The N.C. apartment industry fared well at the North Carolina Commission for Public Health meeting on NC Public Swimming Pools held on February 17th in Raleigh.
In response to strong Apartment Association of North Carolina arguments about proposed Public Pool fence and door alarm requirements, the most onerous proposed rules – that would have required ALL existing properties to have both substantial retrofit mandates and clubhouse door alarms when adjacent to pool decks – were pulled just prior to the Commission meeting by NC Environmental Health staff. AANC noted that the proposed rules would have economically disastrous to many apartment properties, and that accessibility and fire code coordination appeared to have been minimal.
Under the revisions approved for a May 1, 2010 effective date, the only change that will apply to pool fences will be a requirement for pool fences built before 1996 whose gates swing toward the pool to reverse the gate swing by April 1, 2011 (unless Fire Code overrides this provision). Both existing properties and new construction will continue to have a duty for ground level doors opening from occupied buildings to inside the pool enclosure to be either self-closing or child-protected.
The new rules ratified in February make it doubly clear that Public Pool owners must provide documentation to State or County Health officials pertaining to suction hazard reduction under the Virginia Graeme Baker Act, namely:
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Documentation of the maximum possible flow rate for each pump suction system;
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Documentation that covers/grates meeting national standards are installed in compliance with the standard and manufacturer’s instructions;
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Documentation that drain sumps meet the dimensional requirements specified in the cover/grate manufacturer’s installation instructions.
Tags: pool rules, public health, swimming pool
