Does renovating a pool trigger new fence laws?

The sentence that re-sets the barrier

NSW Fair Trading says that if the swimming pool barrier is modified or altered, and it adds that this may include house and yard renovations, then the current Swimming Pools Act 1992, Swimming Pools Regulation 2018 and Australian Standard AS1926.1‑2012 are applied and previous exemptions cease.

Read against the rules by year, that sentence is the whole change: the pool that kept its own standard is moved onto the current one at the moment its barrier is altered. The pool itself can stay old. The barrier is what the law re-dates.

The same page dates one visible part of the pool the same way. New CPR signs came into effect on 1 September 2019, all new pools must use the updated signage, and owners of existing pools are not required to update their signage unless the pool barrier is substantially altered or rebuilt. The trigger words are the ones to keep: modified or altered for the barrier, substantially altered or rebuilt for the sign.

The ACT writes it as built, altered or installed

The ACT carries the same idea in its compliance certificate and spa dates, without a separate sentence for it. Its reforms apply to a home swimming pool or spa that is capable of containing water to a depth greater than 30cm and is associated with a residential building such as a house, unit, townhouse or block of apartments. The dates then read built, altered or installed: a spa built, altered or installed on or after 1 May 2023 must have a barrier compliant with the building code at the time it was built, altered or installed; pools and spas built, altered or installed before 1 May 2013 need a compliance certificate before 1 May 2028; and any pool or spa built, altered or installed since 1 May 2013 has been legally required to be compliant with the safety standards.

For Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, the pages cited here for them do not state that altering a barrier re-sets its standard. For those states, read the state’s own page.

The paper a sale brings

A sale is the other event that dates a pool, and the states below each name their own document. In Queensland the rule is written around the certificate: when a property with a non-shared pool is sold or leased, a pool safety certificate must be obtained, and if there is a current certificate the seller must give the buyer a copy before settlement. Pool safety certificates are valid for 2 years for non-shared pools. A buyer who takes the property without a certificate must get one within 90 days of settlement.

New South Wales attaches its documents to the contract. Owners who are selling a property with a swimming pool or spa pool must ensure the contract of sale includes a registration certificate issued from the Swimming Pool Register, and one of the following: a relevant occupation certificate issued within the last 3 years, a valid swimming pool certificate of compliance, or a certificate of non-compliance. If one of those is not included, the purchaser may rescind the contract within 14 days of exchange, unless settlement has already occurred. The NSW page lists some sales these rules do not apply to.

South Australia writes the sale into the old pool’s exemption. If you are selling a property with a swimming pool or spa pool, you are responsible for making sure that current safety requirements are met, and that may mean you have to upgrade fencing or barriers. For a pool built before 1 July 1993, the child-safety barriers must comply with Ministerial Building Standard MBS 004 before settlement where the property is sold after 1 October 2008. South Australia does not require an inspection as part of that: there is no requirement to have an inspection when selling a property with an existing swimming pool or spa pool.

Western Australia writes the seller’s side into the standard sale contract. Consumer Protection WA lists it among the General Conditions, which form part of most contracts for the sale of a property there: the seller has to bring the pool and spa fences to the Building Regulations before the sale. The City of Canning, whose local rules are published, suggests a buyer make the purchase conditional on a safety barrier compliance report from the local council, and says a copy of the most recent barrier inspection report can be asked for.

The paper a lease brings

Queensland extends the certificate to the tenancy. If you want to lease your home or townhouse with a non-shared pool, you must not enter into an accommodation agreement unless a pool safety certificate is in effect. Under its shared pools heading, the QBCC page adds: when a property is leased with a pool safety certificate, a copy must be given to the new occupier and to the owner of the pool (usually a body corporate), and a copy must be displayed as near as practicable to the entrance of the premises or the access to the pool.

New South Wales writes it into the tenancy agreement instead: when a residential tenancy agreement is entered into for a property with a swimming pool or spa pool, the landlord or real estate agent must provide the tenant with a copy of the certificate of compliance or occupation certificate. A certificate of non-compliance cannot be used to rent a property. This requirement does not apply to a lot in a strata scheme or community scheme of more than two lots.

What each period actually is

The periods are set out here with the state that gives each one:

Queensland certificate: Valid for 2 years for non-shared pools; a copy to the buyer before settlement.
Queensland buyer: 90 days from settlement to obtain a certificate where the purchase came without one.
Queensland re‑inspection: After a non-conformity notice, the pool must be re-inspected within 3 months by the same inspector.
New South Wales: A certificate of compliance is valid for 3 years.
New South Wales rescission: 14 days from exchange where the contract is missing its pool document, unless settlement has occurred.
New South Wales rectification: 90 days from settlement to rectify defects listed in a certificate of non-compliance and obtain a certificate of compliance, unless the certificate states the pool poses a significant risk to public safety. The NSW page lists some sales this does not apply to.
The Northern Territory: Where the buyer takes on the barrier work, it has to be finished inside three months of the sale.
Victoria: A barrier compliance certificate every four years, lodged with the council.
The ACT: A compliance certificate before 1 May 2028 for pools and spas built, altered or installed before 1 May 2013, lodged within 30 days of issue.

When the paper says no

A certificate of non-compliance is not the end of the matter, and Queensland and NSW write the next steps differently.

In Queensland, if the pool safety inspector is not satisfied that the pool complies with the pool safety standard, the inspector issues a Form 26, a non-conformity notice, unless one of the two exceptions on the QBCC page applies; the first is that the inspector re-inspects the pool within 2 days after the initial inspection and is satisfied that it now complies. After a non-conformity notice, the pool must be re-inspected within 3 months by the same pool safety inspector, and if that does not happen the inspector must tell the local council. Within those 3 months you cannot ask another inspector to inspect the pool and give you a pool safety certificate, and fines apply for doing it. In some circumstances, for example if the inspector becomes ill, you can apply to the QBCC for another inspector to re-inspect the pool within the 3-month period. A buyer whose 90-day deadline is running does not get more time from a notice: being issued with a non-conformity notice does not change or extend the deadline for obtaining the pool safety certificate.

In New South Wales, the buyer’s side is stated plainly: unless the seller agrees to fix any issues and obtain a compliance certificate before settlement, a non-compliant pool becomes the buyer’s responsibility to resolve, typically within 90 days of settlement. Where a certificate of non-compliance is in the contract, the 90 days run from settlement to rectify the listed defects and obtain a certificate of compliance, unless the certificate states that the swimming pool poses a significant risk to public safety. The NSW page lists some sales this does not apply to.

The Northern Territory writes the choice down for the buyer when there is no paperwork at all: where no compliance certificate or acknowledgement notice has ever been issued, the buyer may take on the upgrade or the installation of a barrier to the territory’s Community Safety Standard, inside three months of buying the property. The territory also warns about the clock before it starts: arranging new documents or copies of existing records can take five working days, and longer where the barrier itself needs upgrading or changes, so any required process should begin well before the settlement or transfer date.

One event, seven clocks

An alteration re-sets the barrier’s standard in NSW, and in the ACT it re-dates the code the barrier has to meet to the time of the work. A sale or a lease brings a certificate in Queensland, a set of contract documents in NSW, a standard in South Australia, a contract condition in Western Australia, a compliance duty in Victoria, and a transfer document in the Northern Territory. None of them brings a dose or a price, and none of them cancels the owner’s ongoing duty: Queensland states outright that a pool owner is responsible for ensuring the barrier complies with the pool safety standard at all times, whether or not a certificate is in place.

Where does the water go when the pool is emptied? follows the water itself, state by state, and The potty-style skimmer, from ordinary part to national ban lists what comes out of the empty pool.