N.Y. General Business Law § 396-cc: Notification of enclosure requirements for swimming pools

* § 396-cc. Notification of enclosure requirements for swimming pools.

1. a. No person, firm, association or corporation engaged in the

business of selling and/or installing swimming pools of a dimension

subject to New York state regulation or local law shall sell or install

any swimming pool unless such person, firm, association or corporation

provides notice to consumers that the New York state uniform fire

prevention and building code and, if such notice is given in a city with

a population of one million or more or a county that a portion of which

is within fifty miles of a city with a population of one million or

more, the building code of the city of New York, require barriers around

swimming pools that contain certain levels of water and that additional

costs may be incurred when installing a pool in order to comply with

state or local laws regarding fencing, pool alarms and other safety

requirements and instructing consumers to contact the local building

code enforcement office for further details and to consult municipal

codes and regulations for any further requirements. Such notice shall be

given by prominently posting a sign where pools are displayed and/or

sold or where swimming pools are offered for sale through a printed

swimming pool display or swimming pool catalogue available to customers

in retail stores. Such sign shall be no less than nine inches by

fourteen inches using letters no less than one-half inch in height. Such

sign shall include the address of the website at which the document

required to be made available by the department of state pursuant to

subdivision six of section three hundred seventy-six of the executive

law is posted and, if such notice is given in a city with a population

of one million or more or a county a portion of which is within fifty

miles of a city with a population of one million or more, the address of

the website of the New York city department of buildings. Any person,

firm, association or corporation engaged in the business of selling

and/or installing swimming pools of a dimension subject to New York

state regulation or local law shall, upon request of a consumer, provide

a written notice that shall clearly indicate the address of the website

at which the document required to be made available by the department of

state pursuant to subdivision six of section three hundred seventy-six

of the executive law is posted and, if such notice is given in a city

with a population of one million or more or a county that a portion of

which is within fifty miles of a city with a population of one million

or more, the address of the website of the New York city department of

buildings. Such notice shall be no less than five inches by eight inches

using letters no smaller than fourteen point type.

b. For the purposes of this section:

(i) "New York state uniform fire prevention and building code" means

the uniform fire prevention and building code promulgated under section

three hundred seventy-seven of the executive law.

(ii) "building code of the city of New York" shall mean the building

code of the city of New York as defined in titles twenty-seven and

twenty-eight of the administrative code of the city of New York.

2. Any person, firm, association or corporation who or which violates

the provisions of subdivision one of this section shall be subject to a

civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each such

violation.

3. a. Upon any violation of the provisions of subdivision one of this

section, an application may be made by the attorney general in the name

of the people of the state of New York to a court or justice having

jurisdiction to issue an injunction, and upon notice to the defendant of

not less than five days, to enjoin and restrain the continuance of the

violation. If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court or

justice that the defendant has violated subdivision one of this section,

an injunction may be issued by the court or justice, enjoining and

restraining any further violation, without requiring proof that any

person has, in fact, been injured or damaged thereby. In any such

proceeding, the court may make allowances to the attorney general as

provided in paragraph six of subdivision (a) of section eight thousand

three hundred three of the civil practice law and rules, and direct

restitution.

b. In connection with an application made under paragraph a of this

subdivision, the attorney general is authorized to take proof and to

make a determination of the relevant facts and to issue subpoenas in

accordance with the civil practice law and rules.

4. The provisions of subdivision one of this section may be enforced

concurrently by the director of a municipal consumer affairs office, or

by the town attorney, city corporation counsel, or other lawful designee

of a municipality or local government, and all moneys collected

thereunder shall be retained by such municipality or local government.

5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to expand, limit, or

otherwise affect the authority of municipalities to adopt more

restrictive standards for the construction or installation of swimming

pools pursuant to section three hundred seventy-nine of the executive

law.

* NB There are 2 § 396-cc's