|
|
|
|
|
|
| IHG Insurance (National Insurance Provider) |
| Providing Community Association Insurance for over 25 years: D&O Liability, Crime Products, Umbrella Coverage and Property Manager's Errors & Omissions Liability. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| You are not authorized to post a reply. |
|
|
| Author |
Messages |
|
RobS
(Virginia)
Posts:8
 |
| 08/04/2008 1:20 PM |
|
Hi everyone,
I was just made aware of a Federal law passed last December called the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. This new Federal law applies to every pool in the country and requires that your pool has at least two main drains to prevent a person from getting "sucked" onto a single drain. It turns out that almost every pool built before 2001 only has a single drain.
Here is the bad news. You pool will not be able to open for the 2009 season unless you modify it to become Graeme Baker Act approved. Here is a link to the act: www.cpsc.gov/pssa.pdf
Our pool company has given us an initial estimate of $6,000 to add in a second drain.
I am really surprised there hasn't been more of a publicity push for such a major change to almost every pool in the country. My county alone has over 350 pools. What are the odds they will all be ready for next Summer?
-Rob |
|
|
|
|
DwightT
(Idaho)
Posts:483
|
| 08/04/2008 1:53 PM |
|
Before you get into too much of a panic, take a good look at the act: http://www.nspf.com/Documents/HR6_TitleXIV.pdf
In my first scan through, it looks like the act only applies to public pools (HOA pools are often considered to be private), and instead of installing a second drain a pool operator can just install an anti-entrapment drain cover. Probably a lot less expensive than installing a complete second drain.
I'll still talk to our pool guy about this (and thanks for bringing it to our attention), but I don't think we'll start making plans to dig a second drain line just yet.
|
|
|
|
|
RobS
(Virginia)
Posts:8
|
| 08/04/2008 1:58 PM |
|
I am pretty sure it applies to "private" pools too. Part of my issue is that we have a pool cover, so we don't have to drain our pool every year. It costs $3,000 to $4,000 just for water if we have to drain it off schedule.
(2) PUBLIC POOL AND SPA DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘public pool and spa’’ means a
swimming pool or spa that is—
(A) open to the public generally, whether for a fee or free of charge;
(B) open exclusively to—
(i) members of an organization and their guests;
(ii) residents of a multi-unit apartment building, apartment complex, residential real estate
development, or other multi-family residential area (other than a municipality, township, or
other local government jurisdiction); or
(iii) patrons of a hotel or other public accommodations facility; or
-Rob
|
|
|
|
|
MaryA1
(Arizona)
Posts:2498
|
| 08/04/2008 3:20 PM |
|
Rob,
My first thought, too, was that this only applies to public pools. But after taking a look at the act, I see it would apply to pools in an HOA community. However, I didn't see anywhere that the act require two drains. It did say that pools with only one drain must be equipped with one or more of five additional devices which were specified. These options may be less expensive than installing another drain. |
|
|
|
|
RobS
(Virginia)
Posts:8
|
| 08/04/2008 4:14 PM |
|
I have a call into our County health department to make sure they are OK with a single drain as long as we do one of the other options. The text of the act was a bit confusing.
-Rob |
|
|
|
|
BradP
(Kansas)
Posts:1742
|
| 08/04/2008 4:32 PM |
|
| All I can say is it is definitely worth the money spent, ask the families of any of the victims who have had their insides sucked out. Sounds gross, but it doesn happen and needed to be addressed. |
|
|
|
|
GeraldT4
Posts:934
|
| 08/04/2008 5:31 PM |
|
| Folks - Since when does a private HOA exclude, repeat, exclude the HOA from complying with Federal guideline? HOA pools are subject to the Board of Health codes, the borough codes, state laws, and federal laws. |
|
|
|
|
RobS
(Virginia)
Posts:8
|
| 08/04/2008 6:15 PM |
|
| HOA's will definitely have to comply with this new law. I was so surprised that there was virtually no publicity about it. As for your insides being sucked out, that is not what happens. The risk is that you get suctioned to the bottom of the pool and drown. Realistically this is very unlikely event. |
|
|
|
|
BradP
(Kansas)
Posts:1742
|
| 08/04/2008 6:15 PM |
|
Rob:
Actually there have been people deboweled by this... |
|
|
|
|
MaryA1
(Arizona)
Posts:2498
|
| 08/04/2008 9:36 PM |
|
Rob,
Brad is right; as gruesome as it sounds, I've heard of that happening also. I also heard of a young girl whose hair was sucked into the drain and she drowned. So it's much worse than just having your body sucked down to the area of the drain and drowning -- as bad as that is! |
|
|
|
|
KirkW1
(Texas)
Posts:1190
|
| 08/05/2008 4:59 PM |
|
| There have been both issues of drowning (which is what occurred to the person named in the act) and disembowelment. In the DFW area last year a young girl had her intestines sucked out through her bottom. They put things back and she appeared to get better for awhile, but in the end she died from complications. |
|
|
|
|
|
| You are not authorized to post a reply. |
|
|
General Legal Notice: The content of forum messages are from the posting member and have not been reviewed nor endorsed by HOATalk.com. Messages posted by HOATalk or other members are for informational purposes only, are not legal or professional advice and do not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. HOATalk is not a licensed attorney, CPA, tax advisor, financial advisor or any other licensed professional. HOATalk accepts ads from sponsors but does not verify sponsor qualifications nor endorse/guarantee any sponsor's product or service.
HindmanSanchez Legal Notice: (For messages posted by HindmanSanchez) This message has been prepared by HindmanSanchez for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Members of HOATalk.com should not act on this information without seeking professional counsel. Please do not send us confidential information unless you speak with one of our attorneys and get authorization to send that information to us. If you wish to initiate possible representation, please contact an attorney in our firm. Our attorneys are licensed to practice law in the state of Colorado only.
Legal Notice For Messages Posted by Sponsoring Attorneys: This message has been prepared by the sponsoring attorney for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Readers of HOATalk.com should not act on this information without seeking professional counsel. Please do not send any sponsoring attorney confidential information unless you speak with the sponsoring attorney or an attorney from the sponsoring attorney’s firm and get authorization to send that information to them. If you wish to initiate possible representation, please contact an attorney in the firm of the sponsoring attorney. Sponsoring attorneys that post messages here are licensed to practice law in a specific state or states as indicated in their message signature or sponsor’s profile page. (NOTE: A ‘sponsoring attorney’ is an attorney that is a HOATalk.com official sponsor and is identified as such in the posted message or on our sponsor page.)
|
|