Two significant pool and spa industry-related measures have passed the Texas statehouse and appear ready to be signed by Texas Governor Rick Perry in September.
The first, S. B. 710, would require the disclosure of a main drain in a pool or spa when a homeowner sells a property in Texas. The bill incorporates a warning into the state’s home seller disclosure notice, a legal document which sellers must fill out and review with potential buyers before the sale of a home.
The Aquatic Professionals Education Council (APEC), an industry advocacy group in Texas, has supported the bill, which the council says will increase awareness of the dangers of main drains in pools and increase safety modifications in pools equipped with them.
The second, S. B. 1630, also supported by APEC, stipulates that the scope of the Texas Residential Appliance Installer license include commercial as well as residential properties. The clarification was deemed necessary in a response to an opinion published last year by the state attorney general that the existing code restricted the license to residential pools only.