May is National Water Safety Month, and while many of the conversations surrounding pool safety tend to focus on supervision, swim lessons, and drowning prevention education, one of the most important physical layers of protection around a swimming pool is often overlooked entirely — the barrier system itself.
For many homeowners, a pool fence is treated as little more than a code requirement or decorative backyard feature. But according to Jeremy Brongo, owner of Florida State Fence, the details surrounding a properly designed and maintained pool barrier can make a tremendous difference when seconds matter most.
“One of the things that a fence can do is prolong the time that it takes for a child to get close to a pool,” said Brongo. “So it’s just an added layer of protection that doesn’t allow the children to accidentally fall into the pool.”
That idea — buying precious time — sits at the heart of modern pool safety philosophy.
Drowning Prevention Starts With Safety
Drowning remains one of the leading causes of accidental death for young children in the United States, and nowhere is the issue more pronounced than in Florida. According to Florida Department of Health data, the state routinely leads the nation in child drowning fatalities among children ages 1-4. In many cases, the incidents occur in residential swimming pools.
Florida’s year-round swimming weather, combined with the sheer number of residential pools throughout the state, helped push lawmakers to adopt some of the country’s strongest residential pool barrier laws decades ago.
Brongo says the speed at which these incidents occur is something many homeowners fail to fully appreciate until tragedy strikes close to home.
“You always hear families or someone that has dealt with somebody who they know that has drowned in a pool,” said Brongo. “They always say that it happened so quick.”
That reality is one reason why safety experts increasingly stress the importance of layered protection around pools rather than relying on any one single solution.
Barriers, Part of The Pyramid of Pool Safety
The concept of a “Pyramid of Pool Safety,” is an approach heavily promoted throughout the aquatics industry. The idea is simple: no single device or technology is foolproof on its own.
Fences, alarms, supervision, swim lessons, self-closing gates, drain safety systems, and water competency all work together as overlapping layers of protection.
Adam Katchmarchi, Vice President of Educational Development at Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, previously told Pool Magazine that while technology is making advancements in assisting in drowning prevention, “there is no replacement for barriers, supervision, and water competency.”
Brongo echoes that same philosophy from the barrier side of the industry.
“I think just giving that extra layer of protection buys you more time,” he explained. “If a toddler or child gets away from you temporarily, it gives you those few extra precious moments to act and help try to keep children safe .”
Florida Leading The Way By Necessity
One of the biggest misconceptions homeowners have is that any backyard fence automatically satisfies pool safety laws.
In reality, Florida’s Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act contains very specific requirements governing residential barriers and controlled access around pools.
“That law requires residential pools to have at least one approved safety feature designed to restrict or detect unsupervised access,” Brongo explained. “The most common solution is a compliant barrier system around the pool, such as a fence.”
The problem, according to Brongo, is that many homeowners never realize how technical those requirements actually become.
“I think people just assume that if they have a fence, then they’re compliant,” said Brongo. “But the fence actually has a lot of specifications that make it pool compliant.”
Pool barriers in Florida must generally be at least 48 inches tall and designed to discourage climbing. But even something as simple as the placement of a horizontal rail can create a code issue.
“If there’s a horizontal bar in the fence, that will allow a small child to put their foot in there and basically act as a ladder,” Brongo said. “So the spacing between any horizontal members on the fence has to be greater than 45 inches.”
The Gate Is The Most Important Part
While the fence itself matters, Brongo says the gate is often the single most critical component of the entire system.
“I would say the gate’s probably the number one most important part of the fence,” said Brongo. “That’s naturally where people tend to walk and tend to go to access a pool.”
Florida law requires pool gates to be self-closing and self-latching, but Brongo says homeowners often underestimate how important proper operation truly is.
“If the gate for some reason closes but doesn’t fully latch, and the gate’s still accessible or has the ability to get in, that can become an issue,” he explained.
Another requirement many people never realize exists is the direction the gate swings.
“The gate’s required to swing out. The gate cannot swing in,” said Brongo. “A lot of people don’t know this.”
The reasoning behind that rule is surprisingly practical. Young children naturally push forward against barriers. If a gate swings inward and isn’t fully latched, a child leaning into it could accidentally open access directly to the pool.
“If it swings out, if a child walks up, they’re not going to have the ability to reach up to where the handle of the latch should be,” Brongo explained. “And if they lean on the fence, it would typically latch and wouldn’t open.”
The Hidden Problems Homeowners Miss
Some of the biggest safety risks surrounding pool barriers aren’t actually part of the fence itself.
Brongo says his company frequently encounters situations where homeowners unknowingly create climbing hazards around otherwise compliant barriers.
“One of the main ones is if there’s something left near a fence or some type of pool equipment or AC equipment that’s too close to a fence and can be used as an object that someone can climb on,” he said. “That’s just not something that’s thought about very often.”
Furniture, planters, coolers, storage bins, and even landscaping can all unintentionally compromise a barrier system over time.
That same gradual change is why maintenance becomes so important.
“I would say people tend to get complacent and they don’t maintain,” Brongo explained. “The fence may have been installed pool-compliant at one time, but over time, the gate might not be functioning the same way that it was the day it was installed.”
Pool owners should routinely inspect hinges, latches, springs, closures, and surrounding conditions to ensure the barrier is still performing correctly years after installation.
“The gates usually are just an easy adjustment,” said Brongo. “Most of the hinges on our gates are spring-loaded. You can adjust the tension with an Allen wrench. It takes no more than two minutes.”
When To Plan A Pool Barrier
According to Brongo, barrier planning should never be treated as an afterthought.
In Florida, barrier systems are directly tied into the final stages of pool construction and inspection.
“It’s part of the pool safety inspection here in Florida,” said Brongo. “They actually will not allow a homeowner to fill the pool with water until they have the barrier system in place.”
That means pool owners should be discussing fencing, access points, alarms, and overall safety design alongside the original pool layout — not after construction is complete.
For homeowners using the house itself as part of the barrier system, additional protections may also be required.
“Any doors leading directly to the pool area may have to have an alarm or some type of self-closing option,” Brongo explained.
Safety And Backyard Design Can Coexist
One of the reasons some homeowners resist installing pool fencing is the belief that barriers ruin the visual appeal of a backyard.
Brongo says modern fencing options have evolved significantly over the years.
“Fencing’s come a long way,” he said. “There’s so many great options now for pool fences.”
Aluminum fencing remains one of the most popular choices throughout Florida, but today’s homeowners also have access to a wide variety of colors, styles, and designs capable of blending into luxury outdoor environments while still remaining code compliant.
Ultimately, though, aesthetics should never outweigh safety.
“It can happen in a split second, and safety is the number one priority,” Brongo said. “If there’s anything that they can do to help prevent an incident, fencing is obviously one of those items.”
Because when it comes to pool safety, the details most people miss are often the ones that matter most.
Ready to take a deeper dive?
Listen to our entire conversation with Jeremy Brongo on the Pool Magazine podcast.
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