As a part of Water Safety Month 2025 this May, the Upson County Building and Zoning Department is again offering free, voluntary swimming pool safety inspections during the month of May to any Upson County homeowner.
All one must do is call the department to schedule an inspection at 706-647-1297.
The Department has developed an associated, abbreviated checklist which can be used by the homeowner, which is available in PDF format alongside this story. The purpose of the program is to promote pool and spa safety in the county. No citations will be written as a result of the program, according to Upson County Building Official Thomas Keyt.
Building permits are required for all spas and in-ground swimming pools, and for those above/on ground pools that are two feet deep or more. The construction and safety standards for pools and spas are part of the International Code Council’s International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, adopted by the State of Georgia, enforced by the state’s cities and counties.
Each year, thousands of American families suffer swimming pool tragedies. Swimming pools are the most common site for a drowning to occur for children ages one to four. Often drowning is silent and happens in 20-60 seconds. The drowning tragedies do not discriminate. Any child, from any family, who can gain access to their family pool or the pool of a neighbor, family friend, or relative, can be a victim.
“While there is no substitute for active adult supervision around water, building codes include design measures purely with safety in mind in the built environment. If you own a pool or spa build in layers of protection. Increased awareness for safety and pool-related health issues has come through The International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, (ISPSC), published by the International Code Council (ICC). The ICC codes are the most frequently adopted and used codes in America. Every community in Georgia is subject to the ICC codes,” officials added.
The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, a federal law, established in 2007, established federal pool and spa drain cover standards. A seven-year-old girl named Virginia Baker, granddaughter or former White House Chief of Staff and Treasury Secretary James Baker, was the victim of a tragic, fatal accident in an in-ground spa. Lessons learned from that case made their way into the ICC codes.
Relating to the Baker family, Upson County’s Hansrote family lost its youngest member, Gavin Reid Hansrote, by pool drowning in 2024. The family established a foundation and now spends time advocating for water safety, increased education, and raising funds for local resources. See related story, “Keeping His Memory Alive,” Page 8A, for more information.
Local officials echoed what Richard P Wieland, Code Council CEO said: “If our pool and spa code can spare even one family from the loss that the Baker’s and thousands of other families have suffered, we will leave a lasting legacy.”
The decline of drowning rates for children age 14 and younger now, about one third of what they were in the early 1980s, are credited to state and local governments adopting the ICC codes and the increased awareness of the dangers of having no codes.
