A new APSP bulletin

Connecticut Code Officials Continue Dialogue with APSP on Suction Entrapment

At the November 15 meeting of the Connecticut Building Officials’ Association, code officials heard diverging views during presentations from APSP members and SVRS manufacturers about the protections needed for suction entrapment, the benefits of ANSI/APSP-7, and the benefits of SVRS devices. APSP CBPs Al Rizzo and Gordon MacGregor with Rizzo Pools, John Romano and Rob Romano with All American Custom Pools & Spas Inc., and Don Kulowski of Century Pool attended the hearing. As a result of the meeting, Connecticut officials and APSP members in Connecticut agreed on a joint educational program to teach Connecticut building inspectors what they should look for when inspecting a pool using the ANSI/APSP-7 standard.

Some of the issues raised during the meeting included:

Dual main drains, with claims by the SVRS manufacturers that dual main drains are not effective protection against suction entrapment
SVRS devices
Adoption of ANSI/APSP-7 into state laws and into the ICC codes at the upcoming ICC hearings in February 2008. APSP continues to work toward adoption of the ANSI/APSP-7 standard into state codes and the ICC codes, with the next venue the February 2008 ICC hearings in Palm Springs

APSP members provided to the officials copies of the new (October 2007) Technical Committee Report on Suction Outlet Safety and the Effectiveness of ANSI/APSP-7. APSP will also soon be making this report available to code officials nationwide.

For a copy of the APSP Technical Committee Report on Suction Outlet Safety and the Effectiveness of ANSI/APSP-7, click HERE.

Please remember, as stated in the ANSI/APSP-7 standard, “There is no backup for a missing or damaged suction outlet cover/grate. If any cover/grate is found to be damaged or missing, the pool or spa shall be immediately closed to bathers.”

There is no layer of protection beyond a missing or broken drain cover that protects against all five known entrapment hazards. There have been cases where bathers had a limb mechanically entrapped in an exposed open pipe or sump when the circulation pumps were shut off. Connecticut has recognized this and has alerted all its inspectors with the following message:

Note: Given that approved drain covers are essentially the only protection against hair entrapment and evisceration, it is imperative that owners/operators of swimming pools and spas equipped with submerged suction outlets be made aware of the need to shut down a pool or spa with a drain cover that is missing, broken, or not securely fastened.