express warranties of ten years for workmanship and materials excluding mechanical devices such as pumps and filters. Are you a pool installation contractor trying to decide what warranty policy to adopt, or are you a homeowner who had a pool installed?

If the latter, the first advice is always "read your contract." If you got an express warranty, it'll be there in black-and-white. In addition to an express warranty, you probably also got a so-called "implied warranty," which is legal terminology for the public policy that a contractor should deliver reasonably-good work that'll function properly and last for awhile in exchange for the contract price, whether the contract says so or not (an implied warranty of "merchantability"). See the California Supreme Court case of Pollard v. Saxe & Yolles Development Co. (1974) 12 Cal.3d 374.

So, I'd say that if you are a consumer who got a defective pool installed, you may have a legal remedy by way of suit for an express warranty contained in writing in your contract, or an implied warranty of merchantability under common law and in conformity with the views of the California Supreme Court as expressed in Pollard and later cases developing upon it.