legalities of pond construction

[karipeters]

Quote: Originally Posted by karipeters As a contractor in California, here is the process if you are using a general contractor: customer contacts landscape architect or designer for design purposes (unfortunately, they are always given beautiful looking landscapes, but poorly functioning koi ponds)

I got completely cut off!! Sorry. I had written a very long, funny reply that was not so kind to building departments or pond designers...

[MikeM]

When checking on your local permitting requirements, you may find no permit is required for a pond, but is required for the electrical, etc.

[kingkong]

In Dade County, Miami, Florida, any body of water exceeding an arbitrary depth of 18 to 24 inches is considered a swimming pool whether it is for human use or fish to swim in. There are minimum set backs, perimeter fence requirements, electrical and plumbing requirements as well as depth, volume and water surface area considerations. It may be smart to request a variance from local building and zoneing. What I have found is the powers to be need to be made aware that the koi get very large and require special needs such as pond depth and adequate water volume for their rather large oxygen usage. This will hopefully manage a few extra feet here or there. If permitting process is ignored, the local gov. can impose their dirty deeds at the time of sale if you wish to sell your la casa.

[Rich L]

I have experience with common beliefs and interpritation of law and Ryan may have a point. I wouldn't spend a lot of time in search for standards that refer to koi ponds. Look for clauses that allow the local boards to interpret standards.

A deep body of water is the purpose of the swimming pool regulations. They may be allowed to use that as a standard for all ponds & pools, not just swimming pools, even though the national Code of Federal Regulations refers to swimming pools in it's title.

[Rich L]

By the way, who out there has a way to get out of their pond. A friend recently took a swim and would still be in there if he hadn't happned to set his cel phone next to the pond while he was working on it.

Do try out your own pond. Then immagine an older person, a child or even a weaker person falling in.

[Steve E]

This is an interesting issue and comes up on the various boards every so often. In those states where the Uniform Building Code is adopted a permit is required. In the 2000 Code a change was made and water features as a landscape feature were added to the permit required clauses. I went over a koi pond design with the local permit supervisor and he checked with the building official. The answer was that a permit would be required for the pond as a structure and not as a swimming pool. I was also told that I would probably have to sit down with the plan checker to explain some of the design characteristics of the pond as they would differ from the normal swimming pool construction. This would be necessary for the pond shell, the plumbing, and the filtration system. This is something I would recommend the prospective pond owner/builder ask to do at the time one starts the permit process. I use to do plan checks for the fire department and would always take the time to sit down with the builder and a set of plans to be sure I understood their intent and also to catch any obvious non-compliant items before submittal. Plus a pond would be something out of the ordinary and thus a change in the routine of plan checking.

The electrical requirements would be the same for a swimming pool and the normal electrical code requirements.

Since my pond was built before this code I did not get a permit. However, it was built to the swimming pool codes for it's structural integrity, just incase there was ever a question. And if I ever get the remodel (a saga if there ever was) finished I will get the electrical permited.

A separate fence is a good idea. As well as door alarms, especially if one has small children or grandchildren.

While a hassel, the permits and inspections do make life a little bit easier when one decides to sell their home. The fees can be a bit high but hey the city is going to get their money one way or the other.

Steve

[bekko]

Its almost always easier to get forgiveness than permission.

-steve hopk

[Steve Nguyen]

in CA, you suppose to call PG&E or somebody two days before digging to avoid rupture the gas pipe or severe underground electrical cables. it's a free service. do a search for "call before you dig" on net to get the toll free numbers

Steve

[dinh]

Quote: Originally Posted by bekko Its almost always easier to get forgiveness than permission. -steve hopk

well, let me give a small story...

A friend of mine built a 10K gal koi pond without permission. And many lovely koi had been slowly introduced to the pond after water was ready for koi....

Few months later, his neighbor called the city and conplained about his koi pond (not so sure the reason, though !!). The city sent an "officier" out to check his pond. After three hours checking his pond, the officier told him that his pond met all the compliant code for pond set by the city.....

[dcny]

Good timing on this thread. A friend of is building a 6000+ pond in Foster City (Northern California). 6' deep, had almost all the block work done, liner installed, etc. Three days ago, a city inspector suddenly came by and told his contractor to stop all work because he didn't have a permit. The contractor called at the very begining of the job and someone there told him no permit is needed for a fish pond.

Don't know how this will play out yet. I'm a bit concerned. Foster City is notorious for this sort of thing. When I lived there, I needed a permit to replace my garage door.

-Dan