Building a fiberglass pool in Bluffdale

Order matters here. We ask Jordan Basin for its letter while the drawings are being finished, so it's in hand when the permit application goes in. Without it the application just waits.

Safety glazing within 5 feet of the water is easy to miss. If the pool comes near a sliding door, a low window or a glass panel, that glass has to be safety-rated. Sometimes the simpler fix is moving the pool a few feet.

Bluffdale's fence is at least 6 feet, well over the state's 48-inch minimum. It's there for toddlers, who are about half of the Utah children who drown. That's how we build every yard anyway: a 6-foot fence on every lot line, self-closing gates closed against the house, and an automatic safety cover on the pool. We place the gate where you'll actually walk, and keep a clear strip outside so nothing becomes a step stool.

The outlet near the pool is the one rule where Bluffdale's handout disagrees with other cities. It puts the GFCI receptacle 10 to 20 feet from the water; Salt Lake City and Herriman say 6 to 20. We'll ask the Bluffdale inspector before the electrician sets it, and if there's any doubt, between 10 and 20 feet satisfies both.

Bluffdale's sewer letter comes first for a reason. A pool sends backwash and drain water to the sanitary sewer, which is the only place Utah's pool code and the county health department allow it to go. Jordan Basin signs off on that before the city will issue the permit.

We haven't found soils data for Bluffdale specifically. The state survey's western-valley hazard maps are described as covering Herriman, South Jordan and West Jordan. So the soils and groundwater answer on a Bluffdale lot comes from testing the lot, not from a map.

Shallow groundwater, within about 10 feet of the surface, can turn up anywhere in Utah, and the state survey says it's more likely in low-lying ground near rivers and streams. It can also make an excavation unstable. If your lot sits low, we plan dewatering for the dig and leave a standpipe so you can check the water level before you drain the pool. Latham's warranty is void if groundwater accumulates under or around the pool, and an empty shell can lift out of the ground, so nobody drains it without calling Latham first.