Any interested person may request a public hearing on the proposed new building standards so long as such a request is submitted in writing to the CBSC no later than 15 days from the close of the public comment period which would be Friday, June 10th.
John Norwood, president of SPEC, which has lobbied for more industry involvement with the process, has indicated it will request a public hearing.
According to a release from SPEC, it has formed a working group consisting of 14 of the leading commercial swimming pool and design professionals in California. “A first draft of the combined comments from this group has recently been completed and we are trying to finalize this document so as to have the most time-effective meetings with the CDPH,” Norwood said. “We have also recently sent these new building standards to representatives of key pool manufacturers for their input.”
In the public notice document, the policy statement issued by the Department of Public Health to support the proposed building standards indicates that the new public swimming pool regulations, including standards for water park facilities such as spray grounds, are necessary as the public risk associated with spray grounds is significant and has been associated with several illness outbreaks around the country. The purpose of the proposed new standards is to update existing public pool regulations to reflect current health and safety practices, industry standards and public pool operations. The proposal incorporates, by reference, the NSF International Standard/American National Standards Institute 50-2010 effective August 2010, and the United States Diving, Inc. Diving Rulebook effective January 1, 2010. The document indicates that the new standards will add $4,687 to new pool construction.
