HOA officers frustrated over pool inspections

We could have a serious problem with the folks at the Southern Nevada Health District.

Las Vegas Valley homeowners association officers, apartment managers and contractors have voiced frustration with this agency about its policies on pool inspections.

One HOA treasurer told me that SNHD had required his association to replace its pool equipment, which it had installed three years ago, to become compliant with the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act.

The 2007 law, which requires communities to install safety devices, was named after former Secretary of State James Baker's 7-year-old granddaughter, who died after a spa drain's suction trapped her under water in 2002. The health district has proclaimed on its website that it can only review portions of the act, as it's "limited to the applicable sections of the Nevada Administrative Code Chapter 444 Public Bathing Place Public Spas dated January 17, 1996. The Virginia Graeme Baker Act applicability is not reviewed by the health district." The district's website, southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/pools/vgb-act.php, addresses more related issues on the topic.

HOA board members said the permits they pulled nearly three years ago, when the federal law was enacted, has triggered a wave of current inspections and grief for them.

Three years ago, those working in communities asked for the district's help in complying with the federal law, which carried a hefty $1.8 million in fines for noncompliance. The district responded with public meetings and expedited its pool remodel permitting process to allow communities to meet the federal 2008 deadline.

Officially, the federal law is administrated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. SNHD staffers have reported that the federal government agency has made surveys of the pools in the Las Vegas Valley, but has not held inspections.

The district's decision to expedite the pool inspection process created a backlog of work for inspectors. To address this problem, the health district has formed a special team to work its way through these inspections, which are related to the 2008 remodeling permits pulled to comply with the Virginia Graeme Baker Act.

In an effort to comply with the new law, HOAs and apartment complexes installed roughly 980 suction vacuum release systems in pools and spas throughout the valley. There are about 5,000 pools and spas in Southern Nevada.

There are two parts to the SNHD pool program, which includes operational and plan review department inspections. When a body of water, such as a pool or a spa, has a remodel permit pulled, it is turned over to the plan review department. That body of water then cannot be seen by an operational inspector until it has been inspected, approved and released by the plan review department.

Some in the community service industry believe the health district is not conforming to its own policies.

However, on the health district website it clearly states that inspectors cannot close pools or spas for being noncompliant with the federal law, but it does provide communities with information about it. The website states that the district will continue to conduct regular pool inspections to make sure they are in compliance with state law.

Still, some community officials say they are confused about how this team of inspectors is dealing with the process.

I have been told by a reliable source that just a short time ago, one of the operational inspectors closed and fined a property because he felt it didn't pass inspection. After the property paid some fines and rebuilt the entire system, which cost thousands of dollars, the property was then inspected by a plan review inspector, who stated the new system was wrong and that the community had to reconstruct the system as it was originally.

Many HOA officials say they are getting conflicting information from the different types of inspectors, and it ends up costing them a lot of money.

The SNHD sticker that is on each and every inspection paper states the district is not inspecting for the Virginia Graeme Baker Act, but only checking to see regulations found in NAC-444 are met.

Nevada has still not adopted the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool law.

Still, nowhere in NAC-444 will you see anything in regards to SVRS devices or any other Virginia Graeme Baker Act modifications.

That means the SNHD is only inspecting pools' suction vacuum release systems, not channel drains, etc.

Area contractors say there are roughly five to six different SVRS used in our Southern Nevada pools.

It is my opinion that SNHD inspectors should stick to inspecting for flow rates per NAC 444. They should not be testing any SVRS devices because that would fall under Virginia Graeme Baker Act.

This confusion has placed a lot of HOAs and apartment owners in a tight squeeze in an already tough economic landscape. It costs roughly $3,500 to refit a pool or spa to become compliant with the Virginia Graeme Baker Act.

When you have one inspector telling you to remodel the remodel, that can add up to some big money.

For the most part, HOA officers just want to keep their pools and spas safe, be compliant with national and local laws, avoid big fines, and have their pools ready for the summer.

Remember, these are many of the same communities that rang the alarm bell three years ago, asking SNHD for clear instructions on how to comply with the federal law.

Many readers recall how the SNHD's communication, policies and procedures (or lack thereof) fiasco contributed to the confusion over the issue when the Virginia Graeme Baker Act first became effective.

Meanwhile, if your pool has been inspected, and if the SNHD inspector has told you that your SVRS system needs to be replaced, please let me know by email and I will give you a contact person who can assist you.

Editor's note: Steven Goode, environmental health manager for operations for the Southern Nevada Health District, confirmed there is a special team of health district pool inspectors dealing with the backlog created by the expedited process it implemented three years ago to deal with communities trying to comply with the Virginia Graeme Baker Act. He said the team is only looking at the remodeled pools to make sure they comply with NAC-444 requirements, not the federal law. He said that is the job of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In addition, he said he did not believe SNHD inspectors would tell HOA officials to replace their SVRS systems.

However, if a system wasn't working right, the HOA would have to correct the problem, and could shut down the pool or spa until repairs were made. He also added that district prides itself on having its staff providing "the exact same information" to the public. "If there is a lapse in that I would love to know so we can get that corrected." He urged community board members who think they are getting conflicting information from pool inspectors to call the pool program at 759-0571. He said the district would hold more public meetings on the issue if they were needed.

Barbara Holland, certified property manager, is president and owner of H&L Realty and Management Co. To ask her a question, email support@hlrealty.com.