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Do I have to inform my neighbors? Can the weight of the removable or inflatable pool affect the structure of the property?
Taking into account the situation by COVID-19, there are many families who want to opt for a removable or inflatable pool to cope with the summer heat. These facilities are usually designed to be installed on terraces and even rooftops. But, is it legal, can there be complications with the structure of the building, should the neighbors be informed before carrying it out? We will answer these questions below:
Answering whether we should inform the neighbors about it, the answer is “it depends”. If it is an inflatable pool that is installed on a terrace, which is not of common use, it is not necessary. If, on the other hand, the pool is located on the roof, for example, the owners of the building would have to be informed. However, before any use of this style on the part of the owner, although the zone is of privative use, it is more than advisable to warn of it to the neighbors to avoid future conflicts and complaints.
Continuing with the question of whether it can affect the structure of the building, we will comment the following: this is undoubtedly an issue to be taken into account before installing an inflatable pool or a removable one. Normally, the terrace of a house can support from 300 to 350 kg per square meter. This is aggravated if the building has an old structure. On average, water usually weighs about 100 kg for every 10 centimetres of height in a square meter.
This is why a conventional terrace can support a 30 cm deep pool (don’t forget to add the weight of the bathers). This leaves us with the option of the inflatable pool (the typical one for children). To place another type of swimming pools without ending up having a problem in the structure of the building, will be directly related to the forged of the building or its resistance of concrete, for example.
If you have any doubts, you can take a look at the “house structure report”. This can be provided by the developer or construction company of the building. In this one, relevant data appear, in relation to the weight that can support the forged one. In the case of not having access to this information, we can ask an architect or a quantity surveyor. They are the figures that can clarify the subject in the best way.
What does the law say about it? Liability
The law as such has not manifested itself in this regard. Thus, there is no legislation in force that contemplates the use and installation of inflatable or removable pools. In any case, we can have the law as a reference when calculating how deep our pool should be. What does this law establish? That for each square meter forged of a home, it must be able to withstand a pressure of 200 kgs. Even so, architects and engineers usually give a greater margin to increase the security of the construction. A resistance of about 350 kgs per square meter is usually provided to the structure of the floor.
In short, an apartment that is built according to current regulations can have a swimming pool on its terrace that can withstand 30 cm of water depth. The most convenient thing before taking this step would be to request a technical study to analyse the security of the building to be totally sure. With it we will avoid possible damages that can appear.
Another aspect to take into account, although we have the permission to carry out the installation, is to study the pertinent questions of protection of landscape and urban patrimony of our zone. If what we want is to make a swimming pool of work as such, we will have to ask for the permission indicated in the City council.
If what you want is to install a removable swimming pool, you will have to take into account the condition of the double glass of these. One of them is used to contain the water of the swimming pool as such, while the other one serves to avoid filtrations to the housings below. And, how do we calculate the centimetres of depth that the pool must respect? We will take as a basis that each square meter corresponds to about 10,000 cm². If we install on top of this space a height of 10 cm of water, we will have a concentration of 100,000 cm³ of water, which would be 100 litres. If each litre is equal to one kg, if we fill the pool with 20 cm of water, the pressure would be 200 kg/m². This is the resistance limit set by law. If we fill the pool more, we will be exceeding the allowed limit and we will endanger the safety of the building.
Although installing a portable pool does not require neighborhood legal approval, it is our responsibility as citizens not to endanger the inhabitants of our building. Also, we recommend that you increase your homeowner’s insurance coverage if you want to install a swimming pool permanently.
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