Where the licensing line falls
Florida records a certified pool and spa contractor as CPC and a registered one as RP, both in the state's published occupation table for the construction board. That license is what building, resurfacing and structurally repairing a pool runs on.
Weekly cleaning and chemical balancing are a different business, and a company doing only that does not need the contractor license at all. Neither fact makes a company good or bad. They are just different questions, and the answer you want depends on which job you are buying.
What to ask a company that does both
Plenty of companies build pools and service them. If you are hiring for construction or resurfacing, ask which license the job runs on and whose name is on it.
If you are hiring for weekly service, the license matters less and continuity matters more. Ask who actually shows up and what happens when they are on vacation.
Permits and the three cities
A new pool is permitted work and so is a structural renovation. The licensed contractor pulls the permit on their own license and an inspection closes it out.
Cape Coral runs its own building division, Fort Myers goes through Lee County and Naples goes through Collier County. An open permit on your property record is a problem at sale, so ask for the permit number when work starts and check its status after the final inspection.
Running the check yourself
Open the DBPR licensee search, put the company name in the business-name field and read the status line. Every business ranked on this site prints its license number beside its name.
If the company name returns nothing, search the owner's name. A pool builder often holds the license personally and trades under a name that was never attached to the record.
What to keep when the work is finished
Keep the permit number, the final inspection result and the written workmanship warranty together. Those three documents are what a future buyer, a future insurer and a future adjuster will ask for.
Ask for all three when the final payment is due rather than afterwards. That is the moment you still have leverage, and a contractor who works this county routinely will have them ready without a conversation about it.
Questions about this
Does a pool cleaning company need a state license
Routine cleaning and chemical service are not the licensed part. Building, resurfacing and structural repair are. Ask which job you are buying before you ask for a license number.
Who pulls the permit for a new pool
The licensed pool contractor does, on their own license. Ask for the permit number at the start and check that it was closed out after the final inspection.