Standard referenced in federal water safety legislation

(Alexandria, Va.) – The Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) has initiated the process of revising the ANSI/APSP/ICC-16 2017 American National Standard for Suction Outlet Fitting Assemblies (SOFA) for Use in Pools, Spas, and Hot Tubs. This standard is referred to as the drain cover standard under the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (VGBA). The review is part of the standard’s routine maintenance.

In adherence with the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) Essential Requirements, PHTA is ensuring timely review and potential revision of the entire standard. To this end, the PHTA-16 Standard Writing Committee (SWC) will convene regularly over the coming months to carefully review and evaluate possible revisions to the standard. Comments and change request proposals are currently being accepted on the PHTA website.

Members of the PHTA-16 SWC represent a broad, balanced cross-section of subject matter experts in the industry and community, from manufacturers and pool builders to public health officials and water safety advocates. The PHTA-16 SWC members are listed below.

Voting Members

• Chair: Steve Barnes, AquaStar Pool Products, Ventura, CA
• Vice Chair: Kevin Post, Counsilman-Hunsaker, Evergreen, CO
• Reza Afshar, Afras Indsutries, Inc., Newbury Park, CA
• Adam Alstott, Tropical Pools Inc, Altamonte Springs, FL
• Rich Anderson, International Code Council, Inc., Loveland, CO
• Terry Brannon, Brannon Aquatics International LLC, Tyler, TX
• Dewey Case, CMAHC, Hattiesburg, MS
• Dominic Conn, Hayward Industries, Inc., Tempe, AZ
• Megan Ferraro, The ZAC Foundation, Malvern, PA
• Jeremy Harper, Southern Nevada Health District, Las Vegas, NV
• Kevin Jeroncic, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
• Adam Katchmarchi, National Drowning Prevention Alliance, Indiana, PA
• Stephen Kuscsik, UL Solutions, Northbrook, IL
• John Mason, Deschutes County Environmental Health Department, Bend, OR
• Angelo Pugliese, Custom Molded Products, Palm Bay, FL
• Katie Rudisill, Mecklenburg County Health Department, Charlotte, NC
• Kevin Schaefer, NSF International, Ann Arbor, MI
• John Vasarhelyi, Pentair, Sanford, NC
• Gary Walt, Speck Pumps-Pool Products, Inc., Jacksonville, FL
• Michael Weinbaum, Martin Aquatic Design and Engineering, Winter Garden, FL
• Tony Zhou, IAPMO EGS, Ontario, CA

Voting Alternates

• Gary Gauthier, International Code Council, Inc., Lowell, MA
• John O’Hare, Hayward Industries, Inc., Clemmons, NC

Non-Voting Government Member

• Mark Eilbert, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Rockville, MD

The committee will revise the standard establishing materials, testing, certification, and marking requirements for new or replacement fully submerged drain covers for use in any body of recreational water. These include, but are not limited to, swimming pools, hot tubs, spas, portable spas, non-portable wading pools, storable pools, or any other aquatic venue intended for swimming or recreational use.

Following the approval of the final version by the SWC, the revised standard will be submitted to PHTA’s ANSI consensus voting body—the Standards Consensus Committee—for their review and voting. The standard will also be open to public comment at that time as part of the ANSI process, and all written, properly submitted perspectives or objections will be acknowledged and addressed appropriately by the SWC.

Subsequent to these steps, the proposed standard will be forwarded to ANSI for its approval. However, the uniqueness of this PHTA standard lies in its designation as a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Standard. This designation requires any revisions to be examined by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The CPSC will scrutinize the revised standard to ascertain whether the PHTA approved changes align with the public interest as defined by the CPSC. Only after this final affirmation will the revised standard be officially recognized as the “successor standard to ANSI/APSP/ICC-16 2017”.

For more information, visit the PHTA-16 webpage, phta.org/standards, or email PHTA Program Director of Standards and Technical Services Genevieve Lynn at [email protected].