It may come as a surprise to California home sellers that there is a required spa or pool safety inspection when a home inspection is performed in single family homes with hot tubs, portable spas, and swimming pools. This has been the case since January 1st, 2018, and home inspectors often (perhaps always) charge extra for this mandatory inspection.
What is the required spa or pool safety inspection?
The spa or pool safety inspection is to determine if there are at least 2 of the 7 possible drowning prevention safety features present and working.
Six methods are directly called out in the Health and Safety Code115922 and one is more open ended:
(a) Except as provided in Section 115925, subject to subdivision (b), and consistent with Section 1596.814, when a building permit is issued for the construction of a new swimming pool or spa or the remodeling of an existing swimming pool or spa at a private single-family home, the respective swimming pool or spa shall be equipped with at least two of the following seven drowning prevention safety features:
(1) An enclosure that meets the requirements of Section 115923 and isolates the swimming pool or spa from the private single-family home.
(2) Removable mesh fencing that meets the ASTM International F2286 standard in conjunction with a gate that is self-closing and self-latching and can accommodate a key lockable device.
(3) A manually operated or power-operated safety pool cover that is accompanied by a label verifying that the cover meets the specifications of the ASTM International F1346-23 standard.
(4) Exit alarms on the private single-family home’s doors and windows that provide direct access to the swimming pool or spa without any intervening enclosure. Whenever any door or window is opened or left ajar, exit alarms shall make either an audible, continuous alarm sound or a repeating verbal warning, such as a notification that “the door to the pool is open.” An exit alarm may be battery operated or connected to the electrical wiring of the building.
(5) A self-closing, self-latching device with a release mechanism placed no lower than 54 inches above the floor on the private single-family home’s doors providing direct access to the swimming pool or spa.
(6) An alarm in good repair and operable as designed that, when placed in a swimming pool or spa, will sound upon detection of accidental or unauthorized entrance into the water. The alarm shall meet and be independently certified to the ASTM International F2208 standard that includes surface motion, pressure, sonar, laser, and infrared type alarms. A swimming protection alarm feature designed for individual use, including an alarm attached to a child that sounds when the child exceeds a certain distance or becomes submerged in water, is not a qualifying drowning prevention safety feature.
(7) Other means of protection, if the degree of protection afforded is equal to or greater than that afforded by any of the features set forth above and has been independently verified by an approved testing laboratory as meeting standards for those features established by ASTM International, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, or another nationally recognized standards development organization, and the feature is accompanied by a label verifying that the protection meets those standards.
(b) The requirements of subdivision (a) are not satisfied by any of the following:
(1) An exit alarm and a self-closing, self-latching device on the same door.
(2) An exit alarm and a door latch on separate doors.
(3) A safety pool cover and an alarm described in paragraph (6) of subdivision (a).
(c) Before the issuance of a final approval for the completion of permitted construction or remodeling work, the local building code official shall inspect the drowning safety prevention features required by this section and, if no violations are found, shall give final approval.
What about the home inspector’s required spa or pool safety inspection?
The Business and Professions Code section 7195 includes this:
(a)(2) In connection with the transfer, as defined in subdivision (e), of real property with a swimming pool or spa, an appropriate inspection shall include a noninvasive physical examination of the pool or spa and dwelling for the purpose of identifying which, if any, of the seven drowning prevention safety features listed in subdivision (a) of Section 115922 of the Health and Safety Code the pool or spa is equipped, in good repair, operable as designed, and, if applicable, appropriately labeled, as required by Section 115922 of the Health and Safety Code.
And, further down on the same page:
(a)(3)(c) In a dwelling with a pool or spa, the report shall identify which, if any, of the seven drowning prevention safety features listed in subdivision (a) of Section 115922 of the Health and Safety Code the pool or spa is equipped with and shall specifically state if the pool or spa has fewer than two of the listed drowning prevention safety features, and whether those features are in place, in good repair, operable as designed, and, if applicable, appropriately labeled, as required by Section 115922 of the Health and Safety Code.
The property inspector will check for fencing, qualifying pool covers, door alarms, pool or spa “screamers” and any other drowning prevention measures for the spa or pool. Many homes do not have two or more of these safety devices.
Having the safety features is not a point of sale ordinance, meaning that home owners are not required to have them in place to close escrow. Rather, the required spa or pool safety inspection is to raise consumer awareness and protection so that the new owners can add these safety enhancements.
