What is the required pool barrier height in unincorporated Pima County?
Verified against the primary source on .
48 inches, measured on the exterior side opposite the pool. Pima County did not amend the ISPSC barrier height section.
Pima County Code 15.04.020 adopts the 2024 ISPSC by reference via Ordinance 2025-15, effective January 1, 2026. The prior adoption was the 2018 edition.
Pima County’s 2024 amendment exhibit was read in full. It amends numerous sections, including a new 303.4 requiring an evaporation cover on new and remodeled exterior pools, spas and hot tubs prior to final inspection, and a replaced 304 requiring written floodplain authorization. It does not amend 305.2.1, so the 48-inch base height governs.
Gates must open outward away from the pool and be self-closing and self-latching. Where the release mechanism is less than 54 inches from the bottom of the gate, it must be on the pool side at least 3 inches below the top, with no opening larger than one half inch within 18 inches of the mechanism.
How the height is measured. The dimension is taken on the side of the barrier facing AWAY from the pool, not the pool side, and it must be maintained around the entire perimeter and for 3 feet measured horizontally out from the outside face. A barrier that meets the height at the gate and loses it where grade falls away does not comply. Grade changes on a sloped Southern Arizona lot are the usual reason a wall that measured correctly at layout fails at inspection.
Crossing a jurisdiction line changes this number. unincorporated Pima County requires 48 inches. Also at 48 inches: City of Tucson. Different in the same metro area: Town of Marana at 60 inches; Town of Oro Valley at 60 inches; Town of Sahuarita at 60 inches. A builder working across Southern Arizona cannot carry one standard barrier detail, and a barrier specified for one town will fail inspection in another.
Verified against the jurisdiction’s own adopted text on 2026-09-10: in Unincorporated Pima County, the gate latch release sits not less than 54 inches above grade; the barrier stands at least 20 inches back from the water’s edge; horizontal members on the outside face are spaced not less than 45 inches apart vertically; no opening passes a 4 inch sphere; chain link mesh is limited to 1.75 inches.
Unincorporated Pima County accepts a powered safety cover meeting ASTM F1346 in lieu of the listed barrier requirements. That is a real alternative here, and it is not available in every jurisdiction in the region, so it is worth confirming before a design depends on it.
Zoning setback, side and rear: 4 ft, per PC Zoning 18.07.030(D)(1)(a). Read the datum carefully. Jurisdictions in this region measure the same setback to different things, some to the pool structure, some to the edge of water, and a design that clears one measurement can fail the other.
Important. Pima County’s own public barriers page still referenced the 2018 edition at time of verification. The height is unchanged; the edition citation is not.
Authority: PC Code 15.04.020(A)(11); Ord. 2025-15 Exh. K. Ordinance: Ord. 2025-15. Effective: 2026-01-01. Verified 2026-09-10. Primary source. Evidence grade: VERIFIED. Read from the adopting ordinance or the published code section.