Most swimming pool construction lawsuits involve owners claiming defective work, delays, or unfinished projects. A Missouri lawsuit filed this spring turns that familiar scenario on its head.

Westport Pools LLC, doing business as Landmark Aquatic, is seeking more than $636,000 from Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, alleging the city failed to pay for change-order work, overtime costs and retained contract funds associated with construction of the Webster Groves Aquatic Center.

The dispute does not center on allegations of faulty construction. Instead, it focuses on a question familiar to many commercial contractors: whether a contractor is entitled to payment for additional work allegedly requested during a project when approval of the associated paperwork is later disputed.

Landmark Aquatic filed suit April 28 in St. Louis County Circuit Court over the approximately $12 million aquatic center project, which opened in 2025.

According to the petition, the contractor alleges the city caused significant design-phase delays and later requested numerous modifications involving the bathhouse, waterslides, seating areas, shade structures, electrical systems, ventilation, concrete work, and site improvements.

The company claims those changes resulted in $283,391.91 in unpaid change-order work. The lawsuit also seeks $130,177.69 for overtime labor that Landmark says was necessary to keep the project on schedule and open near Memorial Day 2025, along with $222,665.78 in allegedly withheld retainage and contract payments.

In total, Landmark is seeking $636,235.38, plus statutory interest, attorney fees, and court costs.