California swimming pool law requires owners to follow the Swimming Pool Safety Act.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for children 1 to 14 years old, fatal drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related, unintentional death. Hundreds of accidental deaths and even more injuries result from drowning and near-drowning incidents each year in California. California’s Swimming Pool Safety Act strives to ensure pool builders and owners abide by California swimming pool law with any swimming pool structure, including but not limited to pools, spas, hot tubs, non-portable wading pools and portable spas. Does this Spark an idea?
Swimming Pools
The California Pool Safety Act defines a "swimming pool" or "pool" as any structure containing water more than 18 inches deep for which recreational bathing or swimming is the intended purpose. The definition includes both above-ground and in-ground structures and includes, but is not limited to the above-mentioned structures. California swimming pool law requires any structure defined as a pool must be equipped with drowning prevention safety features, including an enclosure (fences and gates) or safety pool cover, pool or exit alarms and self-closing, self-latching doors and gates.
Features
In California, all fences around a swimming pool are required to be a minimum of five feet tall with no more than two inches of clearance from the bottom of the fence to the ground. They must be non-climbable to prevent children from climbing into a yard with a swimming pool, spa or other pool structure as defined by the Pool Safety Act. Gates leading to the pool area must be 5 feet tall, self-closing and self-latching; therefore, gates must be equipped with a spring to return them to the closed position when opened and must automatically latch upon closing. If the main door of the garage allows access to the pool area, it must also be self-closing and self-latching. All gates must also open away from the pool area, as small children are believed to be more likely to try pushing a gate open first before pulling. Fences and wrought iron gates must not have any openings between the vertical pickets that are larger than 4 inches in diameter.
Enclosures/Pool Covers
A pool "enclosure" is defined as a wall, fence or other barrier that prevents access to a swimming pool from the home, other adjoining building or from the area or yard outside the barrier. Safety pool covers must meet the definition of an "approved safety pool cover," meaning it must be a manually or power-operated pool cover that passes all the performance standards set forth by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).
Exit/Swimming Pool Alarms
The Pool Safety Act defines an exit alarm as a device that makes a clearly audible, continuous alarm sound when a window or door that permits unimpeded access from the home or other adjoining building to the pool area, is opened. The residence or building must be equipped with exit alarms that can either be battery-powered or connected directly to the wiring of the home or building. A swimming pool alarm is defined as an alarm, that when put in the pool, will activate with an audible alarm sound upon detection of accidental entrance into the water. Pool alarms must meet and be certified to the "Standards Specification for Pool Alarms" according to the American Society for Testing and Materials. The Standards include pressure, laser, sonar, surface motion and infrared-type alarms.
Considerations
A building permit must be required in the state of California before construction can begin on any new swimming pool or spa, or prior to the remodeling of any existing swimming pool or spa on the grounds of a private, single-family home. Before a final approval can be issued for the completion of construction or remodeling work, the drowning prevention safety devices required by the California Pool Safety Act will be inspected by a local building code inspector. If no violations are found, final approval will be issued.
Tags: Pool Safety, pool area, swimming pool, California swimming, equipped with
