March 25, 2020
‌
Updates on Florida Counties
Orange County to Shelter in Place Tomorrow
The Orange County Emergency "Shelter-In-Place" Order goes in to effect 3/26/2020 at 11pm and stays in effect until 4/9/2020 at 11pm. 

Swimming pool and spa, service, maintenance, construction, supply, and manufacture are essential under Orange County order and can continue to operate. see pages 3 - 5 for highlighted language relating to the pool industry.


Alachua County
The Alachua County Board of Commissions held and emergency meeting last night last night via teleconference to discuss updating Alachua County Emergency Order 2020-09. The Swimming Pool and Spa Industry was added as essential business. The revised order is being drafted and FSPA will send out the order when it is available.


Hillsborough County / City of Tampa
On March 23,2020 the Hillsborough County Emergency Policy Group decided to NOT issue a stay at home order but said that there are monitoring the situation. Mayor Castor of Tampa then announced that she would be issuing a stay at home order for the City of Tamp on March 24, 2020. Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill issue statement that the City of Tampa cannot issues such an order without County action. At this time the Mayor Castor is developing the order she is planning to issue. FSPA is monitoring this situation and will provide updates as available.

Swimming Pool Construction and Retail
City of Miami
Yesterday the City of Miami issued a shelter in place emergency order. When denoting essential businesses, the City of Miami order referred to the Miami-Dade order. Therefore pool professionals working within the City of Miami can continue to operate as outlined in the Miami-Dade County Emergency Order.

Pool Supply Retail and Distributors 
Under the currently issued county level shelter in place orders (Miami-Dade, City of Miami, Broward, and Alachua) retail stores and distributors should be deemed essential under the hardware store/material supplier category or as a support business for other listed essential business such as swimming pool and spa service. If your county is under an emergency order please refer to that order for the precise language used in our county.

Swimming Pool and Spa Construction
All currently issued shelter in place orders list contractors and construction sites as essential business operations under an emergency order. This is because of the dangers of leaving partially finished construction projects unfinished and un-supervised.

DBPR FAQs
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation has released a document answering common questions they are receiving due to COVID-19.

  • What effect do the Governor’s Emergency Orders have on existing permits? 
  • What are some best practices for local building departments and inspectors? 
  • What are some best practices on the job site? 
Are you following us on social media?
Follow FSPA on social!
Don't worry about following news or trends on the pool industry, FSPA will follow them for you. Follow us on all social platforms for the most up-to-date pool-industry related content. Be in the know. Links to our social channels are listed below.