All
in-ground swimming pools must be protected by a system that conforms
to the AFNOR standards regarding the provision of safety devices.
(These all have the objective of preventing young children of
less than 5 years old drowning in the pool)
These
are:
Fences
Safety Barriers (Fences)
- Final Standard published NF P90-306
Covers
Safety Covers –
Final Standard published NF P90-308
Alarms
Pool Alarms - Final
Standard published NF P90-307
Shelters
Pool shelters - Final
Standard published NF P90-309
The law
This states that;
-
Open-air
pools, buried or partially buried, for private individual
or collective use, built from Jan 1st 2004, must be fitted
with a standardised safety device.
-
Pools
built before this date must comply by Jan 1st 2006. However
seasonal letting properties must comply by May 1st 2004 (amended
from the original deadline of Jan 1st 2004)
-
Failure to comply
is punishable by a €45,000 fine. “Collectively used
pools” are not open to the public but only to customers
and owners, such as those in the grounds of hotels, restaurants,
campsites, seasonally let properties and pools shared by several
owners.
-
Legally, you may
use any one standardised device. However the CSC (French consumer
safety commission) prefers barriers and their combination
with other safety measures.
Insurance
Ask your insurance
company for advice and your letting agent if your property is
let. Many people do not realise they may require additional public
liability cover (responsabilité civile) if they let their
property.
Sundry details
You are not going to
be able to build your own safety device from normal DIY materials.
But you can build a 1.1m metre high wall with smooth sides that
cannot be climbed by a child.
You should only purchase
devices that have a statement of conformity naming the standard
to which it conforms. All standardised devices have instruction
manuals. Read and keep these. Think ahead to winter and how a
device will be used. Will it be compatible with your existing
pool covers?
NF P90-306 Safety
barriers and gates
A barrier can be combined
with walls and sides of buildings. These walls must be a minimum
of 1.10m at all points and must be non-climbable. Any access points
to the pool must be equipped with a conforming device.
For collective use
any means of access must be both self-closing and self-locking.
There must be no items outside the barrier that can be used to
stand on within a 1.10m radius from the top of the barrier, such
as flowerpots or bicycles. The standard recommends a barrier is
installed no less than 1m from the pool nor too far that it loses
effectiveness.
NF P90-307 Alarm
system
Perimeter or immersion
alarms must be installed so that the alarm can be heard in all
properties using the pool and a rescue made within three minutes
by an adult. When deactivated to use the pool the alarm will reactivate
after three minutes of inactivity, should you forget to manually
reactivate.
If you have a contre-courant
system be aware this may stop automatic reactivation. Although
devices are tested not to give false alarms, if you have a robot
cleaner check it is compatible with the alarm.
NF P90–308
Safety covers and NF P90–309 Pool shelters
Designed to prevent
a child falling into the water a cover must support 100kg; a ‘bubble’
cover is not a safety cover. Covers and shelters must be closed
and locked to conform in the absence of adult supervision.
Signs
All the standards recommend
signs displayed in the pool area with safety information
The differences
in Pool Safety Device Types
| |
Alarms |
Fences |
Covers |
Shelters |
|
Types
|
Water disturbance
sensors and infra-red beams
|
Metal or mesh
supported by metal or composite fibre poles
|
Manual covers
supported by aluminium bars or submerged automatic floating
covers
|
Must be fixed
in place to act as a safety device
|
|
Cost
|
Around 500
euros
|
Depends on
pool size and fence type. Fully AFNOR compliant fencing
can be supplied for 65 euros per metre
|
Winter covers
from 13 euros per square metre. Covers
with bars from 2000 and from 6000 euros for automatic covers
|
From 10,000
to 50,000 euros depending on pool type and size
|
|
Effectiveness
|
Water disturbance
sensors will not work when pool is covered by any type of
cover or ice. Infra-red devices are set off by animals.
If the house is left empty an alarm will not comply and
so pool needs to be fenced
|
The most cost-effective
way to provide the safety device in both new and existing
pools. A survey is required before retro-fiting to an existing
pool
|
Winter covers
can be used at a holiday home if supplemented by an alarm
when the family is on holiday
Can act as
a solar cover as well - but really needs to be motorised
to be effective as a safety cover
|
When the cover
is pulled back there is no effective safety device - unless
a fence is used as well
|
|
Retro-fitting
to existing pool
|
Yes
|
Yes - but some
building work may be required
|
Covers with
bars cab be easy to fit but submerged automatic cover fitting
is virtually impossible in most circumstances
|
Yes depending
on type
|
Pool Alarms
They look like this
Pool Fences
They look like this
