Certifying your pool or spa

Which fence standard covers my pool?

Your pool fence (the barrier) is assessed under whichever standard was in force at the time of construction. Pools constructed after 1 May 2013 follow AS 1926.1-2012. The 2007 version covers pools built between 1 September 2008 and 30 April 2013. Many pools built before 30 August 2008 fall under the 1986 version.

If you change or rebuild an older barrier, it loses its old standard. The 2012 standard then applies, and earlier exemptions end. Moving a gate, replacing a boundary fence or adding a wall that becomes part of the barrier are all treated as new barrier work. Check the design before you build.

Do I need a CPR sign and registration?

Every pool needs a CPR warning sign near it, including portable pools. It must be easy to read at a distance of 3 m. The current sign rules have applied to new pools since 1 September 2019. An existing pool only needs a new sign if its barrier is largely altered or rebuilt.

Portable pools are not a loophole. Any pool that can hold 30 cm or more of water must meet the barrier rules, whether or not it needed approval. You register your pool against your property address. You do not need an account, or council can do the registration for a small fee.

What if I sell or rent out my home?

When you sell, the contract needs the pool registration certificate and one more document: an occupation certificate no older than 3 years, a compliance certificate that is still valid, or a non-compliance certificate. Without one of these, the buyer can usually withdraw within 14 days after exchange, as long as the sale has not settled.

Where the sale relies on a non-compliance certificate, obtaining the certificate of compliance becomes the buyer's job. The buyer gets 90 days after settlement to fix the defects it lists, unless it records a significant public safety risk.

Rules for renting are tighter. A landlord or their agent has to supply an occupation certificate or a compliance certificate; a non-compliance certificate will not do. None of this applies to strata or community schemes over 2 lots, where the owners corporation keeps shared pools compliant.

Who inspects pool barriers?

Once a barrier inspection is passed, council or the certifier issues a compliance certificate that lasts 3 years. You can book council, or a certifier listed on the NSW pool register, to do the inspection. Every council must run an inspection program, inspect on request before a sale or lease, and investigate complaints. Pools at tourist accommodation, and pools with moveable dwellings, are inspected every 3 years.

Where a pool can sit under the Housing Code

The Housing Code route is only available for a pool built for the household's own use alongside a single house. It has to sit further back than the front wall of that home, and the water's edge needs 1 m or more of clearance to every side and rear boundary. The complete set of pool standards appears in clause 3.28 of that code.

Volume matters as well. A pool with a capacity of 40,000 L or above needs a BASIX certificate, the NSW sustainability certificate, as part of the application. Calculate the capacity from the shell size at the design stage, because a design just over that line adds a document to the package.

Where the property is served by Sydney Water, the utility must approve the building plans before any building or excavation work starts. That check is lodged through its Tap in service and is required on top of the complying development certificate (CDC) or development application (DA).

Sewer pipes near the pool

Sydney Water's technical guidelines set clearances for a pool beside a sewer. They call for 900 mm or more between the sewer and the pool's edge, measured to the coping where it is built into the pool, and 2 m or more from the wall of any sewer maintenance structure.

The bottom of the pool, or the piles under it, must sit at least 300 mm below the zone that a future dig to reach the sewer would disturb. That zone is drawn at a slope that changes with sandy or clay soils, so an engineer should confirm it for your site.

A pool can sometimes be built over a sewer, but never over a property connection point, junction or fitting. The pipe may need to be relaid and encased in concrete, and the standard design does not cover pipes more than 50 years old. Locate the pipes on a Sydney Water diagram before the pool position is fixed.

Old barrier exemptions do not apply to new pools

The central duty the Swimming Pools Act places on a pool owner is to keep a child-resistant barrier around the pool at all times. Some older pools were allowed a barrier that did not cut the house off from the pool, as long as access from the house was restricted.

Those concessions are tied to the start date of the pool. The one for lots under 230 m² covers only pools begun before 1 August 1990. The ones for lots of 2 hectares or more, and for lots with frontage to a large body of water, cover only pools begun before 1 July 2010.

A pool built today cannot rely on any of them, even on a big rural property or a block with water frontage. Design a barrier that fully divides the house from the pool, and look closely at any house doors or windows that would open into the pool area.

While the pool is under construction

As soon as building work on a pool begins, the occupier must erect a warning sign near it saying the pool must not be occupied or used, and keep it there until either an occupation certificate (OC) or a compliance certificate has been issued. Spa pools are left out of this sign rule.

The NSW Swimming Pools Register refers to AS 4687.4, the Australian Standard for temporary pool fencing, for barriers used during construction, repair and renovation. Plan for temporary fencing from the first day of excavation, because rain can put water in an open shell long before the permanent barrier is installed.

After handover, the occupier must keep the barrier in good repair as an effective child-resistant barrier, and keep every gate and door into the pool area securely closed when not in use. Each of these duties carries a maximum penalty of 50 penalty units under the Act.

Spas, hot tubs and lockable covers

Under the Act, a spa pool includes a spa, flotation tank, tub or anything of that nature. A spa bath, or anything inside a bathroom, is not counted as a swimming pool at all.

A spa pool does not need a fence if access to the water is restricted whenever it is not in use, to the standard set by regulation (Swimming Pools Regulation 2018). That standard calls for a lockable child-resistant structure, such as a door, lid, grille or mesh, of substantial construction and held by a fastening device that is itself substantial.

A cover that cannot be locked, or that is flimsy, will not meet the standard. The concession also lasts only while the cover is closed and locked, so a spa left open after use is unprotected.