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Florida Pool Pro
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• December 2014
Commercial pool update
COMMERCIAL CONNECTION
By Carl Shoffstall, Florida Playstructures & Water Features, Inc. /
Greetings to everyone, I have been asked to write an article in this month’s
Florida Pool Pro
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and as I sat and pondered what I would write about, it
occurred to me I should give an update on what is going on with the commercial
pool industry. There have been changes in permitting, plan review, on the front
end of building new pools, as well as what is being required for renovations
and remodeling of existing commercial pools.
As everyone should know by now, the governor had taken the initial plan
review away from the Health Department and gave the entire process back to
the local Building Departments, which was intended to expedite the permitting
process. The new system has been “in the works” for about two years
and, to say the least, there are many bugs to be worked out. On October 1
of this year new rules were put into effect to help pool builders get their permits
to build. FSPA is taking the lead, along with the help of other organizations
including BOAF (Building Officials Association of Florida), DOH (Department
of Health), and USPA (United Swimming Pool Association), to work together to
streamline the process and to make it work. Some issues that were discussed
were plan reviews and fees, the time frame on the initial DOH review, and what
is going to be needed for a renovation/remodel permitting.
One of the major topics discussed which will impact all commercial pool
builders will be when the DOH perform there bi-annual inspections. At the
present time, the DOH has no authority to cite owners on life safety concerns
such as broken tile, missing/broken main drain covers, lights falling out, broken
ladders and filtration in disrepair. At the present time there is no mechanism
or interest for the Building Department to go out to enforce owners/property
managers to make the necessary repairs. It is imperative that we get these and
other issues addressed because this impacts pool builders as well as product
manufacturers economically, since we buy the product and install it for repairs.
On a very positive note, in September I attended a CILB (Construction
Industry Licensing Board) meeting with Jennifer Hatfield, FSPA government
