Pool Safety Inspection Guide

Maintaining your pool fence and gates is a mandatory task for all swimming pool and spa owners in Queensland.  This article contains a brief pool safety inspection guide to offer pool safety tips.  Ensuring your pool fence or spa fence meets the legislative requirements is essential to reduce the number of avoidable backyard drownings in Queensland homes.  Pool and spa owners in Queensland must maintain the fence and ensure gates self latch at all times.  As of 2010, all pool owners in Queensland are required to ensure their pool or spa is registered on the government register and that the fences meet the state government pool safety legislative standards.  To ensure your pool barrier is compliant, Be Safe Pool Fence Inspections recommend regular checks of all fences and gates.  At Be Safe Pool Fence Inspections, our inspectors see a lot of pools that don’t meet legislative standards because of simple issues that can be addressed before we complete your pool safety inspection.

The 7 most common issues that result in a pool failing a safety inspection:

Non-compliant gate latches and/or hinges

All pool gates must be able to self-latch from any point within their full rotational arc, including resting against the latching device.  Solutions include a re-alignment of the latching device, springs in the gate hinges needing tightening, replacing the latching device or hinges.  Another common issue is the pool gate opens into the pool enclosure.  Pool gates must swing out of the pool enclosure.

Pool Gates must self latch from all points in its rotational arc including resting against the latching device.

Distances between vertical member are greater than 100mm

Openings in the pool fence cannot exceed 100mm x 100mm.  This could be done by shielding the fence panels with Perspex sheeting, non-climbable meshing (aviary mesh with openings of less than 13mm x 13mm) or other non-climbable product to block access through the openings or replacing the pool fence panels that don’t have openings greater than 100mm.

Distances below bottom railings are greater than 100mm

The distance between the bottom of the fence and the finished ground level is not to exceed the maximum allowable vertical distance of 100mm (10cm).  The solution is to permanently reduce the distance between the bottom of the fence and the finished ground level to less than 100mm.  The finished ground level is measured once that loose top surface is removed.

The tap is positioned too close to the pool fence and interrupts the non-climb zone.

Climbable objects abutting the pool enclosure (trees, air conditioning units)

The 900mm Non Climb Zone must be present on the outside of the pool barrier.  The NCZ must be free of objects/surfaces deeper than 10mm that may provide a climbable point such as trees, tree branches, stumps, furniture, air conditioners, pots and other items.

Fence height is below 1200mm

The effective height of the fence must meet the minimum requirement of 1200mm from finished ground level.  The finished ground level (FGL) is considered the area you stand when you are in front of the fence.  Solutions include either raising the fence height to a minimum of 1200mm from the finished ground level or removing the ground surface below the fence panel.  If raising the fence, the panel must be raised so that no ground surface or foothold is within the 1200mm arc of the top of the fence.  In doing this, the distance below the fence and the finished ground level must not exceed 100mm.

All spas must have undamaged and legible CPR signs visable inside the pool enclosure.

Climbable fence rails on neighboring fence line

Fences must have a 900mm NCZ and be free of objects or surfaces deeper than 10mm which is considered a climbable point.  A 60-degree timber fillet could be secured to rails to shield them from within the 900mm NCZ; alternatively palings could be used to shield access to the horizontal rails from within the NCZ (palings must not be spaced greater than 10mm apart).

No current pool resuscitation sign secured in a visible location

Pools and spas must have a compliant CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) sign inside the pool enclosure, legible, unobstructed and undamaged.

At Be Safe Pool Fence Inspections, our Pool Safety Inspectors are all government certified and have years of experience to provide you with a hassle free and comprehensive swimming pool inspection process.  A Pool Safety Certificate is only issued with the Pool Safety Inspector deems the fence complies with the Qld legislation.  If non-compliant, you will be issued with a notice of non-compliance and report outlining the reasons why your pool fence is non-compliant and solutions to rectify said issues.