PLAYGROUND RULES AND SAFETY

Manufacturers of playground equipment manufacturers operate under legal safety standards, but few if any apply to private residences. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says it "believes that guidelines, rather than a mandatory rule, are appropriate."

As for New York City, "I don't think there are any local requirements" for private playgrounds, says attorney Steven D. Sladkus, a partner at Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz. "My biggest concern is making sure the building's general liability insurance coverage covers any incident that may happen on the playground."

Ground Rules

Poured-in-place rubber and playground equipment, however, must be certified by the International Playground Equipment Manufacturer's Association. IPEMA uses a third party testing lab to ascertain that the surfacing and the equipment conform to the Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines for playground safety. 

Once everything is installed, your two biggest issues will be house rules, such as hours and use, and noise. "Our hours are basically dawn to dusk," says Warren Schreiber, president of the 200-unit complex Bay Terrace Cooperative Section 1 in Queens. "We've tried to come up with hours that are more definitive, but it's difficult. You want playgrounds to be shut down at night, since if you have it open at night you need special lighting."

"We generally like to have house rules that are kind of imbued in common sense," says Steve Vernon, president of the Nagle Apartments (a.k.a. NaBors Apartments) co-op in upper Manhattan. "Put toys away when you're through, maintain a respectful level of noise. Our goal is not to have strict policing."

A Show of Enforce

You also don't want to make rules that are unenforceable. "How do you tell somebody their child can't have friends over?" asks Schreiber. "Dealing with angry parents – how do you even win that battle? So we don't really have a rule on that – if kids invited two, three, four friends to come over. If they invited their whole third grade class, we might put our foot down. But certainly we understand children have friends, and parents might want to get together with other parents who have children."

"One of the things I always say is check with the insurance broker to make sure that playground's going to be covered," advises Andrea Bunis, president of Andrea Bunis Management. "The other thing I would do is ask the broker if it's covered for everybody – visitors to the building, or even people [who live in your complex but] who don't live in that particular building. Is there any liability and exposure there, and if so, is it covered?" 

And finally, cautions Andrew Kunz, owner of W.E.I.T. Creative Solutions, there is signage. "You can save yourself a lot of litigation and headaches if you post a sign with the age grouping and that play should be supervised. Having that sign holds a ton of weight."

Indeed, at Sky View Parc in Flushing, Queens, a sign reads: "Welcome: This unique play area is designed for children 5 to 12 years of age. Adult supervision is recommended."

What should your playground sign say, and what should the rules be? See our sidebar >>

For more, see our Site Map or join our Archive >>