Code Changes that may actually *surprise* help you…
By now you must be wondering when I will have some GOOD news to report…
I was just informed by the City of Santa Clarita that they have just adopted portions of the 2007 California Building Code which pertain to swimming pools/spas. I am going to cherry pick and paraphrase – if you are interested in the exact wording, please refer to CBC2007 section 3109 (be careful, everything up to 3109.4.4 deals with State mandates, everything after that refers specifically to single family residences):
Guardian removable fencing is now approved as a barrier.
Swimming pool alarms are now approved (in lieu of door alarms at the house).
Why is this important? For starters, in the past if you wanted to have mesh removable fencing you would also have to comply with the door alarm and fencing requirements. This code change will allow you to install removable fencing without having to shell out the money for door alarms or modifying your existing gates (especially those of you who want RV gates, the current code does not allow gates greater than 48″ wide – install removable fencing around the pool and you won’t have to worry about it!).
This also eases the burden of installing (and maintaining) door alarms inside the house on ALL doors that lead to the pool area. A lot of people take matters into their own hands and remove or disable the door alarms due to the irritation factor – now you can have a little more piece of mind knowing that you are legal in unlikely event of a tragedy.
Contact me if you would like more information!
