What is the dumbest health code rule that you are required to follow

[Myles McMorrow]

I am just curious on what is out there and this will be a fun topic for a busy spring.

[Arnie Cohen]

A ring buoy had a rope that was too short. BOH required longer rope. The local hardware store only had 3/4 inch rope that was long enough.
I attached it to the ring buoy and the BOH said we were good to go. Only problem is no one could throw it far enough to save anyone.

[Myles McMorrow]

Was it old and waterlogged and you just had to have one??

[Arnie Cohen]

It was new but the wrong rope length was order and we had to have the correct length to open.

[Myles McMorrow]

One here in most of the DC area is that all lights have to work because they are there, even though the pool will close before dark.

[Andrew Vaughan]

Amusingly, while going through an opening inspection a health dept inspector informed us the latch for the pool gate should be 54 inches high on the gate to prevent a small child from being able to open the gate, which makes sense. The building inspector however said that it was too high for a person in a wheelchair to reach. I wanted to share this as there is sometimes conflicting interpretations between governmental branches which confuse operators!

[Ben Goldstein]

In Colorado's state law, it explains that you must record the disinfectant level, pH, ORP, and date 3 times per day. I keep a full sheet of paper for chemical testing and mechanical room operations for every day with the date written one time at the very top of the page. I doubt that a health inspector would call me on it, but the letter of the law says I need to write the date three times.

[Terri Smith]

I don't think the rules are so bad as the personnel that are enforcing them. In Utah our code states that electrical wiring may not be routed under a pool or within an area extending 5 feet horizontally from the inside of the pool wall. Well, we have a health inspector that has decided we cannot put an activation bollard within a splash pad area because it would require routing the control wiring under the "pool" (meaning the splash pad decking). So now, we have to put the activation bollard 5 feet outside of the crest of the splash pad, so kids can run back and forth through landscaping, hot deck, etc. to turn on the sequencing. (More of a hazard!)
When the inspector was questionsed about the other splash pads we have designed in the same jursidiction with activation bollards on the "inside" of the splash pad, the response was, "I unfortunately missed this requirement, I won't let that happen again."
Sometimes there is a disconnect from the intent of the rule and the enforcement of the rule!

[Debbie Wadleigh]

The regulations stated two - three emergency blankets. We had two at each facility, our inspector required three.