MA: Door Alarms

[blazin]

So in MA code is:

9. Where a wall of a dwelling serves as part of the barrier one of the following conditionsshall be met:

9.1. The pool shall be equipped with a powered safety cover in compliance with ASTMF1346; or

9.2. All doors with direct access to the pool through that wall shall be equipped with an alarmwhich produces an audible warning when the door and its screen, if present, are opened. Thealarm shall sound continuously for a minimum of 30 seconds immediately after the door isopened and be capable of being heard throughout the house during normal house–hold activities.The alarm shall automatically reset under all conditions. The alarm system shall be equippedwith a manual means, such as touchpad or switch, to temporarily deactivate the alarm for a singleopening. Such deactivation shall last for not more than 15 seconds. The deactivation switch(es)shall be located at least 54 inches (1372 mm) above the threshold of the door; or

9.3. Other means of protection, such as self–closing doors with self–latching devices, whichare approved by the governing body, shall be acceptable so long as the degree of protectionafforded is not less than the protection afforded by Item 9.1 or 9.2 described above.

Question I have is related to 9.2, we have an existing whole-house alarm system. The doors, there are multiple, that will have direct pool access have monitors. Can I leverage those to meet code? Anyone have experience? Right now the doors do not chime on open/close, but if that feature were enabled would that be sufficient?

I'm not sure how this would get by as a 30 second alarm if the door opens as I believe the chime is typically 1 second tone.

I'm leaning on the side of "this is not acceptable" but curious if others have gone through this in MA and know what to look out for. Could my alarm installer (local guys) have a pool alarm add on? I just figure if I have a pre-existing system why add something in parallel if I can take advantage of what is hard wired in the walls?

Thoughts?

 

[PoolGate]

My whole-house alarm was acceptable for Maryland. I have the "beep beep beep" chime when the doors or window open. That MA code is brutal it looks like you have to keep your alarm on all the time. I would think the whole house alarm would suffice as long as you keep it on. If not, get one of those hotel room alarms and hang it on the doorknob.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

Here in CA, it's even worse. We need two barriers to child entry. The safety cover and the door alarms are two that satisfy the inspectors; it's not either/or as in MA. There must be an alarm on every door which opens from the house to the backyard pool area. Or else a fence around the pool which kids can't open.

They are looking for this door alarm or something similar. I had to buy seven (7) to mount on all my doors! I do not believe a temporary doorknob alarm would have passed inspection.

I already had the auto safety cover, which I love for all its non-safety-related benefits. If I were in MA and had this either/or situation, I'd run, not walk, to install the auto cover.

I've been told there are some whole-house alarms which have a "pool" mode. Sorry I don't have any references, but they specifically handle this situation. @blazin, I'd check through your alarm manual and see whether there's any such mode or any way to make it work for the duration of the inspection.

 

[Dirk]

Here in CA, it's even worse. We need two barriers to child entry. The safety cover and the door alarms are two that satisfy the inspectors; it's not either/or as in MA. There must be an alarm on every door which opens from the house to the backyard pool area. Or else a fence around the pool which kids can't open.

In CA, I'm supposed to have the alarms and the cover/fence?

In either state... How does one function day to day in this way? Either while alone, with immediate family, or g-forbid if you had a house/yard full of friends, all enjoying the house and pool?!? Are you expected to endure the alarm going off, loud enough to be heard anywhere and everywhere, every time some walks from house to pool to house: to use the bathroom, grab a drink, bring out the food?!? Do you give the code to everyone? Is there a pad on both sides of the door? Or does the alarm go off until you can reach inside to turn it off? What about the kids that can't reach the pad? Do they stand there an pee their pants waiting for someone to get them past the security check?

It seems this kind of requirement would virtually guarantee its disassembly the minute the inspector drove off. Negating all of its benefits. Who would live in a house with such a system for more than the inspection?

My bigger concern, as I don't nearly comply, is that no matter what I do, or don't do, if an accident occurs, even if I'm not home and it's some neighbor kid that jumps the fence and drowns, the plaintiff's lawyer would have a field day with my missing devices. I'd be guilty and liable for the missing door alarms even if the kid never used the door!

Kinda takes the fun outta havin' a pool...

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

This is what I believe to be true. Forgive me if I get the dates and/or details wrong.

A small number of small children have drowned in CA pools. One of them belonged to an influential parent who succeeded in convincing Sacramento to tighten pool safety regulations around 2006.

If you have a pre-2006 pool, you have no obligation to comply with post-2006 regulations. But if you build or remodel a pool, you must follow the new regs. Remodeling an existing pre-2006 pool is considered "new construction," for no reason I can discern.

There are basically 4 barriers to child entry which qualify. "New construction" requires any 2.

1. Motorized auto safety cover with switch kids can't reach (or remove key)
2. Fence around the pool with gate kids can't open
3. Alarms on every door in the house which opens to the backyard pool (added extra-cost screen door option exists)
4. Water motion alarm to detect kids falling in pool

One obvious problem is, #1 and #4 are incompatible. The water motion alarm means the safety cover is open, which means there's only 1 barrier in place.

The problems with #3 are also obvious.

The door alarms don't have a code. They have a button. 1. Open door. 2. Push button. 3. Close door and the alarm won't sound. Omit steps 2 or 3 and the alarm sounds. The alarm button must be placed some at minimum height I forget offhand.

I do not know "how legal" these requirements are. I only know 2 of these options are required to get a permit. It is possible to build or rebuild a pool without a permit; I just don't know the law. We opted for the permit in case we ever sell our home, which could cause an inspection at the buyer's request. This may even vary by county - permits often do - but in this case, I believe the regs are CA statewide.

<rant>Let's prevent kids from drowning! Who needs gun control?</rant> Don't shoot the messenger. Sorry if I derailed the OP's question about MA. I'm gonna step away from the computer now.

 

[blazin]

Thanks guys, I completely agree with the efficacy of the door alarm situation. The one alarm I can find that satisfies this code gives you the pass through inside/outside that when pressed allows you to open the door for 14 seconds before alarming.

With the way we use our door that would be immediately disabled during parties, which means it will then be forgotten, which means it will then become a liability.

I was really hoping people here had a solid product/example that could help!