International Aqua Designer - Swimming Pool Expert Witness

Swimming Pool Consultant - Plan Check and Construction Specifications

Reviewing the Plans of other International Aqua Designers

On occasion, I am called on to review the plans of other so-called "design firms."  Some of these firms deliver plans that are full of meaningless information, meant to baffle the client with pages of worthless plans and data.  I guess that a thick set of plans equates to value.  A phone book is thick and full of information as well...

One such firm out of Arizona, includes structural engineering in their plan sets.  But these structural plans are nothing more than generic structural plans that they selected out of a catalog.  

There was no review by a structural engineer for the suitability of those selected pages for the project.  

Nor were the pages they selected, even validated for their suitability for the soil conditions present on the site.   Neither the soils engineer or the structural engineer reviewed the plans.

Absolutely worthless engineering...  but the client thought they were getting something useful that they could actually use to obtain bids and construct the project.

Lack of Training

This same firm did not even provide simple flood protections for the underground equipment room.  Fail proof protection against reverse siphoning of the plumbing was not provided.  The plans specified that the pumps and equipment were to be mounted directly on the floor - subjecting them to flooding and potentially posing electrical hazards to personnel.  Ventilation for the equipment and OSHA mandated "confined space" ventilation requirements were simply omitted - the room would have overheated with all of those electric motors and gas heaters.

Provisions for sump pumps or positive drainage were not provided.  In the event of a leaking pump, valve, pipe or component, they were simply going to allow $100,000 worth of equipment to flood.

Valves were not specified on every line entering or leaving the room.  Any future repairs to plumbing components below the water level would have required draining the pools.

Hydraulics

The turnover rates and surge tank size were grossly inadequate.  Pipe sizes were too small resulting in excessive line velocities.  Auto-fill lines injected make-up water into the pool instead of in the surge tank where pump protection is critical.

A simple modulation valve would have solved the problem - a simpleton's knowledge.

Inadequate Licensing

And, to top off the insult to the client - this firm is not even licensed to perform design work in California.  They are not California licensed contractors, architects or landscape architects.  In California they are not even allowed to provide structural engineering - but they did. There was no recourse for the owners against this firm with a pretty website.

They possessed an inadequate background in swimming pool construction, structural engineering, hydraulics or mechanical design, specifications writing or construction management.

They merely assembled CAD drawings based upon their limited skills and charged the client top dollar.



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

Swimming Pool Design Deficiencies

Swimming Pool Design and Construction Expert, Paolo Benedetti, discusses common swimming pool design inadequacies.  

Proper Planning

We've all heard the old adage "Proper planning prevents piss-poor performance."

If the person doing the planning has a limited education and knowledge base, then all of the beautiful plans in the world will not keep the "boat from sinking."

Proper planning requires knowledge of hydraulics, cement and masonry, some engineering details, electrical, waterproofing and drainage, sanitization, and equipment selection/technology.

It may look pretty on paper, but it might not work in reality.  An example...

Plan Review

I was recently asked to "bid" a job.  After explaining that I do not "bid jobs," because it implies that the client is only concerned with price and not quality (low price and quality are diametrically opposed).

The potential client sent over some beautifully drawn CAD plans.  The project had everything...  a swim up bar, fire features, a detached elevated perimeter overflow, water features, beach entry bubblers and dramatic lighting effects.

As I reviewed the plans, I discovered a number of flaws.  The equipment room was grossly undersized for the amount of equipment (on the specifications list) that would be needed to make everything operate correctly.  No one bothered to lay out the equipment room to scale, to even determine if it would fit and if there was enough room to ever service or repair it.

All of the water features and bubblers were going to operate off of one variable speed pump.  Automatic valves were going to modulate the the on/off of the various features. Good theory - bad practice.  The specified plumbing was undersized and the plumbing design was "unbalanced."

The lighting that was specified for the beach entry and bubblers could not be install in that shallow of water.  The designer did not know the capabilities of the equipment he was even specifying.

The yard was a flat lot, and there was no place for water in the sunken seating or bar area to discharge to.  No other provisions, such as a sewage ejection sump and pump were provided for.

The spa was detached from the pool.  The water level in the spa was to be 18 inches above the pool.  After the water overflowed the spa walls it was supposed to flow into a gutter/rill.  The rill was then going to drain across the pool deck & into the pool.

Great concept, but the gutter had no change in elevation - nothing (gravity) to force it to drain towards the pool.  In fact the bottom of the gutter was 6" below the deck & the pool water level was 5" below the deck.  Water was going to flow BACKWARDS from the pool into the rill.

Only a small percentage of the population has the ability to visualize single dimensional plans in three dimensions.  This is why many projects are designed with inherent flaws that later reveal themselves during construction.

Only cross sectional details will uncover these errors and omissions.  Something most clients are unwilling to pay for...

By the way.. the client thought that my fee for reviewing the plans and completing the necessary details was "...crazy.  The project is already designed."

Little does he know.... he's going to spend more on change orders to modify the project or to correct these problems later, than if he'd paid me my fee.

It's what you don't know (or worse yet, what your "pool designer" doesn't know) that'll bite you!


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