# Pool lighting certification



## Service Call (Jul 9, 2011)

I’ve been asked by a condo to certify the pool lighting. They sent a certification sheet given by the state health dept. 

What they want is the foot candle measurement in and around the pool to ensure the lighting is in accordance with Florida requirements. 

I was looking at some meters online, they don’t look too pricey but the Klein one didn’t get a good rating. They some Extech and a bunch of none familiar brands. 

Any one use any and have a preference to one?


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## JoeSparky (Mar 25, 2010)

FREE!:thumbup:
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=foot candle meter&c=apps&hl=en_US
I have one that does Lux and color temperature i use for lighting all the time. Most modern flagships are waterproof. If you are concerned anyways, put your phone in a freezer bag first.


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## Service Call (Jul 9, 2011)

Thanks. Whole lot of options there. Do you use one ?


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## Service Call (Jul 9, 2011)

Found one at the App Store. Looks pretty decent.


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## Forge Boyz (Nov 7, 2014)

Any recommendations on light meter apps? I've had them but didn't feel they were very accurate.

Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

Remember that you should really have Error & Omission insurance if you certify _anything_.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

Service Call said:


> I’ve been asked by a condo to certify the pool lighting. They sent a certification sheet given by the state health dept.
> 
> What they want is the foot candle measurement in and around the pool to ensure the lighting is in accordance with Florida requirements.
> 
> ...


I wouldn’t do this and we do some outrageous projects.
We will typically call out our PE buddy. He will have a friend of his take the readings every square foot. 
The PE signs and seals the document.
The customer pays the PE directly.
If there are any deficiencies, the engineer will specify whatever remediation necessary and we quote the customer to install what is needed to make the site conforming.

Bottom line. I don’t know what they need, and I don’t want to be the person they hunt down if there is some kind of accident.
Same thing with parking lots.


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## Service Call (Jul 9, 2011)

They did provide a template sheet with the required fc and lux minimums. I don’t think I want to be the one responsible, but I finally got a light meter . 

I’m going to tell them they should have an engineer certify the lighting requirements.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

Service Call said:


> They did provide a template sheet with the required fc and lux minimums. I don’t think I want to be the one responsible, but I finally got a light meter .
> 
> I’m going to tell them they should have an engineer certify the lighting requirements.


I would also say that if this is a very good customer of yours, and they need a document filled out, I would do it as a one-off. I don't think I would do much more than collect data for someone else to process.

We were asked to do this for a hotel so that they could open the pool after sunset.
They wanted someone to just sign off on it.
I had them bring in an engineer to measure the light levels.
It didn't conform, additional lighting was designed for the remediation and presented to the owners.
They decided to not do the work and keep the pool closed after sunset.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

I might do this work if I was entirely comfortable with the state's certification sheet, but you really have to make sure your insurance covers you, it's really only fair to your customer, not to mention could save your ass. If I was going to do this, I'd definitely want some compensation for the exposure to liability. 

The apps may be great, I haven't compared them side by side with a real meter, but there is no way I'd do this with an app on my phone. If the ship hits the sand and you have to answer questions, do you want to say "yah they called me and I heard there's an app for that so I downloaded it and filled out the sheet." For not much $$ you can get a calibrated light meter, traceable to NIST, that logs results, and lets you save the results, generate a report, etc.


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## Service Call (Jul 9, 2011)

Southeast Power said:


> I would also say that if this is a very good customer of yours, and they need a document filled out, I would do it as a one-off. I don't think I would do much more than collect data for someone else to.




That was a thought also. Just do a survey of the lighting and let them decide on the engineer or not.


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## phamousgrey (Mar 22, 2018)

the biggest thing id be worried about... i dont know how long youve been there for... so you proly dont know the history of the place etc...how confident are you in your own abilities to know how to use a both a multimeter and megger? because if you have to give a report on the safety of any wiring ie lights etc around/in the pool.... you'd better know what your looking for when loooking for faults etc, because ppl are going to die if you **** it up.... lmao sry :/


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

phamousgrey said:


> the biggest thing id be worried about... i dont know how long youve been there for... so you proly dont know the history of the place etc...how confident are you in your own abilities to know how to use a both a multimeter and megger? because if you have to give a report on the safety of any wiring ie lights etc around/in the pool.... you'd better know what your looking for when loooking for faults etc, because ppl are going to die if you **** it up.... lmao sry :/


You use a multimeter and megger to measure foot candles? Go to sleep you drunk bum.


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## JoeSparky (Mar 25, 2010)

Just curious. How accurate was the phone app versus a real meter?


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