Please note: infant pools will be allowed to be placed in homes.
In Russia, GOST standards for swimming pools are changing. On December 1, two new state standards will be launched — on microclimate and swimming services, and now public discussions on another relevant document are coming to an end. Its main innovation is that swimming pools for infants and young children will now be allowed in residential buildings. They were there before, but, in fact, they worked outside any regulation, and a few years ago, sanitary regulations banned their placement in residential buildings or outbuildings. This hit hard not only unscrupulous entrepreneurs who made money from it without following any rules, but also social businesses. Izvestia investigated how the work of small pools for children will change now and what else will change in the industry.
Which GOSTs have already been approved
On Monday, the media spread the news that in Russia, starting from December 1, the GOST for swimming pools will allegedly appear for the first time. Experts interviewed by Izvestia explained that this is not entirely true. The standards for swimming pools have been in place for a long time, but they are being updated.
Vice-President of the Association of Professionals in the Construction and Maintenance of Swimming Pools and Water Parks (APISOBA) Pavel Anashkov explained that from December 1, two GOST standards called "Swimming pools. Microclimate. General technical requirements and test methods", as well as "Swimming pool services. General requirements". They are indeed being introduced for the first time.
— The first of them concerns the temperature of water and air, relative humidity and air mobility, the quality of the air environment and unified methods of testing and parameter control, — the source told Izvestia.
Ekaterina Nozhenko, a lawyer at the European Legal Service, explains that the classification of swimming pool services will be changed in the second GOST. They will be divided into basic and additional ones. The new version of the state standard will allow you to provide any additional services provided in the premises and functional areas of the swimming pool (except for the pool bath itself). The main services will be divided into physical education and sports. The requirements for staff are also changing: now they must upgrade their skills at least once every three years.
From January 2026, GOST 59219-2025 "Swimming pools. Drowning hazard warning systems. General technical conditions", and from September 1, the state standards for lighting fixtures in swimming pools will be updated.
Izvestia sent a request to Rosstandart.
Which GUEST is being prepared to change
Another important standard that is still being worked on is GOST R 58458 "Swimming pools. General technical requirements and test methods". It is currently undergoing public discussion (the document is available to registered users of FGIS Beresta of Rosstandart). The changes will take effect next year.
The main change in the GOST concerns the so-called infant pools with an area of up to 35 square meters. m. For the first time, the definition of "pool for infants and young children" appeared in the document. It is intended for water education for children under three years of age, accompanied by at least one adult.
Now such pools can be placed in the built-in and attached rooms of residential buildings, provided there is a separate entrance. In the "infant" pools, the allowed temperature was slightly raised to 32-34 °C. The water mirror of such pools should not exceed 35 square meters, the depth is up to 1.2 m. It is prescribed what should be in the auxiliary rooms of such pools.
Yulia Shelyakova, head of the certification body of the Russian Association of Sports Facilities (RUSS), explained that swimming pools for infants and young children in homes are possible only if the safety conditions for both students and residents are met: there must be a separate entrance to the premises, separate movement paths for loading chemicals are mandatory. It is important to comply with the microclimate and all related requirements of the supervisory sanitary authorities.
— Previously, such pools, in fact, were not regulated at all. The new GOST will give the market the opportunity to establish these regulatory requirements, and the market will independently get rid of violators who worked haphazardly," the Izvestia interlocutor said. — There will be those who existed within the framework of reasonable practice.
Why do we need GOST on "infant pools"?
Daya Dyachenko, President of the Association of Managers of Public Swimming Pools, explained that these changes reduce barriers to the development of early swimming within walking distance. She said that early swimming classes were very popular. The FitnessData Research Center conducted an analysis of the children's pool market in the country in 2023. There were more than 2 thousand of them in the country at that time, and the industry's revenue by the end of 2022 was estimated at 11.1 billion rubles. The market growth is 26%. One third of the market's monetary volume was in Moscow and the region, where about 230 swimming pools were located.
The market for children's pools was described in the study as young and actively growing: the vast majority of them have been opened in the last five to eight years (at the time of the study in 2023). The potential was also highly appreciated: only 22% of residential apartment buildings in Russia's million-plus cities had children's pools within a 20-minute walking distance.
Moreover, according to Daya Dyachenko, up to 80% of such aquaculture clubs were opened by social entrepreneurs who often work with disabled children. Many of them are listed in the register of social service providers.
The interlocutor of Izvestia emphasizes that the appearance of regulatory documentation is a big step towards the safety of such facilities: GOST will help protect bona fide entrepreneurs and prevent the provision of services of inadequate quality. However, the main thing is that it will be possible to open swimming pools in apartment buildings.
The fact is that in 2021 there was a ban on the placement of swimming pools in residential buildings and extensions to them. It appeared in sanitary regulations 2.1.3678-20, where it was prescribed that swimming pools "can be located in detached buildings, as well as be attached (or integrated) into public buildings." As a result, it was small aquaculture clubs and social entrepreneurs who suffered.
One example is the Sea of Joy club from Cheboksary. In September 2022, Alena Savastyanova opened this club, where she worked on improving the health of children with disabilities. The club was open for a year, and then a resident from the second floor of the house complained about the noise and demanded compensation: 20 thousand rubles per month. He did not agree to the proposals to make additional sound insulation, did not receive any money, and then began to contact various authorities. As a result of the inspection, no problems with sanitary standards, including noise levels, were found, but they recognized the 50-60 cm deep tub as a swimming pool and based on this, the club was closed. Moreover, the complainer came to the second point "Sea of Joy", demanding its closure. Alyona Savastyanova told Izvestia that she was forced to simply sell her business.
— Since 2021, such small centers with small bathrooms have often been closed precisely because they are recognized as swimming pools. Now there will be clear parameters that can be used to determine the legality of the location of aquaculture clubs. This will remove barriers to the development of a useful social business," said Daya Dyachenko.
At the same time, Rosstandart notified that draft amendments to the codes of rules 310.1325800.2017 "Swimming pools. Design rules". They relate specifically to the inclusion of pools there for the education of infants and young children to water.
—Among other things, new provisions have been introduced for the placement of pools for children in non-residential buildings, built—in and attached to residential and public buildings," explained Dmitry Vyacheslavov, president of the Association of Spas, Pools and Water Parks.
However, Pavel Anashkov notes that the GOST on "infant pools" itself will not change much, as well as the set of rules. The fact is that these are essentially recommendation documents. The main and mandatory regulatory act is precisely the same sanitary rules of SP 2.1.3678—20, in which the placement of "infant pools" is still prohibited.
"Even if such a type of swimming pool appears, it will need to be coordinated with sanitary regulations," he said. — I must say, there are a lot of regulations that also accompany this ban: both fire and construction regulations on the load on the floor slabs, for example. Now a lot of children's pools in residential buildings have been built in violation of the law.
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