Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act

The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and spa deadline has come and gone, and thousands of pools in the Tri County area are still in Non-Compliance.

December 19, 2008 was the deadline for the new main drain law to take effect and from my experience many of the commercial property owners, managers, and management companies are still unaware of this new Federally Mandated Law.

The Act requires three basic things for all public pools and spas.

1. The first requirement is that the main drain grate/cover be replaced with one that meets the requirements of the new ASME/ANSI A112.19.8-2007 performance standard, "Suction Fittings for Use in Swimming Pools, Wading Pools, Spas, and Hot Tubs". (keep in mind, if you recently renovated your pool, it does not mean that your pool main drain is in compliance)

2. The second requirement is that the direct pump suction drainage system entrapment hazard be mitigated by one of six methods, i.e., changes to the recirculation system.

• Safety Vacuum Release System conforming to ASME/ANSI standard A112.19.17 or ASTM standard F2387
• Suction-Limiting Vent System with a tamper-resistant atmospheric opening
• Gravity Drainage System with a collector tank (required in Florida)
• Automatic Pump Shut-Off System
• Drain Disablement device or system, or
• Other Systems that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) approves.
(Direct suction basically means that your pool main drain pipe goes directly from the main drain of the pool directly to the pool pump)

3. Grates/covers manufactured, distributed, or entered into commerce in the United States shall conform to the new federal standard. You can click here to see what main drain covers have been approved by the Florida Department of Health.

The (CPSC) Consumer Product Safety Commission is the authorized enforcement agency not the Department of Health. Be sure to comply with both regulatory agencies.

All Public Pools and Spas will have to meet Florida Rules. The Federal Act does not change the Florida Rules. All Florida swimming pools and spas will be required to replace the existing main drain grate/cover. Florida’s newer public pools (since 1977), and spas (since 1993), built with gravity drainage to a collector tank would only need to replace the main drain grate/cover to comply with this Act. This is about 80% of all the pools in Florida. (For those of you that have a collector tank, be very careful in checking to make sure that the collector tank you have is for your Main Drain, not just the gutter system).

Some older spas were built with a suction-limiting vent system with a tamper-resistant atmospheric opening. These facilities, also, will only need to replace their main drain grate/cover to be in compliance with the federal Act. The older direct suction pools and spas would need to replace the main drain grate/cover and provide suction mitigation as mentioned above. There are about 7,000 pools and spas that will require both modifications to be in compliance with the federal Act.

Direct suction pools will have to comply with the federal Act which requires replacement of the grate/cover to meet the ASME/ANSI standard and mitigation of the suction entrapment hazard. Although there are six options allowed under the federal Act for entrapment mitigation, Florida rules have required gravity drain systems for pools since 1977 and since 1993 for spas. Older Florida pools and spas that require modifications to meet the federal Act are encouraged to retrofit to the current Florida rules requiring a gravity drain system with collector tank.

An owner may choose to install one of the suction entrapment mitigation federal Act-listed devices at their option, at this time, to be in compliance with the federal Act. If the pool/spa is modified with a gravity drain system with collector tank, then this modification will require a DOH modification permit. Any other federal Act-listed device may be installed into the pool /spa recirculation system without CHD approval or involvement since they are not allowed or approved by Florida’s pool code. In either case by 2012 all pools and spa will have to be retrofitted to have a collector tank.

Be sure to hire a Florida State Licensed Pool Contractor to do the work. The Federal Law specifically states that all work must be performed by a state licensed contractor.
Where the simple replacement of a new drain grate/cover cannot be achieved, the pool owner shall apply for a modification permit to the CHD or Regional engineering office on the current modification forms with engineering documents, and the fee.
Field certification by a professional engineer is allowed in the ASME/ANSI standard as well. For additional information on this procedure, please review the federal Act referenced standard and discuss your situation with a Florida licensed professional engineer.

The Florida public swimming pool code, Chapter 64E-9, FAC, is currently under revision, and DOH has proposed to require phased-in gravity drain retrofitting during the next one to five years, based on risk. All older pools and spas with suction main drains would be required to be modified to gravity drainage with a collector tank system. If the Code is promulgated as drafted, Florida will only allow the use of gravity drains with collector tanks to mitigate suction entrapment on older pools and spas.

The federal law can be found at: www.cpsc.gov/pssa1406.html. Information on the state program can be found at department of health website at: www.floridashealth.com and pull down the A-Z topics to ‘Swimming Pools’ or contact your Regional DOH pool engineer.
I will be posting more information as it becomes available.

Call my office at 561-503-7728 with any questions you my have.                                                                                                   Leon Alcivar