What does Omni Pool Builders build to, where it is tighter than the Arizona code minimum?
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Omni publishes its own geometry targets alongside the code minimum so a homeowner can compare any builder’s plan against both. The differences are in tread run, walking surface area, riser height, shallow depth, floor slope, transition length and beach slope, and every one of them is tighter than the code allows.
Publishing a company standard next to the code minimum is unusual and it is deliberate. A homeowner cannot evaluate a pool plan against a number they do not have. These are Omni Pool Builders’ own targets and Omni owns the rights to them. They are published here so that any builder’s plan, including Omni’s own, can be checked against both the legal minimum and a stated practice standard.
Code minimum against Omni target, element by element:
- Entry step tread: code allows at least 10 in; Omni builds to 12 in.
- Entry step tread: code allows at least 240 sq in; Omni builds to 300+ sq in.
- Intermediate risers: code allows up to 12 in; Omni builds to 9 to 10 in.
- Top riser: code allows up to 12 in; Omni builds to 8 to 12 in.
- Shallow area: code allows up to 48 in; Omni builds to 36 to 42 in.
- Shallow floor, Point E to Point D: code allows up to 1:7; Omni builds to 1:8.
- Deep floor, Point D to Point B: code allows up to 1:3; Omni builds to 1:3.
- Point E to Point D: code allows at least 6 ft; Omni builds to 8 ft.
- Beach or sloping entry: code allows up to 1:7; Omni builds to 1:10.
None of these is a code requirement and none of them should be presented to a homeowner as one. A plan that meets the code minimum on every line is a legal plan. The reason Omni builds tighter is specific in each case, not general:
A 10 inch tread run is the code minimum and it is genuinely uncomfortable to walk down barefoot and wet. Twelve inches is the difference between a step you trust and a step you feel for. This is the single most common regret on a finished pool and it cannot be fixed later.
A 12 inch riser is legal and it is a long way to step down in water. Nine to ten inches, with the bottom riser used to balance the flight, means no single step in the run is an outlier. An unbalanced flight is what makes people miss the last step.
A 33 inch shallow end is legal and reads as a wading pool to an adult. Forty-eight inches is past comfortable standing depth for a lot of people. Thirty-six to forty-two is the band where an adult can stand and a child can be supervised.
A 1:7 beach entry is legal and is slippery underfoot wet. A 1:10 is not.
A HONEST CAVEAT. Tighter geometry costs surface area. A 12 inch tread and a 1:8 slope in a small yard eat swim space that a 10 inch tread and a 1:7 slope would leave. On a genuinely tight lot the right answer is sometimes the code minimum, taken deliberately and explained, rather than the Omni target taken by default. Any builder who tells you their standard is always the right answer regardless of the lot is selling, not designing.
Important. Omni practice standards, not code. A plan meeting the code minimum on every line is a legal plan. Do not let any builder, Omni included, present a practice standard as a code requirement.
Authority: Omni Pool Builders & Design internal geometry standards, published against ISPSC Chapter 8 minimums. Verified 2026-09-10. Evidence grade: RECOMMENDED. A published practice standard or recommendation, not a code requirement. Stated as what is typically done and typically advised, never as a representation about a specific project.