Originally Posted By: jdegiorgio This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I have inspected a home with a pool in the back yard and my question is what height should the fence be . The pool is hidden from the street and I have conflicting heights from code books…one says 48" the other says 54". This pool has been installed about 8 years ago…help
Originally Posted By: rfarruggia This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Not much to add on this subject, as I hardly know squat about pools, but I am just posting this to get it back to the top of the heap. The CPSC guide linked above will be included in the report for one of my inspections today. Ya gotta love this one, no fence at all and, yes, that is an elementary school in the background.
Originally Posted By: rgippner This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Raymond:
Out here in California if your lot is big enough you don't need a fence. I guess the cities didn't want to offend their biggest property tax payers. Oh, and get this in some municipalities "big enough" is 1/2 acre
Originally Posted By: rgippner This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Jeff:
I was looking at the link you posted. Did you notice that the barrier illustrated on the first page would not be approved as the links are big enough to use as ladder rungs to climb over?
Originally Posted By: jpope This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
rgippner wrote:
Did you notice that the barrier illustrated on the first page would not be approved as the links are big enough to use as ladder rungs to climb over?
Pool barriers must not be climbable.
rgippner wrote:
Out here in California if your lot is big enough you don't need a fence.
I would like to know where you got this misinformation. New construction does not allow the installation of pools without proper barriers regardless of the size of your property (per UBC). This applies to all pools and spas >24" deep.
In the case of the above ground pool, the pool wall acts as the barrier and there is no additional requirement if the wall is 48" high. The ladder or steps, however, must be lockable or have a barrier.
-- Jeff Pope
JPI Home Inspection Service
"At JPI, we'll help you look better"
(661) 212-0738
Originally Posted By: rgippner This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Jeff
I got this mis-information at ITA pools and Spas. They had some lovely photos of properties in your neck of the woods. I'll try to find the extracts for you. They emphasized it and were outraged by it. BTW Douglas Hansen was the instructor.
Originally Posted By: mlong This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
jdegiorgio wrote:
I have inspected a home with a pool in the back yard and my question is what height should the fence be . The pool is hidden from the street and I have conflicting heights from code books....one says 48" the other says 54". This pool has been installed about 8 years ago....help 
Not that we're code enforcers, but I would suggest checking with you're local codes. They certainly can vary from place to place. I built pools in a previous life. In the county that I primarily worked in, the code was pretty much what the industry standard is, 48", non-climbable fence, with self-closing and self-latching gate. In the county next to me, the code went beyond the standard. The fence requirement was 60", self-closing and self-latching gate, plus if the doors of the home opened into the pool area, an alarm had to be installed on the door to go off if the door was opened.
And while I was still in the industry, I do remember a big broohahaa, about some areas of California not requiring any fences whatsoever, because it would detract from the landscaping motif. I don't know what became of all that. I'm sure you guys from California would know better than I.
In as much as I heard of any number of tragedies over the years that I was in the business, my feeling is that you can't have too much safety when it comes to pools.
Originally Posted By: rgippner This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Mark:
I just emailed Douglas for the info
Jeff:
I didn't assign Douglas to teach the class, I only paid him to be there and thought I'd pass along the info. I didn't say I agreed with the interpertation of the code, but hey that is what they were teaching
Originally Posted By: dbowers This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
It doesn’t matter what the UBC says if you’re somewhere that uses IRC or still uses ICBO or CABO or NOTHING. Call your local codes - thats the only one that applies to you.
Now that we've said that - I could care less about the codes on issues like this. I've inspected various places in the country where no code existed to require a fence at all - in which case PLAIN common sense and MY OWN OPINION is what I will ALWAYS quote.
After that, what they choose to do is entirely up to them.
Originally Posted By: Jay Moge This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
up here in new hampshire the “rule” or code is that if the pool is inground it shall have a barrier/fence around it no less than 48 in. with a locking latch no more than 54" high. If above ground it doesn’t need a fence (unless you have a deck built around it then the deck needs a rail with a locking gate.) but you must also remove the laddet when not in use so to prohibit accidental drowning by unwanted guests… or something.
or something.