Code of Colorado Regulations
1400 - Department of Early Childhood
1402 - Division of Early Learning, Licensing, and Administration
8 CCR 1402-1 - CHILD CARE FACILITY LICENSING RULES AND REGULATIONS
CHILD CARE EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS
Section 8 CCR 1402-1-2.524 - INDOOR AND OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT, MATERIALS, AND SURFACES

Universal Citation: 1400 CO Code Regs 8 CCR 1402-1-2.524

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 17, September 10, 2024

A. The building based school-age child care center must provide access to an outdoor play area. The outdoor play area may be a city park or public school ground. The play area must meet the following requirements:

1. The center must provide a total outside play area of at least seventy-five (75) square feet per child for a minimum of one-third of the licensed capacity of the center or a minimum of 1500 square feet, whichever is greater;

2. Access to a shaded area, sheltered area, or inside building area must be provided at all times to guard children against the hazards of excessive sun and heat;

3. Outdoor play areas provided by the center must not have equipment that exceeds six (6) feet in height for any surface area intended for children's play unless equipped with a protective barrier to prevent children from falling; and

4. Resilient Surfacing
a. All outdoor climbing equipment over eighteen (18) inches must have least six (6) inches resilient surface throughout the use zone.

b. Department-approved resilient surfacing includes loose fill materials such as wood chips, wood mulch, engineered wood fiber, pea gravel, synthetic pea gravel, shredded rubber tires, and sand. Solid unitary materials include poured in place surfacing, approved rubber mats, playground tiles, and Astroturf with built in resilient pad.

c. Loose fill resilient surface must be raked regularly to retain its resiliency and to retain a depth of at least six (6) inches.

d. Any newly installed solid unitary materials used for resilient materials must have written documentation from the manufacturer stating the material meets current federal safety standards. The documentation must be available for review at all times.

5. Use Zone
a. Climbing equipment must have a six (6) foot use zone surrounding the equipment. For slides exceeding six (6) feet in height, the use zone from the base of the slide must be as long as the slide height.

b. The use zone for swings used by school-age children is determined by measuring the distance from the top of the swing to the ground. This measured distance must extend from both the front and the back of the swing.

6. Moving equipment must be located toward the edge or corner of a play area or be designed in such a way as to discourage children from running into the path of the moving equipment.

7. Metal equipment must be placed in the shade.

8. Swings must have seats made of a flexible material and all "S" hooks must be secured.

9. All outdoor play areas used for children's activities must be checked prior to use and kept safe and free from hazardous materials or debris by removal of debris, dilapidated structures, and broken or worn play equipment. The staff must identify hazardous, high-risk areas; those areas must be made inaccessible to children to reduce the possibility of injuries and accidents.

10. For purposes of a playground facility inspection, the Department shall accept as satisfactory proof of valid certification of the playground facility, certification, or a copy of certification within the last twelve (12) months, from an individual who is licensed or certified to perform playground safety inspections through the National Recreation and Park Association, or other nationally recognized playground facility safety organization. The Department shall not require a duplicate inspection if there is a satisfactory inspection report.
a. All playground facilities who hold a certified playground safety inspection must maintain resilient surfacing in compliance with the certification.

11. The play area must be designed so that it is easily supervised.

12. Children must wear helmets when riding scooters, bicycling, skateboarding, or rollerblading. The helmet must be removed after the activity.

13. All pieces of playground equipment must be designed to guard against entrapment and strangulation.

14. The playground area must be in good repair, of solid and safe construction, free of rough edges, protruding bolts.

15. Playground surfaces must be checked prior to use for the presence of dangerous or other foreign materials.

16. Motorized riding toys are not permitted.

17. Trampolines and inflatable bouncers are prohibited.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Colorado may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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