Standards are the foundation of modern
civilization, dating back
to Roman roads and
beyond,” says Steve Barnes, director of
science and compliance at AquaStar
Pool Products.
Standards are also the foundation
of the pool, hot tub and spa industry,
and standards development is at the
core of the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance’s
(PHTA) mission. This year, PHTA
is proud to be celebrating its 40th
anniversary as an American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited
Standards Developer.
Barnes, who is chair of the PHTA
Standards Process Committee,
explains that standards serve as
voluntary consensus guidelines but
can become mandatory if adopted into
law, which is the case with many PHTA
standards.
“Standards define the pass/fail
criteria needed to confirm success,”
says Barnes, who has been involved in
the standards development process
for nearly 20 years. “This is how our
industry builds consumer trust.”
IMPORTANCE
The main role of PHTA standards is
to bring safety and responsibility to
the industry, but they are important
in many other ways. They also raise
the level of industry knowledge
among inspectors, builders, health
and building code departments,
legislatures, and regulators and help
with implementation.
The standards development
process strengthens PHTA’s
relationships with outside standards
and community organizations, such
as UL, NSF International, the National
Environmental Health Association
(NEHA), the National Plasterers
Council (NPC), and the National
Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA).
Promoting the adoption of standards
at the federal, state and local levels also leads to coordination with
government agencies including the
U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, the
California Energy Commission and
others.
PHTA members are able to serve
as volunteer leaders on the different
standards committees and increase
their own visibility as subject matter
experts. The committee members
are often asked to speak at industry
events, teach educational sessions
related to the standards, and be
interviewed by journalists looking for
more information on these topics.
HISTORY
PHTA is the leading industry
organization recognized by ANSI
to develop and promote national
consensus standards for residential
and public swimming pools, hot
tubs and spas. Since 1983, PHTA has
developed and revised 16 industry
standards covering construction,
maintenance, safety, energy efficiency,
and other important topics. These
standards impact every sector of the
pool, hot tub and spa industry, and
their development has been a focus of
PHTA (then the National Swimming
Pool Institute [NSPI]) since its
founding in 1956.
After hearing concerns that the
standards were industry-dominated
and serving the industry rather than
consumers, NSPI sought external
validation and received ANSI approval
in 1983. The NSPI Board of Directors
understood the value of standards,
giving the Technical Committee
responsibility for the association’s
American National Standards (ANS)
development process.
NSPI published its first five ANSI
standards in 1991 and 1992, covering
the topics of public pools, public spas,
permanently installed residential spas,
aboveground/onground residential
swimming pools, and residential
portable spas/hot tubs.
NSPI-5, the standard for residential
inground swimming pools, was
published in 1995. This was “the
crown jewel of the group,” according
to Barnes, because this standard was
later referenced in several state laws
and codes.
NSPI changed its name to
the Association of Pool & Spa
Professionals (APSP) in 2004, but
the name change only strengthened
the organization’s commitment to
standards development.
A milestone occurred in 2006,
when the APSP-7 standard on suction
entrapment avoidance was published
two years before Congress passed the
Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa
Safety Act (VGBA). “APSP-7 provided
an important tool for designing and
evaluating all five suction system
hazards two years ahead of the federal
law going into effect,” explains Barnes.
“As a voting member of the APSP-7
Standard Writing Committee (SWC),
it was extremely gratifying to read the
new federal law and see that APSP-7
provided a roadmap for contractors
to prove their pools and spas comply
with the new VGBA law. I’m convinced
this is why PHTA-7 is now the suction safety systems standard used by
over 30 states and hundreds of local
jurisdictions.”
In 2011, the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC) recognized
the APSP-16 standard as the successor
drain cover standard to the ASME/
ANSI standard. Currently, APSP-16
2017 is federal law and listed in the
Federal Register. The VGBA requires
that drain covers must comply with
entrapment protection requirements
specified in the APSP-16 2017 standard.
A partnership with the International
Code Council (ICC) began in 2012,
when PHTA (then APSP) and the
ICC produced the first edition of the
International Swimming Pool and Spa
Code (ISPSC), which is compatible
with the International Codes (I-codes)
for building safety. Since then, both
groups have continued to develop and
update the published 2015, 2018 and
2021 versions of the ISPSC. Content is
largely derived from or cites the PHTA
standards. An agreement between the
two organizations fosters collaboration
in the industry, as reflected in the cobranding
of the PHTA standards and
the ISPSC.
APSP merged with the National
Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) in
2019 to form the PHTA we know today.
In 2022, PHTA launched its Center
of Technical Excellence to ensure its
technical activities and initiatives are at
the forefront of the industry. The newly
developed Technical Advisory Council
now oversees the Standards Process
Committee, the Recreational Water
& Air Quality Committee, the Code
Action Committee, and the Editorial
Review Committee, with a fifth
committee on research and grants to
be formed in the future. The Standards
Consensus Committee continues to
work closely with the Standard Writing
Committees (SWCs); each standard
has its own SWC. Expanding the center
allows for even more participation
from PHTA members and industry
stakeholders overall.
“The major objective of the Center
of Technical Excellence is to improve
the responsiveness of PHTA to the
technical and educational needs of its
members,” explains PHTA Technical
Advisory Council Chair Joseph Laurino,
Ph.D., president and CEO of Periodic
Products, Inc.
IN THE 40TH YEAR
An exciting part of the 40th anniversary
celebration took place in February
2023: the publication of the brand-new
ANSI/PHTA/ICC-2 American National
Standard for Public Pool and Spa
Operations and Maintenance. This was
a PHTA Commercial Council initiative
greenlighted by the PHTA Board of
Directors in 2017. This standard is
significant because it provides stateof-
the-art public pool policies in an
easy-to-use and reference document
that was diligently written to follow
and improve upon PHTA’s existing
knowledge base and that of the Model
Aquatic Health Code (MAHC), which
is developed and updated by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
“While known for suction
entrapment preventions, energy
efficiency, and applied hydraulics, I am
most proud to have been part of the
PHTA-2 development team because
effective operations and maintenance
policy impact every public pool user
there is,” says Barnes. “Helping to
achieve and consistently maintain
water quality is, and always will be,
the most consequential responsibility
we have as an association and an
industry.”
Currently, two SWCs are working
on review and revision of drafts for
the PHTA-1 Standard for Public Pool
and Spa Design, Construction, and
Installation and PHTA-16 Standard
for Suction Outlet Fitting Assemblies
(SOFAs) for Use in Pools, Spas, and
Hot Tubs. The PHTA-1 Standard would
complement the ANSI/PHTA/ICC-2
Standard on public pools and spas
operations and maintenance. At the
first meeting of the PHTA-16 SWC,
Mark Eilbert of the CPSC spoke on
what is in the public interest and under
their authority as an agency. Topics are
being identified for further discussion
by the committees.
The 40th anniversary celebration
will culminate at PSP/Deck Expo in Las
Vegas this November. PHTA is hosting
a reception at Resorts World – Conrad
to honor the many volunteers who
dedicated incalculable time and effort
to developing these standards and
shared their commitment to elevating
the entire pool, hot tub and spa
industry.
To learn more about the PHTA/
ANSI standards development process,
visit phta.org/standards.