Safety fence

[lisam00]

We are going to be buying a 24' above ground pool. We have pretty much decided on a Sharkline Matrix. We do plan to build a deck all the way around the pool but we aren't sure that we can accomplish that this summer. We were considering buying the resin fence panels to put around the pool for this summer to meet the requirements of our zoning.

As we started looking at the panels and kits, we realized that that Matrix has two additional uprights so they must be closer together. Does anyone have a Matrix with those resin safety fence panels installed? Just cannot figure out if it would work correctly or not.

 

[cramar]

Your zoning bylaws don't consider the height of the pool wall as equivalent to a fence?
That's weird because the pool wall height is higher than a traditional chain link fence, alot of municipalities forego the fence requirement if the wall is 48" or higher.

 

[pwrstrk]

My township is the same. 48" or higher no fence.


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[lisam00]

Hmm good question! The girl that I spoke to at zoning did seem a bit clueless. I'll have to check into this further. Thanks!

 

[Bama Rambler]

As said, most places allow the pool wall to be the barrier as long as the minimum height above ground meets the code. You'll still have to have restricted access (i.e. locking gate, locking ladder, removable ladder, etc.).

 

[cramar]

Double check with your municipal planning dept, my own experience is that many individuals in the department may not be up to speed on all aspects of pool bylaws, they just think "oh, you have a pool, you need a fence". I suspect this is pretty standard and I wouldn't be surprised if this is why the industry uses the wall heights they do, fencing is a cost barrier to selling pools.

Our municipality DOES require a fence if you have oval pools with angled support beams, but they actually allow you to just fence the support beams of the pool, the beams are deemed a 'climbable object' on the pool therefore superceding the normal pool wall rule.

 

[lisam00]

I'm so glad that I posted here and asked about this. I called the zoning department again and got the same clueless woman. I asked her if I could actually speak to one of the zoning inspectors and he called me back. No need for a fence for an above ground pool in my township..just a ladder that locks or is removed. Now we can take our time working on the deck build and not worry about some issues with any zoning law violations! Thanks!

 

[cramar]

On your deck, may sure you have a self closing door/gate if there are stairs involved. Insurance company and municipality will both probably require this, plus it just makes alot of sense. Home depot sells self closing gate hardware kits and they aren't expensive.

Depending on your deck type you may not even need the style of ladder your talking about.
My own deck is elevated and access is controlled via the self closing gate, the entry into the pool is via deck ladder that is only from the edge of the deck into the pool, not the type of ladder that goes from the lawn up to the rail and then back down into the pool.
If you get this type of deck ladder you'll probably save a few more bucks.
Its hard to describe this in text, if you look at my own pool links you'll see what I mean.