Swimming pool barriers

[Stevehudson]

Are all you gite & villa owners with swimming pools aware of the "new" French government legislation.
I say "new" because the publicicing of this requirement has been pitiful to say the least. The law was passed on 19/12/02 and as I read it, states that from 1/1/04 all rented properties must have a permanent physical barrier between a child and an inground swimming pool. All other forms of protection (alarms etc) should be additional to the barrier. The maximum penalty for breaking this law is a fine of 45,000
If anyone has a more definitive interpretation I would be very interested to hear from them as finding the facts on this matter has proved to be far from simple.

[martinetchris]

Steve

As far as we are aware, the regulations as to what constitutes an approved "safety device" have not been decided - including what specification any fencing would need to be, nor whether indeed other devices (e.g. alarms) are to be acceptable.

If anyone knows otherwise, we'd be delighted to hear !

We're waiting to see definitive evidence of the required specifications before jumping in (so to speak ...) on the back of what some salesperson says !

We've copied below a recent e-mail we received from Francedirect (also printed in French News) which seems to reinforce this position :

Swimming Pool Owners BEWARE!

Says Chris Harrison of Christal Pools

As a swimming pool owner you must have been involved in various discussions about pool safety.

What is right and what is wrong?
The French law regarding this issue, was passed in January 2003, and stated that any 'new' pool installed after 1st January 2004 must be fenced.
An 'existing' pool, at a property that is rented, should be fenced from January 2004.
All 'private' pools should be fenced from January1st 2006.
The penalty for non-compliance is a 45,000 fine.
The Law also states that the 'Normalisation' or, standards for fencing will be agreed within three months of the law being passed. To the best of my knowledge, this has not been the case. To view the published details, look at this web address http://www.assembleenationale.fr/12/propositions/pion0234.asp.

After many hours of phone calls and emails it seems that details of the new standard has still not been decided.

The existing 'standard', XP P90-306, is experimental and dates back to July 2002. see www.afnor.fr

Most fencing companies will quote this as being the standard for the fences that need to be installed to comply with the new Law. This may be correct for now.BUT

The standard XP P90-306 also states that Observations relating to the present experimental standard must be addressed to AFNOR before 30th November 2004.

After questioning AFNOR and also talking to one of the largest British tour operators to France, it seems that the experimental standards could be changed, and if it is, any fence installed to the old norm will have to be modified or changed to comply.

Therefore, pool companies can only quote the experimental standards,!!!!

Fencing companies can only quote the experimental standards !!!

It is perhaps possible that the standards will not change in which case, we will all be able to breath a sigh of relief.

Many feel that the standards will not be changed but, the fact is, we simply do not know and will not know until such time as the relevant authorities officially tell us so.

As a representative of Christal Pools, a company of over 10 years standing in the French market, as well as an owner of rental properties in France, I find it hard to give the correct advice to pool owners.

So I say, be very careful when a salesman offers you a fence to the XP P90-306 standard. Fencing is expensive and will be even more so if it needs to be modified or changed. if you would like us to update you on any changes or have any questions please email [email protected] or [email protected]



Regards

Pete Harrison

FranceDirect.com