If you are the owner of land on which a pool or spa is located, it is mandatory to register your pool or spa with us and pay the relevant registration fee. Registration forms can be obtained from any Council office or via our online registration application form.

When submitting your new pool or spa registration application form and application fee, please provide evidence of when your pool or spa was constructed. This may be in the form of a copy of the building permit, final certificate or the like.

Your application will be assessed and we will provide you with a letter acknowledging your registration, detailing your applicable barrier standard and the due date to submit your next certificate of pool barrier compliance.

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Owners are required to get their barrier checked by a building inspector or building surveyor registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission.

Below is a general guide to when the first certificate of pool barrier compliance is required:

Near the due date for you to submit your certificate of pool barrier compliance, you will be provided with a reminder letter with the following important information:

• Your applicable barrier standard, and
• The due date to submit your next certificate of pool barrier compliance.

You will need to engage a pool barrier inspector and provide the reminder letter, as it contains essential information for your upcoming inspection

Once your pool/spa barriers have been inspected, and deemed compliant, you will receive a certificate of barrier compliance.

You may engage any building surveyor or inspector appropriately registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission to inspect your pool barrier. Council’s Building Services Team also offer this service.

Below is a list of providers who regularly perform inspections in East Gippsland.

• East Gippsland Shire Council (All areas of East Gippsland) (03) 5153 9500; email: pools@egipps.vic.gov.au
• East Gippsland Building Permits (All areas of East Gippsland) (03) 5153 0199
• ‍B4UBuild Building Consultants (Bairnsdale to Lakes Entrance) (03) 5176 5688
• ‍Watershed Building Consultants (All areas of East Gippsland) (03) 5176 5888
• ‍Central Gippsland Inspections (All areas of East Gippsland) 0484 666 487
• ‍Smart Choice Building Permits (All areas of East Gippsland) (03) 7019 5521
• ‍Balwyn Pool Inspections (Most areas of East Gippsland) 0424 180 356
• ‍Actual Pool Inspections (Bairnsdale to Lakes Entrance, other areas on demand) 0407 999 514

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Certificate of Barrier Compliance Information - Q&A

When and how do I get my Certificate of Barrier Compliance (Form 23)?

You will receive a letter from us reminding you of the due date for your certificate of barrier compliance. You will need to engage a pool barrier inspector and provide the reminder letter, as it contains essential information for your upcoming inspection.

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What do I do when I get my Certificate of Pool Barrier Compliance (Form 23)?

Once your pool/spa barrier has been inspected and deemed compliant, you will receive the certificate of barrier compliance. If you engaged us to conduct your inspection, your certificate will be automatically updated in our register.
If you engaged a private inspector, you need to provide us with a copy of certificate of barrier compliance within 30 days of its issue date. Failure to do so may result in the certificate being deemed invalid, requiring you to pay for a replacement certificate.

If your safety barrier does not meet compliance requirements, the outcome depends on the severity of the issue.

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Minor Non-Compliance

If the defects are minor, the inspector may:

• Provide a written notice outlining required works
• Set a deadline (up to 60 days) to fix the issues
• Schedule a follow-up inspection  

You will work with the inspector to address the defects before the re-inspection.

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Re-inspection Outcomes

After the follow-up inspection:

Compliant:

• ‍‍A Certificate of Barrier Compliance (Form 23) is issued‍

Progress made but not complete:

• You may be given up to 7 additional days to finalise works  

‍Still non-compliant:

• The inspector must issue a Certificate of Barrier Non-Compliance (Form 24)  

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Immediate Non-Compliance Scenarios

An inspector may issue a Certificate of Barrier Non-Compliance (Form 24) immediately if:

• The barrier cannot be made compliant within the allowed timeframe  
• The issue involves prescribed or serious regulatory breaches
• The non-compliance poses a significant or immediate risk to life or safety  

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Action on Non-Compliance

When a Certificate of Barrier Non-Compliance is issued, it is lodged directly with Council.

We may then:

• Issue a Barrier Improvement Notice (typically for minor issues), or  
• Take formal enforcement action under the Building Act 1993 by issuing Notice or Order  

In addition, under Regulation 147ZJ of the Building Regulations 2018 a lodgement fee of $449.02 will be payable by the landowner to East Gippsland Shire Council.

According to Regulation 147Z of the Building Regulations 2018, we may extend time for an owner to lodge a Certificate of Pool and Spa Barrier Compliance where we are satisfied that a valid reason exists and the owner has made a request for an extension.

We may consider an extension where one or more of the following applies:

• The owner has a reasonable excuse for not being able to lodge the certificate by the due date.
• The owner has arranged for a registered swimming pool and spa inspector to inspect the barrier.
• The owner has arranged building work to rectify non-compliances identified in a Certificate of Barrier Non-Compliance or in a written notice issued by an inspector.
• Building work being carried out on the land means it would not be appropriate to inspect the barrier at that time.
• A building notice, building order or emergency order under Part 8 of the Building Act has been issued in relation to the swimming pool or spa barrier.

We must assess each application having regard to its individual circumstances.

The provision of the information outlined above does not guarantee that an extension of time will be granted.

We may request further information before completing its assessment.

This is a step-by-step guide to explain what you need to do to :

• Decommission your pool or spa
• De-register your pool or spa

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I want to decommission or remove my pool or spa. What do I need to do?

You must complete and sign a Pool or Spa Deregistration form and attach photographic evidence verifying removal.

There is no fee to be paid for removal or decommissioning of your pool or spa, and there is also no refund available of any previous fees paid to us for a registration.

You will have to satisfy us that the pool or spa has been satisfactorily decommissioned or removed. This may require a Council inspection that will be organised at a mutually convenient time.

Once a pool or spa is proven to be decommissioned or removed, we will then remove the pool or spa from the register and notify the property owner in writing.

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How do I decommission my pool or spa?

We must consider what method of decommissioning of the pool or spa they would expect an owner to demonstrate, such as:

Above-ground swimming pools and spas - Complete dismantling of the above-ground pool, or at least the removal of the pool liner, access ladder and filtration system and ensuring the remaining components cannot hold water to a depth of more than 300mm.

In-ground swimming pools - Such pools can either be left in situ and buried or made incapable of holding water to a depth of more than 300mm.

The process can include the following steps:

1. Cut at least two holes at least 500mm x 500mm in the deep end of the swimming pool (or as determined by an engineer taking site conditions into account).
2. Remove debris from cutouts.
3. Remove the filtration system and access ladders.
4. Remove the filtration system and access ladders. Fill the swimming pool excavation with appropriate fill material (compacted in layers), with a maximum depth of 300mm (or as determined by an engineer taking site conditions into account). Consideration can also be given to cutting down the side walls.

Please contact the Building Department if you require technical assistance in decommissioning your pool or spa.

The 2011 National Drowning Report shows that 43 per cent of all drowning deaths among children aged 0-4 years old occurred in swimming pools. Regulation compliant barriers are essential for all swimming pools. Barriers prevent young children from entering a swimming pool unsupervised.

From May 2011, changes to Australian Standards require all pool/spa barriers to be separate from the house and boundary fencing. All pool owners are to ensure their barriers are correctly maintained. These laws were further enhanced in 2019 to require pools and spas to be registered and compliance certificates issued every four years.

Things you need to know when planning to erect or already own a swimming pool or spa:

• All swimming pools and spas capable of holding more than 300mm of water, must have a safety barrier (this includes inflatable or portable pools).
• A building permit must be obtained for a safety barrier from a private building surveyor.
• Engage a registered building practitioner to carry out the building work if the value of works exceeds $5,000 (including labour and materials).
• Pools must not be filled with water until the relevant building surveyor has certified that the barrier is compliant and issues a certificate of final inspection.
• Pools and spas must have self-closing and latching gates that swing away from the pool area.
• Access from the dwelling is not permitted directly into the pool area via external doors.
• Maintain the barrier and ensure that gates are regularly checked that they self close and latch.
• Maintain a no-climb zone by keeping plant pots, ornaments, furniture or other climbable objects well away from both the inside and outside of the barrier.

For more information about the new State Government legislation, please visit the Building and Plumbing Commission.