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38 • NOVEMBER 2015 • WORLD FENCE NEWS technicians, and others to understand and apply the guidelines to their par- ticular properties or situations. Reviewing the following guide- lines may be helpful. Diagrams illustrating the per- tinent points may be found in the first installment of this piece, in last month's World Fence News. For further information, consult your local building department or code authority. Outdoor swimming pools All outdoor swimming pools, including inground, aboveground, or onground pools, hot tubs, or spas, should have a barrier which complies with the following: 1. The top of the barrier should be at least 48 inches above the surface measured on the side of the barrier which faces away from the swimming pool. 2. The maximum vertical clear- ance between the surface and the bottom of the barrier should be 4 inches, measured on the side of the barrier which faces away from the swimming pool. In the case of a non-solid surface, grass or pebbles, the distance should be reduced to 2 inches, and 1 inch for removable mesh fences. 3. Where the top of the pool structure is above grade or surface, such as an aboveground pool, the bar- rier may be at ground level, such as the pool structure, or mounted on top of the pool structure. Where the barrier is mounted on top of the pool structure, the maxi- mum vertical clearance between the top of the pool structure and the bot- tom of the barrier should be 4 inches. 4. Openings in the barrier should not allow passage of a 4-inch diameter sphere. 5. Solid barriers, which do not have openings, such as a masonry or stone wall, should not contain in- dentations or protrusions except for normal construction tolerances and tooled masonry joints. 6. Where the barrier is composed of horizontal and vertical members and the distance between the bottom and top horizontal members is less than 45 inches, the horizontal mem- bers should be located on the swim- ming pool side of the fence. 7. Spacing between vertical members should not exceed 1 inch in width. Where there are decorative cut- outs, spacing within the cutouts should not exceed 1 inch in width. 8. Maximum mesh size for chain link fences should not exceed 1 inch square unless the fence is provid- ed with slats fastened at the top or the bottom which reduce the openings to no more than 1 inch. 9. Where the barrier is composed of diagonal members, such as a lat- tice fence, the maximum opening formed by the diagonal members should be no more than 1 inch. 10. Access gates to the pool should be equipped with a locking de- vice. Pedestrian access gates should open outward, away from the pool, and should be self-closing and have a self-latching device. Gates other than pedestrian ac- cess gates should have a self-latching device. Where the release mechanism of the self-latching device is located less than 54 inches from the bottom of the gate, (a) the release mechanism should be located on the pool side of the gate at least 3 inches below the top of the gate, and (b) the gate and barrier should Safety barrier guidelines for residential pools continued from previous page Figure 15 continued on page 66 Visit Logical Decisions at www.ldi.com Your Gate Operator Specialist Find us on A PROUD DISTRIBUTOR OF DOORKING PRODUC TS If you are in the market for the best in access control products matched with superior customer service, look no further than Southeast Access Technologies. We oer a full line of DoorKing products alongside other top names in the industry. Southeast Access Technologies welcomes the opportunity to serve you. Be sure to call or visit us online. www.seaccesstech.com Check out our website for special online oers (770) 609-1551 5050 Oakbrook Parkway, Suite 500A Norcross, GA 30093 Visit us at our location in Georgia. Southeast Access stocks a complete selection of access control products.