Planning to have a pool on your property?

Drowning is a major cause of accidental death of children in New Zealand.

All residential pools (including small heated pools such as spa pools or hot tubs) are required by law to have physical barriers that restrict access, to keep unsupervised young children safe around them.

Pool barriers must comply with the pool safety provisions enacted by the Building Act 2004. Watch our video below to learn the key safety tips for your home pool:

Take a look at MBIE's website for more information.

Installing or fencing a pool

Before you can construct or install a pool or a pool fence you'll need a building consent from Council.

Before you apply for a building consent, make sure you notify us of your intention to construct or install a pool and/or a pool fence.

When you apply for a building consent, you’ll need to provide:

• a completed application form (PDF 511 kb)
• plans of the pool location and fence location
• the construction and installation details
• a copy of your property’s Certificate of Title.

Pool inspections

To ensure the safety of young people, you must make sure that your pool barriers get inspected at least once every three years. This does not apply to small heated pools (eg. spa pools) when their access is restricted by a cover instead of a fence.

Council will send you an inspection reminder once every three years. Once you receive a reminder, you can choose to have the inspection performed by either an Independently Qualified Pool Inspector (IQPI) or Council's Swimming Pool Officer.

You can also request for an inspection to be undertaken at any time on your pool area, to assess its compliance with the pool safety legislation.

Before any inspection, we recommend you refer to the following two documents:

• How to fence your pool (PDF 43 kb)
• Pool checklist (PDF 137 kb)

Independently Qualified Pool Inspector (IQPI) inspections

IQPIs are administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

To book a pool inspection by an IQPI, please see MBIE’s pool inspector public register.

Council inspections

You can request an inspection through our online form or by calling us on 04 570 6754 between 8am - 5pm, Monday to Friday. If you have any enquiries, please get in touch.

Existing pools

Our swimming pool officer undertakes three-yearly inspections of existing pools to ensure access is adequately restricted by barriers complying with the Building Act.

Council charges the pool owner part of the inspection cost, rather than burden the ratepayer with the full cost. Check out our fees.

New pools

For new pools, we inspect the pool and fence as part of the building consent process. Our swimming pool officer must inspect and approve the pool fence before we issue a Code Compliance Certificate (CCC).