Laguna Hills Municipal Code Ch. 31 Special Construction (CA)

Section 3109.2, California swimming pool safety act (statewide), is revised to read as follows:

3109.2 California swimming pool safety act (statewide) .
115922 (a) Except as provided in 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 safety features:
1. An enclosure that meets the requirements of Section 115923 and isolates the swimming pool or spa from the private single-family home. Any walls of the single-family structure or accessory structures used to complete the isolation enclosure must have door openings equipped with protection as required in item #4 or #5. Any such door protection device provided for this purpose may not be used to comply with the second drowning prevention feature.
2. Removable mesh pool fencing that meets American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Specifications F2286 standards in conjunction with a gate that is self-closing and self-latching and can accommodate a key lockable device. The mesh fencing setback shall be not less than 20 inches from the water’s edge.
3. An approved safety pool cover, as defined in subdivision (d) of 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 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 (1372mm) above the floor on the private single-family home’s doors providing direct access to the pool or spa.
6. An alarm that, when placed in a swimming pool or spa, will sound upon detection of accidental or unauthorized entrance into the water. These pool alarms 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 safety prevention 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 have been independently verified by an approved testing laboratory as meeting standards for those devices established by the ASTM or the American Society of Testing Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
Prior to the issuance of any final approval for the completion of permitted construction or remodeling work, the local building code official shall inspect the drowning safety prevention devices required by this act and if no violations are found, shall give final approval.

(Ord. 2007-3 § 2 (part), 2007; Ord. 2010-3 § 2 (part); Ord. 2013-3 § 2 (part); Ord. 2016-7 § 2 (part); Ord. 2019-4 § 2 (part); Ord. 2022-3 § 2; Ord. 2025-5 § 2)