Rick Myers
Team Horner

Whatever your feeling or opinion is on the 64-E code, it is the regulation that all companies and properties must adhere to if they either take care of or have a pool on their property. We as professionals must begin to use this code not only as our back-up as we point out to our customers items that their pool is missing or are in need of repair but also to ensure that the commercial pools we take care of are as safe and healthy as possible. What is the end result of doing the right thing? Our sales will increase, our employees will be smarter and more involved in their routes, and our properties will be happy knowing that the pool in their condo, hotel, etc. meets or exceeds state code.

Here are just a couple of violations that the state of Florida considers cause for immediate closure:

• Cannot see the main drain from the deck.
• Three or more depth markers missing or illegible.
• Main drain cover loose or missing.
• Ladder treads missing or broken.
• Vacuum line is missing.

Items requiring a fix that takes anywhere from 7-30 days could include broken PH feeder, spa clock missing, weirs missing or broken, and broken or missing filter gauges.

All of these repairs usually include a billable service call and many of them can be fixed in one visit. So how do you turn this into an easily managed revenue avenue for your company?

There are several ways of doing this, all of which are low tech, and best of all they produce results. What if you asked your service personnel to take a picture of all the pressure gauges one week and the wall clocks on the spas the next week? If every week you took one possible infraction and concentrated on that infraction, over a period of time you would have covered the entire pool code.

This could also be done by sending your customers a quick note via email or social media asking them the same question. Over time your customers will appreciate this “extra service” and depend on you even more.

Hopefully this short article gets you interested in the safety business and you will be able to have safer pool and a business that is growing annually.