As many people know, there has been a recent revision to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) which concerns accessibility for individuals using public swimming pools. The revision requires that pools provide accessible means of access in the form of a lift, sloped entry, transfer wall, or some other means.
Here is a link that describes the law and the requirements in great detail:
http://www.access-board.gov/recreation/guides/pools.htm
Premier Aquatics has been working with industry leaders and government to be able to provide the most accurate information to our customers and partners. It has been a challenge to get a hard and fast answer to many questions, but here is the down and dirty:
1. This requirement does NOT affect apartments, condominiums, and HOA’s. They are considered private under this definition
2. This requirement DOES affect any pool that allows entry of the general public, whether it be in the form of selling memberships on a daily, monthly, or annual basis (this includes swim clubs that anyone can join and hotel pools)
3. Any pool that has a perimeter over 300 linear feet (usually a big lap pool with an “L” shape to the deep end or larger) is required to have two separate accessible means of entry. The most reasonable and economical means is the addition of automatic lifts – there are other modifications that can be made, but we don’t recommend them.
4. Wading pools cannot use a lift. They must have a sloped entry. There is terminology in the law that says that accommodations must be “readily achievable”. This is vaguely defined as something that the facility can afford and has the space and ability to do it. Modifying a wading pool will usually cost at least $25,000, which doesn’t include all the extra deck that is needed, moving the fence, etc. Because of the expense and the difficulty with making a wading pool accessible, it is not a “readily achievable” venture for most people. It is our understanding that there will be some kind of waiver offered for these situations, but we do not think there is an official waiver application or anything that we can find. You basically need to have the documentation (cost estimates, plans, and your own budgetary restrictions) on file to prove why you have not brought the wading pool into compliance.
5. Enforcement of the law is largely complaint-driven. This means that the Department of Justice will not necessarily be inspecting all the facilities, but if someone complains to them that a facility has not been made accessible to them, they can notify the Justice Department and bring suit against the facility.
We recommend that any owner that has questions contact the Justice Department for their own answers. The best contact there is David Stuart, and he can be reached at 1-800-949-4232.
As more information and clarification becomes available, we will be in touch with our customers and the community and help them to determine needs and bring their facilities into compliance.
Oh, and one last thing – compliance is required to be met by March 15, 2012, so pools that are required will need to be brought into compliance before the pools open for next season!
Ryan D.
