Sevier County has adopted the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) and the 2018 International Residential Code (IRC) through the Sevier County Building Inspections Department (865-774-7120, buildinginspections@seviercountytn.org). Residential pool barriers must be at least 48 inches high measured on the outside, with no openings allowing passage of a 4-inch sphere, and self-closing, self-latching gates that open outward away from the pool. Tennessee's Katie Beth's Law (TCA Title 68, Chapter 14, Part 8) separately requires a functioning pool alarm before any local government may issue a building permit for a residential pool installed after January 1, 2011.
Sevier County (which includes the gateway communities to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and is home to Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Sevierville) regulates swimming pool construction through the Building Inspections Department under the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code and 2018 International Residential Code, with amendments effective July 1, 2025 covering IBC/IFC provisions. Under ISPSC Section 305 and IRC Appendix AG (Section AG105), a residential pool barrier must be at least 48 inches high measured from the outside finished ground level; vertical clearance at grade may not exceed 2 inches; openings cannot allow passage of a 4-inch sphere; for fences with horizontal members spaced less than 45 inches apart, vertical spacing cannot exceed 1.75 inches. Pedestrian gates must be at least 48 inches tall, self-closing, self-latching, and open outward away from the pool, with the latch release at least 54 inches above the ground or, if lower, located on the pool side at least 3 inches below the top of the gate. Tennessee state law layers an additional alarm mandate on top of the barrier code: under Katie Beth's Law (TCA Sections 68-14-801 to 68-14-807), enacted in 2009 and named for 17-month-old Katie Beth Maynard who drowned in an aboveground pool, every swimming pool at a residential dwelling installed after January 1, 2011 must have a functioning pool alarm. TCA Section 68-14-805 prohibits a local government from issuing a building permit for the construction or substantial alteration of a residential pool unless the project calls for a pool alarm, and bars electrical-wiring approval at inspection unless an alarm system is included. Public, semi-public, hotel, motel, and apartment pools are regulated separately by Tennessee Department of Health rules at Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1200-23-05; private single-family residential pools are exempt from those rules under TCA Section 68-14-322. Sevier County permitting fees and inspections (footing, plumbing, electrical, final) are administered through the Building Inspections Department.
Construction or substantial alteration of a residential swimming pool in Sevier County without a building permit, or without a code-compliant 48-inch barrier and self-closing/self-latching gate, is a violation enforceable by the Sevier County Building Inspections Department. Typical remedies include stop-work orders, denial of final inspection, withholding Certificate of Occupancy, and code citations until a compliant barrier is installed. Failure to install a pool alarm as required by Katie Beth's Law (TCA Section 68-14-805) carries a fine of up to $100 for a first offense and up to $500 for subsequent offenses, and is independently enforceable by the state. An inspector may not approve electrical wiring on a residential pool unless an alarm system is included.
Sevier County, TN
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