Today we are talking about pool safety rules and regulations. Most owners and landlords are concerned about the rules they need to follow for pool safety. The hard part about Arizona and Phoenix is that each city has a different start date for when the pool fence laws were grandfathered in. The law started for our valley in 1986, when El Mirage required fences to be up. Depending on your city and the age of your pool, you may or may not need a fence.

We have a link on our website that shows you a grid that can help you verify whether you need a fence. This is a quick resource for you, and you should check it if you’re not sure.

Pool Safety

Speaking generally about pools, you obviously want to keep tenants and their kids safe. Remember that if you have a pool, you aren’t exempt from pool safety just because there are no kids in your house. If your tenants are an older couple without children, they may have guests over, or someone in the neighborhood might jump the fence or open an unlocked gate. We recommend that you always think about pool safety, but don’t lose sleep over it. As long as you have insurance and an umbrella policy and you’re following the pool safety guidelines, you should be okay.

Fences

A fence is a good idea. They can be ugly and expensive but there are different fence options. For example, you can now buy a removable netted fence that is easy to take down and less expensive. Having some kind of a fence is a great idea because it protects you and your tenants.

Other Safety Features

You can also try self closing doors. There are sliding and Arcadia doors that can be weighted and close on their own. You can also have dual handle doors, where one is high and one is low and they need to be opened together. You can move a lock higher up on a sliding door. There are also things we call mommy alarms. It looks like a doorbell and connects about six feet up on the pool door. You have to press the button before you open the door, otherwise an alarm goes off and then you can check to see who is entering the pool.

Check windows and access to your backyard as well. Lots of people will put up a fence but not lock their gate. Anyone with access to the yard can get to the pool, and that’s a liability. Check your doggie doors and your windows. There is a great pool safety notice put out by the Arizona Association of Realtors. It should be included with any lease you’re doing if you have a pool. We also like to add specific language in our lease about tenants taking responsibility for the pool and understanding the dangers.

Protect your tenants and make sure they understand the rules. Liability will always be yours, so protect yourself too. Remember to check our Resources page for specifics, and if you have any questions, you can always contact us at Homeqwik.