Codes and A/G Pools

[traceyb]

Glepagae
Are you required to have fencing around your pool? I'm not sure we do, I'm checking into it. We are outside city limits.......considered "county"....You're setup looks nice w/out fencing......and just the stone wall.

[faithfulfrank]

Code here states that the pool must be 42" off the ground. If not, then you need a fence, or something like I installed.
Glepage's looks compliant because the stone wall looks far enough away to not come into the picture. If a kid COULD easily jump from the wall into the pool, then a fence would be needed.
I did what I did because I did not want a fence.

Frank D.

[glepage]

Code in our town requires a fence if the pool wall is less than 48" high, ours is 52" and any structure i.e., walls, hills, fences, must be at least 48" away from the water line of the pool.

What the inspectors do is hold one end of a 48" tape measure at the waterline of the pool against the wall and swing it back ad forth, up and down. If it does not touch anything you are compliant with the code.

We layed out the retaining wall and pool so that we would have a minimum of 54" of clearance.

[pool newby]

glepage,

great job, very nice setup with the wall and patio area. We also have similiar codes in the county where I live, as long as the walls are at least 48 inch, and the ladder is removed, there is no requirement for a fence.

Bob P
pool newby
E Tn

[traceyb]

Were would one look online to find the codes for a county or city? I am outside of city limits, however it would be nice to check the codes for both. I am getting a 52" wall height, so maybe I'm in the clear. Do you have to check w/ your home owners ins also?

[matt4x4]

You should notify your insurance company of the pool, two reasons - so it's insured in case it breaks or someone has an accident - you know they'll use teh old - you didn't tell us trick when it comes time to pay you, and the other, if you're in the country and there's no hydrant nearby, they burn you on rates, so you might get a reduction in rate because now you have your very own water storage tank to be used to help put out your house should it catch fire.
I got a rate reduction with ours surprisingly, but also make sure you let your local fire chief know that they can use the pool water, mine said that many people don't want their pool water used, I say empty the thing if it saves my house!

30 foot round 52" deep + 8" dished, Vogue Impact
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/matt4x4/Pool1_JPG_1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/matt4x4/poollandsc3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/matt4x4/BackYard-1.jpg

[faithfulfrank]

traceyB,
you must check with your local town building inspector. In addition to the fence thing, there are stringent electrical codes. Around here, you cannot have your pump plug less then 5 foot away from the pool. The pool must be grounded, the trench for the wiring must be 18" deep, you must have a special "round" plug on the pump, and the matching recepticle, It must be weatherproof, must be on a non recepticle GFCI, pump also must be grounded, you must have another gfci protected recepticle less then 20' but more then 10' away from your pool, etc,etc,etc.
It them must be inspected by an electrical inspector as well as your local building inspector.
If you have a deck, it must have a self closing locking gate or childproof ladder.. If the pool is attached to a deck off of the house with a sliding door, the sliding door must have a special self closing latch on it.....(an expensive and hard to find item). The is one guy from Pa who travels the east coast installing them......he is in demand.

If you are not code compliant, your insurance company will not protect you. If something bad happens, you can be sued without your insurance company there to help. A good liability policy is a smart idea.

as you can see, a visit to your local inspector must be the FIRST thing you do before buying a pool.

Frank D.

[Bleach=Chlorine?]

WTF I need to have a self-closing slider???? I HATE GOVERNMENT! If I am responsible enough for a house shouldn't it be my responsibility to open and close doors?!?! Is that a law in PA?!

Slider opens up from house to patio with pool. Fence is integrated to yard and does not self-close around pool. I do not have any little kids running around so as long as no one drowns in my pool will my insurance company care?!

[matt4x4]

Since your slider opens from WITHIN your house, you're good there, but anything accessible from the yard needs to be protected.

I don't have a fence around my pool, however, my 5 acres is fenced (horse fencing) but not gated - meaning anybody can get in/out.
BUT, since the pool is situated in the middle of my 5 acres, this security device http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/matt4x4/warning.jpg WILL get them before any pool incidents happen!

I can't believe your pumps need special plugs and 3 feet of cord maximum - what a joke, we get 20 feet of cord and a regular 3 prong! Like a special plug is going to protect you any better!
I swear, common sense has pretty much fallen by the wayside in this day and age!

[CarlD]

We have similar codes--a 220 line cannot have a cord longer than 3'--if the pump is hard-wired. Less clear if you have a twist lock. The pump's power hookup cannot be closer than 5 ' to the pool.

There are do-it-yourself latches and hinges from a company called "MagnaLatch" that puts the control for the latch 5' off the ground--that' code. Here's what my gate looks like--the hinges are self-closing, the latch is self-latching:

http://home.earthlink.net/~dashmanc/pool/gate1.jpg

It works EXTREMELY well. I did the install myself--well, I did build the gate and fence, too.

The latch uses gravity and magnets--no springs.