Pour-In-Place (PIP) is definitely the worst safety surface that deteriorates in the areas where fall impact safety is needed most, with improper patching eliminating at least 50% of the safety it had before becoming damaged, which adds one more negative factor to reafirm how awful it really is. PIP damage occurs most wherever impact protection is needed most, because the base of swings, slides, ladders and climbers are where the material flexes the most, and the EPDM already causing the delamination to occur from sunlight exposure allows a little crack to form. From there, deterioration happens rapidly, because the playground continues to get used. 

A lot of greedy playground equipment manufacturers and installers love PIP due to the money it makes them, and the people being talked into PIP have no idea about the plethora of potential dangers, liabilities and costs come with it. As a result, most playgrounds experiencing PIP damage go without proper repair, when it still may be done properly. The problems get worse, someone offers to repair it for a fraction of the cost it should be, and ends up destroying the PIP surfacing. In one playground, a janitorial maintenance worker was told to glue an anti-fatigue mat where the problem was. Another used a non-pliable resin-based solid binder, creating a surface as hard as concrete. 

The sad truth is that so many playgrounds never perform the maintenance necessary for their PIP surface, mainly because they can't afford it. They probably spent way too much on PIP in the first place, given the damage it's not even providing any safety at less than 10 to 12 years it was supposed to last. No one is willing to fix it, because it's too far gone, so the next step is to close the playground, because kids could probably get seriously injured in a fall.