The pool safety rules, without the legislation.
What Queensland actually requires of a pool owner, what an inspector checks, and which form you need when you sell, lease or buy.
- Form 23 valid 2 years
- 3 months to fix a fail
- Licence PS15139710
Three duties sit with the pool owner.
Queensland treats a pool barrier as a safety device with a legal standard attached, not as a fence. Three duties sit with the owner, and they apply whether or not anyone ever swims.
Register the pool
Every pool and spa in Queensland has to be on the QBCC pool register. Registration is separate from certification, and it is the step owners most often miss. We register your pool with the QBCC at no extra cost with every inspection.
Keep the barrier compliant at all times
The standard applies continuously, not only when a certificate is current. A gate that stops self-latching in March is non-compliant in March, regardless of when it was last inspected.
Hold a current certificate when you sell or lease
A Form 23 pool safety certificate is issued by a licensed inspector and has to be in place to lease the property, and either in place or formally disclosed to sell it. It lasts two years for a non-shared pool and one year for a shared pool.
A pool is anything that holds water more than 300mm deep. Spas, portable pools and inflatables count, which surprises most people who buy one for a summer.
At a glance
- Certificate
- QBCC Form 23
- Non-shared pool
- Valid 2 years
- Shared pool
- Valid 1 year
- If it fails
- Form 26, 3 months to fix
- Inspector licence
- PS15139710
Figures current at the last QBCC check. Call to confirm for your property.
Book a Pool InspectionWhat an inspection actually measures.
An inspection checks the barrier against the Queensland standard. The numbers that decide most results are these.
- The barrier is at least 1200mm high, measured from the ground on the outside.
- No gap anywhere is wider than 100mm, including under the fence.
- The gate opens away from the pool, and self-closes and self-latches from any position it is released from.
- The latch sits where a child cannot reach it.
- A 900mm non-climbable zone is clear of anything a child could use as a step: pot plants, pool pumps, furniture, low branches.
- No door opens into the pool area, and windows are restricted to open less than 100mm or security screened.
- A CPR sign that meets the current standard is on display and readable from the pool.
The climbable-object rule is the one that catches compliant fences out. A barrier that passed two years ago can fail today because a planter box moved, and nothing about the fence itself changed.
A boundary fence can serve as part of the barrier where it already meets the standard. Where it falls short it needs modifying, or a separate barrier inside it. Rob handles minor repairs himself and quotes anything larger before any work starts.
Which form applies to your situation.
Selling
You have two lawful routes. Get the pool inspected and hand over a current Form 23 at settlement, or give the buyer a Form 36 notice before they enter the contract and lodge a copy with the QBCC before settlement.
A Form 36 is a disclosure, not an exemption. The pool still has to comply, and the buyer then has 90 days from settlement to obtain a certificate at their own cost. That cost is usually negotiated out of the price, which is why most sellers find the inspection is the cheaper of the two routes.
Leasing
A tenant must be given a valid pool safety certificate before the lease starts. There is no Form 36 equivalent for a lease, so the inspection has to happen first. This applies to holiday lets and short stays as much as to a twelve month tenancy.
Buying
If the seller has issued a Form 36, the repairs become your problem on settlement day. A pre-purchase inspection tells you the number before you make the offer, which is a better position than finding out after.
Building a new pool
For a newly built pool the building certifier issues a Form 17 final inspection certificate or a certificate of classification, and that stands in place of a pool safety certificate. It is valid for two years on a non-shared pool and the certifier lodges it with the QBCC.
The two cases where the rules can bend.
Two exemptions exist, and both are decided by your local council rather than by an inspector. One is where a disability means the pool could not be accessed with a compliant barrier in place. The other is where compliance is physically impracticable for the property.
An exemption only goes as far as the impracticality requires. It is not a general waiver, and it does not transfer automatically when the property changes hands.
If you think either applies, talk to the council first. We can tell you exactly which items the pool fails and why, which is the document those conversations tend to need.
Not sure where your pool stands? A consultation tells you.
Book a Pool InspectionFully licensed & insured.
Pool Inspector Licence PS15139710, nationally accredited (10660NAT), professional indemnity insured, and a member of the Swimming Pool & Spa Association of Australia.
Book a pool inspection.
Make the smart choice. Send a request and we'll call to confirm your time. We're usually able to inspect within 24 hours, anywhere on the Gold Coast.
0457 445 197Prefer to talk it through? Calling is just as fast.