Swimming Pool Changing Rooms Regulations for Refurbishment
From the refurbishment and renovation process, right through to ongoing maintenance, swimming pool changing rooms & washroom refurbishments pose a wide range of challenges. Here, we look at the key areas of concern and how to address them effectively.
Addressing Changing Room Slip Hazards
There’s naturally an abundance of water in and around swimming pool changing rooms. With users dripping water during mid-swim toilet breaks, and post-swim showers, the importance of anti-slip safety flooring is paramount for your swimming pool changing room refurbishment. Whether you go for a large format floor tile, or a vinyl floor covering, be sure to choose options that offer anti-slip functionality that works with both shoes and bare feet.
Integrating the correct fall towards water outlets and floor gulley’s drains will ensure effective removal of surface water. This is important for both hygiene and safety regulations and should be considered in all areas of the swimming pool changing rooms, not just the shower enclosures.
Fighting Bacteria Build-up in Swimming Pool Changing Rooms
The moist humid environment of the swimming pool changing rooms is the ideal breeding ground for bacteria. This can not only threaten the hygiene of your washroom but in extreme cases could cause physical damage to your facilities. Factoring in materials like solid grade laminate, which boasts an anti-microbial surface, goes a long way towards preventing mould and mildew while simultaneously making your washroom easy to clean.
Tiling can pose an issue in the swimming pool changing rooms space with grout lines being notorious for bacteria build-up. If tiling is integral to your design vision, you might want to consider large format wall and floor tiles as they can help mitigate this problem significantly as the overall surface area of grout lines are reduced.
Sensor activation is also a strong move in the swimming pool changing room refurbishment and design as the need to physically touch flushers, taps and hand dryers is removed. This can drastically reduce the spread of bacteria and further empowers the easy-clean functionality of your wash space.
Building strength into your Washroom
Durability and longevity are key in any high traffic washroom and whether you’re a leisure centre, members club, or gym this needs to be built in at the specification stage. If the right materials aren’t employed, then premature and unnecessary wear and tear can occur. Additionally, with the right materials, we can remove the risk of many common problems in swimming pool changing room refurbishment. For example, solid grade laminate is the ideal choice for toilet and shower cubicle refurbishment as it is completely impervious to water. This means it will never swell or weaken from ingress water and can also be used for the construction of vanity units and IPS duct sets.
The correct cubicle hardware is also important in a chlorine rich atmosphere. We suggest the use of satin anodised aluminium (SAA) or marine grade stainless steel. Bench and locker feet can also be zinc plated to ensure a much more robust finish against the chemical-rich environment.
Standard Regulations
The exact requirements you need to meet for your swimming pool changing room regulations will vary depending on the type of business you operate and whether you are dealing with a new build property or an existing structure. For further details, get in touch with one of our team. However, you will no doubt want to ensure you are meeting your users’ needs with the implementation of baby changing units, family changing cubicles, hairdryers and coat hooks, as well as lockers, mirrors and disabled features such as grab rails and shower seats.
If you’d like further information on up to date dimensions and regulations for swimming pool changing rooms, or to discuss how LAN Services can take care of your changing room refurbishment works, please get in touch with one of the team on 01202 650901.
