What will the inspection check when the work is done?

Who does the walk

The inspection is done by someone the state names, and the states differ on who that is and how often it happens. Who may do the barrier work is a licence question, and the licence guide names where each licence sits.

In New South Wales, compliance is assessed separately through inspections, and the owner can contact the local council or a registered certifier to inspect the pool or spa. In South Australia, only council officers have legislative authority under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 to enforce requirements for swimming pool and spa pool safety. New pools there are inspected on a clock: since 1 April 2014, new swimming and spa pools must be inspected by the council within two months of the completion of the permanent, approved child-safety barriers.

Western Australia inspects twice over: a new pool or spa barrier must be inspected by the local government within 30 days of the council learning the work is complete, temporary barrier or long term one alike, and barriers are inspected again afterwards to check they stay up to standard and are kept in order. Inspections may be no more than four years apart; some remote areas of the State are excluded. Victoria’s Building and Plumbing Commission attaches the walk to a certificate: a registered pool inspector, building inspector or building surveyor carries out the inspection, anything it turns up has to be put right, the certificate goes to the council within 30 days of receipt, and four years later the pool is inspected again for a new certificate.

The walk, in NSW Fair Trading’s measurements

NSW Fair Trading publishes the measurements an inspection is made of, and they are the clearest spine for the walk. Each measurement is NSW Fair Trading’s, stated for New South Wales.

The fence itself

• A pool fence must be at least 1.2m high, as measured from the finished ground level.
• The fence must not leave a gap at the bottom bigger than 10cm from the finished ground level.
• If a boundary fence is part of the pool fence, the barrier must be 1.8m high.
• There must not be gaps of more than 10cm between any vertical bars in the fence.
• If the fence contains horizontal climbable bars, these must be spaced at least 90cm apart.
• Perforated or mesh barriers must have holes no greater than 13mm for fence heights of 1.2m.
• The pool fence must be well maintained and in good working order.

The non-climbable zone

The zone is the part of the fence an object can turn into a ladder. Any trees, shrubs or any other objects such as a barbeque, pot plants, toys, ladders and chairs must not be within the 90cm non-climbable zone; the zone is measured in an arc shape from the top of the pool fence arching towards the ground; and it also includes the space extending 30cm inside the pool area, which should also be cleared of any potential footholds or handholds. Where a pool area does not meet the requirements, NSW Fair Trading points to a licensed builder, pool technician or fencing contractor to carry out work in line with them.

The same zone appears as a numbered distance in two other states’ items, and each keeps its own number. Queensland’s own safety tips ask for all moveable objects near the pool to be secured so that nothing can be moved within 900mm on the outside and within 300mm on the inside. South Australia writes its boundary case as a measurement too: any boundary fences used as part of the child-safety barrier are at least 1.8 metres high on the side that faces the pool, with a 900 millimetres non-climbable zone at the top inside of the fence.

The gate

NSW Fair Trading’s checklist for the gate is: check to ensure that your pool gate is never propped open and is always kept shut; swings outwards, away from the pool area, and if it does not swing outwards the gate must be re-hung so that it does; shuts automatically from any open position, without having to forcibly close it; and automatically locks, or self-latches, when it closes.

South Australia’s gate items mirror the shape and keep its own words: gates to the pool area must swing outward from the pool area and be self-closing from any position. Tasmania’s owner checks treat the gate as a habit rather than a measurement: the gate is to close itself and not be propped open, and the latch is to work.

The maintenance round

Two lists belong to the walk because they are what an owner is asked to check between inspections. In NSW, regular maintenance of the pool gate means checking that all fence bolts, screws and fasteners are tight and in good order, that any loose bolts, screws and fasteners are tightened or replaced, and that self-closing gate hinges, locks and latches are sprayed with lubricating oil or silicone.

Tasmania writes the whole barrier as an owner’s round, and the barrier is the owner’s to keep. The checks it asks for are that the gate closes itself and is not propped open, that the latch works, that no item or piece of furniture stands against the barrier where it could be climbed, next door’s side included, that landscaping does not allow climbing, that the barrier’s openings have not grown as the ground or the barrier has moved, and that the barrier is still structurally sound.

The resuscitation sign

Two of the states here write a sign into the walk, and in each the regulator sets the sign’s requirements.

NSW Fair Trading: in case of an emergency, the law requires that you have a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) sign displayed near your pool, including portable pools; the sign must be in good condition and easily readable from 3m away; and new CPR signs came into effect on 1 September 2019, so all new pools must use the updated signage, while owners of existing pools are not required to update theirs unless the pool barrier is substantially altered or rebuilt.

Queensland writes it into the regulation, and sets the physical requirements: a resuscitation sign must be displayed at a regulated pool; it must be attached to the barrier or displayed near the pool so that the sign is conspicuous and easily visible to anyone near the pool; it must be at least 300mm x 300mm in size; it must be made of durable and weatherproof material; and it must include a statement, prominent on the sign, explaining to anyone reading it how to act in an emergency. The sign’s own emergency instructions are the regulation’s text, and the regulation is linked for them.

The states’ own items

Where a state publishes its own checklist, the items differ.

Queensland, the openings

Permanently adjust windows that open directly into the pool area so they cannot open more than 100mm, with the page adding that a window lock alone does not comply, and ensure louvres have gaps of less than 100mm between the blades.

Western Australia, the doors

Child-resistant doors are typically not allowed in an outdoor pool or spa barrier unless the pool or spa was approved or put in before 5 November 2001.

South Australia, the fence

Fencing must be constructed in such a way to make sure that it is an effective barrier to young children, it is permanent, young children cannot crawl under or climb over it by using foot and hand holds, and it is at least 1.2 metres high.

The ACT

Safety barriers must be maintained, and access to home swimming pools and spas prevented when not in use, with offence provisions applying from 1 May 2024 if barriers are not properly maintained and all doors, gates and covers providing access are not kept securely closed.

After the walk

The inspection ends in one of two documents, and what happens next is written state by state. In NSW, some certifiers may do minor repairs, up to $1,000 including materials and labour, to enable them to issue a certificate of compliance, and to do so they must have an endorsed contractor’s licence or qualified supervisor’s certificate under the Home Building Act authorising them to build a swimming pool or structural landscaping. The pool owner is free to hire another tradesperson to do the work.

Queensland turns a failed inspection into paperwork with a clock on it: 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 within 2 days and is satisfied that the pool now complies), and the pool must then be re-inspected within 3 months by the same inspector. The trigger guide sets out those periods beside the sale and lease clocks they belong with.

South Australia is the state that says plainly when no walk is required at all: you are not required under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 to have an existing swimming pool or spa pool inspected for compliance. Where a walk is required, it is named with the state that requires it and the event it is tied to.