International Pool Safety Standards regarding Pool Surfaces

The following British - European Common Union Standards will be adopted by the American and International Engineering Standards very soon!.

BS EN 15288-1 contains the following recommendations.

Areas below 1.35m [4.43 feet] are non swimmer areas, in these areas abrupt changes in depth are not permitted and the slope on the floor must be less than 10% although in the UK and in the standard less than 6% is preferred.

There are slip resistant standards in Europe and the UK which are used to specify tiled surfaces and in this area the criteria are:

in water depth of less than 0.8m [2.6 feet] the slip resistance of the floor shall be to Rating group 18º of EN 13451-1 in water depth of 0.8m to 1.35m [2.6 to 4.43 feet]the slip resistance of the floor shall be to Rating group 12º of EN 13451-1

You can buy these standards 15288-1 and 13451-1 from /www.bsigroup.com/upload/Standards%20&%20Publications/shop.html

Ralph Riley

Pool Danger Links

http://www.slip-resistant-solutions.com/index.html

City and county of Honolulu Regulations:

http://www.honolulu.gov/refs/roh/16a7.htm

Childrens Safety in Pools

Children are very likely to drown in a pool when they swim and can not stand up and swim.
There were 2 cases in Hawaii of Kids who went into a slippery pool and could not stand up and drowned.

Types of Tile that are recommended for Pool Surfaces.

The types of tile that are recommended include
poured concrete
gunnite
fiberglass
The glazed tile is a cheap fix, looks nice but is very dangerous.
Also the tiles are subject to falling out.
the contractors who us the glazed tiles will give you all kinds of suggestions on why it should be used but they will never guarantee the products safety.
Beware, these guys are putting a cheap product in your pool and you will have to deal with the danger.
Board of Directors who install these types of pool risk their fiduciary duty to the association.
Usually these boards are filled with "do gooders" who know nothing about the products they vote on.

People drown in slippery tile pools

If you tile the inside of your pool with slippery tile, you are putting your life and the life and safety of your family in danger.
There are safer materials to use to than slippery glazed tile. Your contractor should guarantee that there will be no injuries to anyone using the pool due to slipping. The tiles should be non slip.