Hello again everyone. Well, we are close to the bank accepting our offer on the house I’ve been asking questions about in a few recent threads. So, here is another one as I am getting conflicting information in my Web searches. Also, I will call the County to verify.
The home has a inground pool, but no pool barrier around it. The house was built in 1974 and the pool put in before the pool barrier law was put into effect. Would this pool be grandfathered in and no barrier needed? Some sources on the Web say that is the case, but the Florida statue doesn’t say anything about older polls, mainly just referring to new construction. The only reference to the county ordinance I could find online only covered new pool installations.
We are not trying to kill children or anything and plan to either cover the pool or screen it in, but we won’t be able to screen it right away. The house is a foreclosure so we can’t ask the previous owner, but either it is exempt or they ignored the law.
If anyone has an ideas it would be helpful. We are submitting a counter offer tomorrow and if this is something that is required we can use it as a bargaining item when negotiating the price we offer to the bank.Thanks!
I didn’t either but while searching the Web bright up several news articles saying that polls built prior to the 2001 stature were. Unfortunately they were articles about a drowning. So, that is were the confusion comes in. As I stated in the op, we plan to enclose the pool, but that will take some time as it isn’t cheap to do so.
Having an unsecured pool would scare the hell out of me. Attractive nuisance.
What does your home owners insurance say about it? Can you get a safety cover for it until you can get a fence? Since your pool will probably be open all year it might be a PITA, but so would a pet or child drowning.
In reading that law, a high fence around the yard doesn’t appear to be sufficient. Is this type of law found anywhere else? In Georgia, I simply have a wooden fence around the entire backyard, which I’ve been told is all I need.
I’m curious what a barrier that is near the pool would do that a barrier around the entire yard wouldn’t, other than perhaps stop one’s own children from wandering into the pool without supervision.
I don’t like the ideas of an unsecured pool either. Temporarily we would use a pool safety cover, all our kids know how to swim and are old enough to know the rules. No going in the pool unless we are home and give permission. We have a pool now and they have never once broken the rule as they know the penalty would be loss of pool for months. As far as other kids, the home is on 4 acres in a area where all the homes are on acreage so there is close to zero foot traffic from local kids. We will build an enclosure, but the cost of doing so means it can’t be done right away. I was surprised that the current owner didn’t have a fence. Given the secluded nature of the location it is doubtful a four foot fence would prevent anyone wanting access if they wanted to get in. Perhaps a safety cover will be enough. But as mentioned in the op, if it is required and there is no grandfather exception then it might give us a negotiating point with the bank. There is no issue about securing the pool, but funds will limit that from happening day one as the cost of purchase and moving will be many thousands.
The stature of course, but ths was mentioned in at least four articles I read so there has to be something to it. I can’t try to negotiate the cost of a fence with the bank if they come back and say it doesn’t apply because of an exemption.
We will have an inspection, but that comes after the agreement on price, a bit late to negotiate then. The bank has been sitting on this home for a while and our realtor thinks they are more apt to negotiate on concessions than on price. If that is true we can ask for a fence to be installed as per code if there is no grandfather clause.
I agree, if you have a fence surrounding your property that should be enough for if they go over that to get to your pool a four foot security fence isn’t going to stop them. As far as your own kids you need to know where they are. Our 13 year old is occasionally home alone, but at that age they should be responsible enough to not have to worry about something like this, if they aren’t they don’t need to be left alone, Our younger kids are never left without an adult around, NEVER.
Florida pool safety laws are seriously strict - my parents put a pool in at their beach house when they used to have one, and it could only be so deep while being so close to the house, for example. Doors that led out to the pool had to have the knobs and locks up high enough that my short mother had a hard time reaching them sometimes. Florida ain’t fucking around with pools (and frankly, yes, they are dangerous attractive nuisances and I think the laws are generally a good idea.)
Although our pool is fenced, and we have a large insurance policy, I told my wife the first week we moved in that any neighborhood teens I find floating in the pool in the morning would be buried deep in the forest out back.
