Swimming pool in your gite in the Languedoc?

Now that you have bought your property in Languedoc and are thinking of turning it into a gite, you may want to consider having a swimming pool to attract more income and more customers to your gite. Here are the laws surrounding swimming pools.

Everyone should be aware of the law governing swimming pool safety in France. It’s the law, and despite many arguments to the contrary, all in-ground pools in France are now required to have one of four approved methods of security system. The fine for not complying with the law is 45,000 euros.

Above ground or semi-inground pools are not affected by the law and usually only rely on a safety ladder or one that is removed when the pool is not in use.

The law is specifically in place to protect children under the age of five, but anyone with children will understand that no safety device, no matter how well approved, can replace the vigilance of a responsible adult at all times.

The law was originally passed on January 1, 2003. To comply with the law, AFNOR (the body responsible for French safety standards) has set the standards for swimming pool safety systems, so that any safety method installed It must meet the established specifications. in each category of security device.

There are four types of approved security systems:

1.Safety Barriers, AFNOR standard: NF P 90-306.

2. Alarms for swimming pools, AFNOR standard: NF P 90-307.

3. Pool covers, AFNOR standard: NF P 90-308.

4. Sheltered pool, AFNOR standard: NF P 90-309.

Any safety device can be self-certified by the manufacturer who declares that he has made the system in accordance with the AFNOR standard, or certified by the manufacturer and also certified and tested by the LNE (Laboritoire National d’Essai). Every device tested by the LNE will have its own certification number, will be considered approved (agreed) and will bear the NF mark.

1 Safety barriers

There are dozens of types of pool safety fences now available in France. There are flexible mesh barriers, metal barriers, UPVC barriers, Perspex and transparent PVC panel barriers and wooden fences. Although not everyone likes it, a barrier is one of the best options for pool safety.

Please note that no natural limit can be considered a safety barrier, for example: hedges, slopes, ditches, etc. Neither is any other type of enclosure that is not specifically made as a pool security system, no matter how impenetrable it may be.

For pools for collective use (pools used by more than one family), particularly rural houses, campsites, etc., there must be a self-closing and self-latching door that opens to the outside of the pool. Most available systems have this type of door as standard.

For private pools, a barrier system can be fitted with a manually operated gate, but it makes sense, if you’re going to try, to fit a child-proof latch, as high up as possible out of the reach of little ones.

The main advantage of a barrier is that it requires very little maintenance or testing, so once it’s installed, you can forget about it. As long as any installed door is occasionally tested, it is not dependent on anyone else doing anything other than opening the door.

Another option for a barrier is, of course, a wall. There are important parts of the standard that must be adhered to, the most important of which is that the barrier must be more than 1m from the edge of a pool and be more than 1.10m high. There should also be no footholds, so natural stone walls are not legal, but a smooth plastered wall is quite acceptable.

The AFNOR standard also establishes that the barrier should not be so far from the pool as to be ineffective, that is, if you put a wall around your property, it will not be considered as safe as the house being inside the protected pool. area. This all gets very complicated and in many cases the best thing to do is to protect only the pool area and make it a designated swimming only area.

Another great advantage of a wall is that it will keep a lot of debris out of the water and really defines the pool area.

One disadvantage is that it reduces visibility from the outside of the pool.

2 pool alarms

Alarms come in two main types, immersion detector or perimeter alarm. The immersion detector detects a fall into the pool and then must activate within 12 seconds. The perimeter alarm works by infrared rays, when it is broken the alarm sounds. These systems, although approved, are not the best option for pool safety and are best used in conjunction with another approved device.

There are many disadvantages to using an alarm system: some alarms require swimmers to wear bracelets or keys, others require a code to be entered that disarms the alarm while people are swimming. They do not work under a cover, so they must be removed if you want to winterize your pool.

There are also some gray areas. The alarms must be tested monthly, they are susceptible to false alarms and AFNOR standards establish that a responsible adult must be able to respond to an alarm in less than three minutes. Although a five year old should have an adult with them at all times, if they don’t and there is a fatality, the responsibility ultimately falls on the pool owner.

The only benefit is the cost. But the cheapest option is rarely the best.

3 pool decks

As with the other options, there are many different safety covers available, so the most important thing to remember is that whichever type of cover you choose, it must be replaced whenever your pool is left unattended, so that a cover that is easy to put on and take off is important, especially if you expect someone else using the pool to put on the cover when you are not using it.

Any cover used to winterize your pool must also be AFNOR approved (unless you have an alternative form of security), so if your cover is more than three years old it is likely not approved and will need to be replaced.

There are covers that do the job of a security system, summer and winter cover and are even available with solar or grid power so all you have to do is turn a key to operate them.

4 pool decks

An abri looks a bit like a greenhouse and they are available in many shapes and sizes, fixed or telescopic. Apart from the price (this is the most expensive option) there are many advantages. In addition to being an approved safety device, it will help heat the water in your pool, keep debris out, reduce chemical use and evaporation, and if you heat your pool, it will effectively turn it into a usable indoor pool. all year. round.

The main disadvantage of installing a shelter is the cost. A low fixed abri, although cheaper, doesn’t leave much space underneath and some people find them claustrophobic: tall abri, usually up to 3m high, give a lot of space but also need a lot of space to set up.

Whichever system you choose, it should be practical and easy to use, and your local pool professional should be able to advise you on the pros and cons of each system and discuss the suitability of each system in your particular application.

(It is recommended to obtain a professional opinion on the Law of swimming pools in France)