Chapter 15.220 — SWIMMING POOLS

Except as provided in this chapter, the 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, is hereby adopted in its entirety and shall be and become the Swimming Pool and Spa Code of the City of Brea, regulating the design, construction, alteration, movement, renovation, replacement, repair and maintenance of swimming pools, spas, hot tubs, aquatic facilities and relate equipment in Brea.

• (Ord. 1264, 9/16/2025)

• A. Section 305.2(a) Construction Permit; Safety Features Required—Added.

305.2(a) Construction permit; safety features required.

• (a) Except as provided in Health and Safety Code Section 115925, when a building permit is issued for the construction of a new swimming pool or spa or the remodeling of an existing swimming pool or spa at a private single-family home, the respective swimming pool or spa shall be equipped with item # 1 and at least one additional of the following seven drowning prevention features:

  1. An enclosure that meets the requirements of Health and Safety Code Section 115923 and isolates the swimming pool and spa from the private single-family home. Any walls of the residential structure or accessory structures used to complete the isolation enclosure must have door openings equipped with protection as required in Health and Safety Code Section 115922(a)4 or (a)5. Any such door protection device provided for this purpose may not be used to comply with the second drowning prevention feature requirement.

  2. Removable mesh fencing that meets American Society for testing and materials (ASTM) Specifications F2286 standards in conjunction with a gate that is selfclosing and self-latching and can accommodate a key lockable device. The mesh fencing shall be not less than 20 inches from the water's edge.

  3. An 'approved safety pool cover', as defined in subdivision (d) of Health and Safety Code Section 115921.

  4. Exit alarms on the private single-family home's doors that provide direct access to the swimming pool or spa. The exit alarm may cause either an alarm noise or a verbal warning, such as a repeating notification that "the door to the pool is open."

  5. A self-closing, self-latching device with a release mechanism placed no lower than 54 inches (1,372 mm) above the floor on the private single-family home's doors providing direct access to the swimming pool or spa.

  6. An alarm that, when placed in a swimming pool or spa will sound upon

12. Editor's Note: Former Ch. 15.220, Swimming Pools, derived from Ord. 1188; Ord. 1212; Ord. 1232, was repealed by Ord. 1264, 9/16/2025.

detection of accidental or unauthorized entrance into the water. The alarm shall meet and be independently certified to the ASTM standard F2208 "Standard Safety Specification for Residential Pool Alarms." Which includes surface motion, pressure, sonar, laser and infrared type alarms. A swimming protection alarm feature designed for individual use, including an alarm attached to a child that sounds when the child exceeds a certain distance or becomes submerged in water, is not a qualifying drowning prevention safety feature.

7. Other means of protection, if the degree of protection afforded is equal to or greater than that afforded by any of the features set forth above and has been independently verified by an approved testing laboratory as meeting standards for those features established by the ASTM or that American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

• (b) Before the issuance of a final approval for the completion of permitted construction or remodeling work, the local building code official shall inspect the drowning safety prevention features required by this section and, if no violations are found, shall give final approval.

Authority and Reference: Health and Safety Code Section 115921, et seq.

• B. Section 305.2(b) Enclosure; Required Characteristics. An Enclosure Shall Have All of the Following Characteristics—Added.

305.2(b) Enclosure; required characteristics. An enclosure shall have all of the following characteristics. An enclosure shall have all of the following characteristics:

1. Any access gates through the enclosure open away from the swimming pool and are self-closing with a self-latching device placed no lower than 60 inches (1,524 mm) above the ground.

2. A minimum height of 60 inches (1,524 mm).

3. A maximum vertical clearance from the ground to the bottom of the enclosure of 2 inches (51 mm).

4. Gaps or voids, if any, do not allow passage of a sphere equal to or greater than 4 inches (102 mm) in diameter.

5. An outside surface free of protrusions, cavities or other physical characteristics that would serve as handholds or footholds that could enable a child below the age of five years to climb over.

Authority and Reference: Health and Safety Code Section 115921, et seq.

• C. Section 305.2.1 Barrier Height and Clearances—Deleted.

• D. Section 305.3 Doors and Gates—Deleted. (Ord. 1264, 9/16/2025)