Pool and Spa Inspections and Compliance

What Land Owners Need To Know About Pool and Spa Barrier Inspection

To increase the swimming Pool and Spa safety, new laws have been put in place in Victoria on 1st December 2019. Owners with a Swimming Pool or Spa located on their land are required to Register their Pool or Spa with the local council.

You will also need to get your Pool or Spa Safety Barrier inspected and lodge a Certificate of Barrier Compliance, which verifies your Pool or Spa meets the required standard. If your Pool or Spa Barrier is determined as not Compliant by an Inspector, as Owner, it is your responsibility to make the barrier Compliant.

These new rules are applied to all those Swimming Pools and Spas that can hold more than 30mm (30 cm) of water. This includes, permanent Pools, above ground Pools, Indoor Pools, hot tubs, bathing or wading Pools and some relocatable Pools.

If you have a relocatable Pool that does not consist of multiple parts and do not require any assembly, subject to the barrier requirements, like a small inflatable pool that you only have to inflate, then you do not need to worry about these barrier rules.

If you are planning
to get a Pool or Spa

In Victoria, the rules for, building and installing Pools and Spas, and their Safety Barriers are very strict. If you are going to install a new Pool or Spa, here's what you need to know:

• You need to hire a CertifiedBuilder or be a Certified Owner-Builder to build a Pool or Spa.
• Your Pool or Spa gate must self-close and self-latch by itself, with no manual force used.
• The Barriers around your Pool or Spa need to meet the requirements of AS1926.1-2012, a standard that sets the rules for how these Pool or Spa Safety Barriers should be built and maintained.

As a Pool or Spa Owner, it is your responsibility to maintain Compliance of Pool or Spa barriers, ensuring the barrier is kept in good condition, in-line with the applicable standards.

For more information or to book one of our Pool & Spa Safety Barrier Inspections, contact us today

In cases where your registered Pool & Spa inspector determines your Safety Barrier does not meet the required standards, they hold the authority to:

• Immediately issue a Certificate of Barrier Non-Compliance– (Form24).  
  Or
• Issue you a written notice specifying:

• The issues that need to be resolved, must be addressed, to bring the Pool or Spa up to Compliance.
• The timeframe, a maximum of 60 days, in which the barrier Must be made Compliant.
• The anticipated date and time for the re-inspection.

Following a secondary inspection, if the registered Pool and Spa Inspector confirms that the Pool or Spa Barrier is now Compliant, they will issue a Certificate of Barrier Compliance, which now Must be lodged with Council within a 30-days, from date of issue. Failing to lodge on or before the issue date will result in another inspection.

If the Barrier continues to be non-compliant, however, the Inspector is satisfied that progress has been made towards bringing the barrier into compliance, they allow you an additional 7 days to complete the barrier rectification works. If no progress is made, the Inspector will issue a Certificate of Barrier Non-Compliance, (Form 24).

If the Inspector issues a Certificate of Barrier Non-compliance, the document will be lodged with the relevant council and provide you with a copy. The council will notify you and advise you of the fee incurred, which must be paid by the date specified in the notice.

For more information or to book one of our Pool & Spa Safety Barrier Inspections, contact us today

Subsequent Proceedings

Upon receiving the non-compliance certificate, the municipal building surveyor will release either:

• A notice to improve swimming pool and spa

• A directive under the Building Act 1993 (if the Municipal Building Surveyor reckons this is needed, based on the extent of the Non-Compliance).