Swimming Pool Designs must be ADA Compliant

Expert Witness - Swimming Pool & Spa, Americans with Disabilities Act

The ADA requires that swimming pools be designed to allow a person with disabilities to enter and exit the swimming pool or spa, on their own and without the assistance of others.

This is easily achieved through the installation of a lift.  Lifts are electric, hydraulic or battery powered.  They must be in place and available for use at all times.  They are UGLY and can potentially become an obstruction on the pool deck, in violation of other portions of the ADA.

The alternative is an innovative design, that allows the person with disabilities to walk or roll right into the water.  It is a ramp or beach entry, that gently slopes into the water.  This is aesthetically pleasing and a creative solution to the hideous deck mounted chair or sling lifts.

 
Paolo Benedetti 
Aquatic Artist, Watershape Consultant, Expert Witness 
"Creating water as art."™ 
Aquatic Technology Pool and Spa 
©www.aquatictechnology.com

Epic Pools Swimming Pool Designs Designer World Famous and Award Winning

A project is only good as it's design... Epic Pools design failures.

Everything and the kitchen sink...

Seriously evaluate the swimming pools that you see on TV or in the media.  Almost every one is an epic pool design failure.  No thought is made to any details, the architecture or integrating the swimming pool environment into the site.

Recent media coverage featured a number of large scale pools that were absolutely hideous in their design and execution.  The details were carried out with home improvement warehouse products.  Stainless steel handrails, round plastic deck drains, features stuffed everywhere... just because the owners could afford it.

Worthless fire features.... nothing more that torches in bowls.  Placed in areas where people could not gather or sit around the heat to socialize.

Just because a client want's to replicate Las Vegas... pirate ships, volcanoes, bridges, swinging ropes and geyser fountains does not mean that it is RIGHT.

These elements can be included in projects tastefully.  But that key work is often ignored.... "tastefully."

Money does not buy Class

Just because someone can afford to include everything on a project, does not mean that it is "right."  Most people who design swimming pools are not designers.  Most are contractors or salesmen who bundle off the shelf or catalog products into a mish-mash of a backyard.  They are not looking out for the client's best interest.. they are looking out for their own pocketbooks!

Clients that express a desire to incorporate features that may not exactly fit the architecture, can be accommodated.  This is where the talent of a true designer comes into play.  Hanging a plasma screen tv into a project is easy - concealing it, when it is not in use takes some talent.

Building a slide or swing rope are easy, but to incorporate them so that they are not detracting from the project when not, in use takes design talent.

I'm not saying that projects cannot be fun and include lots of things to keep the kids busy... the designer just needs to take the time to design them into the project.   Any nit-wit can slap things on the pool deck or around the pool.. and that's exactly what it will look like.... a pile of rocks on a flat yard, unusable fire features ridiculous water falls.

Remember - you're going to be looking at the pool a lot more than you're going to be swimming in it.  And soon, the kids will be grown and you'll be stuck with that monstrosity in the back yard.  

Paolo Benedetti 
Aquatic Artist, Consultant & Construction Defect Expert Witness 
"Creating water as art."™ 
Aquatic Technology Pool and Spa 
©www.aquatictechnology.com