HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3181        FILED ON: 1/14/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2265

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the Year Two Thousand Nine

_______________

An Act Relative to Swimming Pool Alarms..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  Chapter 140 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 207.  As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly appears otherwise, have the following meanings:-

“Pool alarm”, a device which meets and is independently certified to the ASTM Standard F 2208 "Standards Specification for Pool Alarms" which includes surface motion, pressure, sonar, laser, and infrared type alarms. Pool alarms shall not include swimming protection alarm devices designed for individual use, such as an alarm attached to a child that sounds when the child exceeds a certain distance or becomes submerged in water.

“Swimming pool”, any structure that contains water over 24 inches in depth and which is used, or intended to be used, for swimming or recreational bathing located indoors or outdoors and which is available only to the family and guests of a residential household, including in-ground, above-ground and on-ground swimming pools, hot tubs and spas.

No building permit shall be issued for the construction or substantial alteration of a swimming pool at a residence occupied by, or being built for, 1 or more families unless a pool alarm is installed with the private swimming pool.

No swimming pool shall be used for swimming or recreational bathing unless a pool alarm is installed with the swimming pool by the owner of the residence.  Every swimming pool shall be inspected annually by the inspector of buildings of each city and town in which said pool is located for the presence of an operating pool alarm.

Each owner or tenant of every residence required to have a pool alarm in accordance with this section who fails to comply with this section regarding pool alarms shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500 for each offense.

SECTION 2.  This act shall be known as the Siara Arocho Act.