AB
1144
California
Playground Regulations Update
AB
1144 - Harman - The California Playground Safety Regulations Revision Bill
passed on August 22, 2006 and was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger on September
26, 2006
Congratulations CPRS! Compliance became mandatory on January
1, 2008. To
view the final bill, follow the link to AB 1144. The
three most significant changes are:
1.
Playgrounds open to the public built by a public agency or any other entity
shall conform to the playground related standards set forth by the American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the playground related guidelines set
forth by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
ASTM Playground Related Specifications include the most current version
of:
-
F
1292 Standards for Surface Impact Attenuation
-
F
1918 Specifications for Soft Contained Play Equipment (Typically found
in Fast Food Restaurants)
-
F
1951 Standards for Surface Accessibility
-
F
1487 Standards for Playground Equipment for Children between 2 years and
12 years old
-
F
2049 Standards for Playground Fencing (Fencing is not required but if
you do use a fence, it must comply)
-
F
2075 Standards for Engineered Wood Fiber
-
F
2223 Standard guide for selecting Playground Surfacing
-
F
2373 Standards for Playground Equipment for Children between 6 months
and 23 months old.
CPSC
Playground Related Guidelines - CPSC Handbook for Playground Safety
Publication #325-08 published on April 21, 2008. There is a note on the front
cover of the document that calls it a draft. This is a formality because
CPSC has a vacancy on its Board of Directors and can not formally approve the
document until they have a quorum. This document should be considered to
be the final document. This is the only document CPSC is now providing.
2.
The definition of a playground is changed to
mean an improved outdoor area designed, equipped, and set aside for children's
play that is not intended for use as an athletic playing field or athletic
court, and shall include any playground equipment, fall zones, surface
materials, access ramps, and all areas within and including the designated
enclosure and barriers. References to landforms, fences, benches etc have
been removed.
3.
All
public agencies operating playgrounds and all other entities operating
playgrounds open to the public shall have a playground safety inspector,
certified by the National Playground Safety Institute, conduct an initial
inspection for the purpose of aiding compliance with the requirements set forth
in subdivision. This eliminates the reference to a manufacturer certified
playground installer. An installer may certify that play equipment is in
compliance only if the installer is a CPSI.
Major
ASTM F 1487 changes since the 97 version. Please read the entire
document to familiarize yourself with the revisions.
-
Accessibility
shall comply with Disability Act Accessibility Guidelines. (ADA/ABA
Chapter 10 Section 1008). http://www.access-board.gov/ADA-ABA/final.htm
ASTM F 1487 does not address Accessibility except as it pertains to
safety.
-
Age
Appropriate Signs or labels - All
play structures are required to be posted with information as to the age
appropriateness of users and to recommend supervision.
-
Climbing
Net Structures New
section added. Interior and
exterior fall heights are
defined.
-
General
Measures, Tolerances and Conversion New section was added to define
measurement tolerances.
-
Fall
Heights
The fall heights of various pieces of play equipment have been defined.
-
Manufacturers
Identification All play structures are required to have
a manufacturers identification sign or label.
-
Merry-go-rounds
with platform diameters of less than 20 inches are exempt from the speed
limitation requirements.
-
Pinch
Crush and Shear Point Pinch was removed from the definition.
It is now a Crush and Shear Point.
-
Public
use play equipment shall be anchored to the ground or not intended
to be relocated.
-
Rocking/Springing
equipment - use zones and the use zones of other
equipment may be 72 inches apart if they are both less than 30 inches
high. If
either piece of equipment or structure is over 30 inches high they
shall be a minimum of 108 inches apart.
-
Rotating
Equipment
- the use zones of vertical axis equipment that is less than 20 inches in
diameter may overlap if the adjacent surface is less than 30 inches high.
-
Rotating
Equipment
that rotates around a horizontal Axis and is less than 30 inches high is
considered stationary equipment.
No other play structure use zone
may overlap the use zone of equipment that rotates around a
horizontal axis that is
higher than 30 inches.
-
Roofs
new section was added. Roofs
a minimum of 84 inches above the deck have no fall height requirements.
-
Site
furnishings installed outside of the equipment zones -are not considered
play equipment and are not included in the specification.
-
Slide
Exit Safety Zone
Equal to the height of the slide but no less than 6 feet and no more
than 8 feet.
-
Slide
Clearance Zone Definition has been defined as 21 inches out from the
inside of the slide sidewall and extends the length of the exit zone.
-
Stationary
Equipment There are no individual use zone requirements for
equipment that requires the user to maintain constant contact with the
ground.
This includes sand digger toys, speaking tubes, activity panels and
ground level sand boxes.
-
Stepping
Forms New section added. One or more individual freestanding devises
used to develop balance.
-
Swing
Support Structure Use Zones
The restriction that the use zones of other equipment may not overlap
the use zone of the support structures for swings has been lifted. The
minimum distance shall be 108 inches.
Last update: Saturday, August 02, 2008 06:54 AM
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