Texas Administrative Code › Title 25 - HEALTH SERVICES › Part 1 - DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES › Chapter 265 - GENERAL SANITATION › Subchapter L - PUBLIC SWIMMING POOLS AND SPAS › Section 265.181 - General Provisions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Scope and
				  purpose. The purpose of this subchapter is to implement Texas Health and Safety
				  Code, §
										341.064,
				  Swimming Pools, Artificial Swimming Lagoons and Bathhouses, and §341.0645,
				  Pool Safety.
(b) Adoption by
				  reference. Department of State Health Services (DSHS) adopts by reference the
				  2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) regarding construction,
				  alteration, renovation, enlargement, and repair of commercial swimming pools
				  and spas; the ANSI/APSP-16 American National Standard for Suction Outlet
				  Fitting Assemblies (SOFA) for use in Pools Spas and Hot Tubs; and the
				  ANSI/PHTA/ICC-7 American National Standard for Suction Entrapment Avoidance in
				  Swimming Pools, Wading Pools, Spas, Hot Tubs, and Catch Basins as specified in
				  subsection (c) of this section.
(c)
				  ISPSC sections adopted. DSHS adopts by reference the following chapters and
				  sections from the ISPSC, except as provided in subsection (d) of this section:
				  Section 102 in Chapter 1, Scope and Administration; Chapter 2, Definitions;
				  Chapter 3, General Compliance, only as these sections and chapters relate to
				  the construction, alteration, renovation, enlargement, and repair of commercial
				  swimming pools and spas; Chapter 4, Public Swimming Pools; Chapter 5, Public
				  Spas and Public Exercise Spas; and Chapter 6, Aquatic Recreation
				  Facilities.
(d) ISPSC sections not
				  adopted. DSHS does not adopt by reference the following chapters and sections
				  from the 2021 ISPSC: Sections 102.7.1, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109.2,
				  109.3, 110, 111, 112, 113, and 114 in Chapter 1, Scope and Administration;
				  Definitions in Section 202 in Chapter 2: Code Official, Deep Area, Design
				  Professional, and Jurisdiction; Section 412.2 in Chapter 4, Public Swimming
				  Pools; Section 508.3 in Chapter 5, Public Spas and Public Exercise Spas;
				  Section 603.3 in Chapter 6, Aquatic Recreation Facilities; Chapter 7, Onground
				  Storable Residential Swimming Pools; Chapter 8, Permanent Inground Residential
				  Swimming Pools; Chapter 9, Permanent Residential Spas and Permanent Residential
				  Exercise Spas; and Chapter 10, Portable Residential Spas and Portable
				  Residential Exercise Spas.
(e)
				  Application of the rules. The rules in this subchapter establish minimum
				  standards for swimming pools and spas concerning pool operation and management,
				  water quality, safety standards unrelated to design and construction, signage,
				  enclosures, and safety features intended to reduce to a practical minimum the
				  possibility of drowning or injury to users.
(f) Date of construction. The date of
				  construction of a pool, spa, or a bathhouse is the date that a building permit
				  for construction is issued. If no building permit is required, the date that
				  excavation or electrical service begins, whichever is earlier, is the date of
				  construction. In the case of the latter, the owner or operator must produce
				  adequate written documentation of the date of excavation or the beginning date
				  of electrical service.
(g)
				  Regulations not in the ISPSC. Regarding regulations in this subchapter not
				  addressed by the ISPSC, local regulatory authorities may, with the exception of
				  DSHS-approved alternate methods of disinfection set forth in §
										265.196 of this subchapter
				  (relating to Request for Alternate Method of Disinfectant), adopt standards
				  that vary from the standards in this subchapter; however, such standards must
				  be equivalent to or more stringent than the standards in this
				  subchapter.
(h) References to
				  public swimming pools and public spas. The rules specify whether a particular
				  provision concerns pool operation and management, water quality, safety
				  standards unrelated to design and construction, signage, enclosures, and safety
				  features applies to pools and spas constructed on or after the effective date
				  of this subchapter or whether it applies to all public swimming pools and
				  public spas regardless of the date of construction.