Child Gates Around a Home Pool (Clearwater, Dunedin: contractor, closing, live in)

[sugarmedia]

I have a neighbor who is oblivious to the fact that he needs to close his back yard gate, which leads directly to his large swimming pool.

After asking him several times to close it, he, the pool guy and all of his friends walk out of it and leave it open for days on end. What frightens me is that there are small kids who live in the area who could easily go into his backyard and fall in.

I was doing some reading tonight and read that it seems to be Florida law to have the following in regards to a gate:

Gates
When the pool fence has an access gate, the gate must open outward and away from the pool. Gates must be self-closing and equipped with a self-latching locking device located on the pool side of the gate. However, if the latch is at 54 inches or above, it may be located on either side of the gate providing it is placed so that a young child cannot reach it through any gap. No opening greater than 1/2 inch is permitted within 18 inches of the release mechanism.

Now, my questions is, "Who do I report the code violation to?" I am in Pinellas County, in Dunedin. (North of Clearwater).

Thanks.

[Occifer]

Pinellas County should have a code enforcement division you can report this to.

That said, whether or not his gate is a violation of the code depends on when the pool was constructed. I can't imagine a licensed pool contractor not adhering to building codes, so I would assume that the pool is probably older than the code. In that case, it doesn't have to be retrofitted.