Making a pool safe: what to plan for, especially with a beach entry
By the Piscine Lagon Maroc team
A pool with a beach entry is more welcoming than a classic pool. That is its appeal, and it is also what should give you pause: what makes getting into the water easy for you makes it easy for a three-year-old.
This article gives guidance, not legal advice. Rules may change, and housing estate or co-ownership regulations, or a rental activity, may add their own requirements: have what applies to your situation confirmed by the local authorities or a legal professional.
What the law says, in Morocco and in France
To our knowledge, no Moroccan law currently requires private pools to have a safety device.
France has done so. Since Law no. 2003-9 of 3 January 2003, incorporated into Article L. 134-10 of the French Construction and Housing Code, a private in-ground pool that is not enclosed must be fitted with at least one standardised safety device: barrier, alarm, cover or enclosure. An owner who fails to do so faces, as the French consumer protection authority (DGCCRF) points out, a fine of up to 45,000 euros.
These French standards are a good benchmark, even in Morocco. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists fencing pools among the measures that reduce children’s exposure to the risk of drowning; according to the WHO, children under 5 account for nearly a quarter of drowning deaths worldwide.
Our reading is simple: the absence of an obligation does not reduce the risk. An unprotected private pool remains an unprotected private pool, whatever the country.
The four devices, and what they are worth
These are the four families recognised by French law. They are not equal.
The barrier
It is the only device that physically prevents access. The others warn or delay; this one blocks. The French standard for barriers (NF P90-306) sets a height of at least 1.10 m, with a gate that closes and locks automatically. And above all: nothing climbable nearby. A sun lounger, a plant pot or a low wall against the fence is enough to defeat it.
The cover
A double benefit: it makes the pool safe and greatly limits evaporation, which matters a lot here. Be careful not to confuse the two, though: a bubble cover is not a safety cover. It limits evaporation, it does not bear a child’s weight, and a child who falls onto it can end up trapped underneath. Only a cover designed for safety (in France, compliant with standard NF P90-308) plays that role. On a free-form pool, have the manufacturer check that it can follow the outline of the pool.
The alarm
An immersion alarm, which detects a fall, or a perimeter alarm, which detects someone crossing. It warns, it does not prevent. It is genuinely useful as an addition, never on its own. On a pool with a beach entry, a very gradual entry into the water may also be detected later than a sudden fall: check with the manufacturer.
The enclosure
Effective, but often hard to adapt to a lagoon pool: an enclosure generally assumes a regular shape, the opposite of a free form.
The particular case of the beach entry
Shallow depth does not protect. A toddler can drown in very little water. A beach area a few tens of centimetres deep is not a safe zone, it is an easy-access zone.
The surface matters. A wet, smooth slope is slippery. On our lagoon pools, waterproofing is provided by an EPDM geomembrane, finished with stone carpet: mineral aggregates bound with resin. Whatever the surface, examine the finish of the beach area with your builder before deciding, bearing in mind use with bare, wet feet.
The slope must remain gradual and even, suited to the length available: see the benchmarks for a well-designed beach entry.
What no equipment replaces
Supervision. Devices buy time, they do not replace an adult who is watching: as the DGCCRF points out, no equipment removes the need for active, constant supervision of children.
Two simple habits are worth all the equipment: explicitly naming, at every swim, who is watching (“everyone is watching” means no one is watching); and taking toys out of the water after use, since a floating toy is exactly what draws a child to the edge when you are not there.
To plan from the design stage
Most of these devices fit in better if they are planned in advance: the position of a cover, the electrical conduits for an alarm, the anchors for a barrier. Added afterwards, they often cost more and fit in less well. Raise it at the first meeting, even if nothing requires you to; also think about the building permit, which is prepared at the same time as the project.