Pool Safety - Part 4: Fences & Gates

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Pools & spas are great fun and very tempting for curious children. Every pool & spa must have a barrier and every child must be supervised.

Pool Safety fences and gates

Pool and spa fences and barriers are required by legislation for any swimming pool or spa in excess of 300mm (30cm) in depth and must be maintained for the life of the pool or spa, this includes keeping the area around the safety barrier free from climbable objects or plants that can be used to gain access to the pool area.

The key elements of the relevant Australian Standards are designed to restrict access by unsupervised young children, especially those under 5 years of age, to the swimming pool area.

It only takes a few minutes for pool owners to check that their pool fences and gates, including latches and hinges, are in good working order. This simple routine done regularly could save the life of a child.

Below are some simple and cost-effective ways to make your pool safer and help you comply with the pool safety standard laws.

*IMPORTANT: This is general safety information, Please make sure you are compliant with your local council and State govt. regulations.

SAFETY BARRIERS

  • Essentially, a safety barrier can be made of any material that has a reasonable life span when exposed to the likely conditions of weather, pool chemicals, pollution, decay, insects, salt water spray, impacts, etc.

  • Safety barriers must have an effective perpendicular minimum height of 1.2 metres.

  • Existing boundary fences can be used as a safety barrier provided that they are well maintained, at least 1800mm high measured on the inside of the barrier to a solid finished surface and have no climbable elements within 900mm measured from the top of the inside of the fence.

GATES

  • These must open outward only (away from the pool area) and have an effective perpendicular minimum height of 1.2 metres.

  • They must return to the closed position and engage the latch automatically from any position and not re-open without using the manual release mechanism.

  • The latch release must be at least 1.5 metres above ground level unless it

    • (i) is inside the fence

    • (ii) can only be reached over or through a fence higher than 1.2 metres or

    • (iii) is 300mm below the fence top (no hand hole) or at least 150mm away from the edge of any hand hole opening.

  • Latch releases less than 1.5 metres above ground level must be shielded so that no opening greater than 10mm is closer than 450mm.

  • Any hand hole shall be at least 1.2 metres above ground level.

GATE SAFETY CHECKLIST

  • Ensure that the gate doesn't swing inwards towards the pool area

  • Install a striker or latch to make the gate self-latching

  • Ensure the gate is self-closing and self-latching from any position without the use of a manual force

  • Adjust the self-closing mechanism or replace the hinges to make the gate self-closing

  • Oil the hinges if the gate is not closing properly

  • Ensure the gate is regularly maintained

GARDEN BEDS & GROUND LEVELS SAFETY CHECKLIST

  • Remove surrounding garden beds from the fence

  • Reduce the height of surrounding ground levels and garden beds

  • Raise the barrier height to at least 1200 millimetres above the finished ground level (permanent stable surface).

WALLS

  • External walls of a building can be used as swimming pool barriers so long as they do not contain any doors opening into the pool area and windows are treated to prevent access to the pool area.

CLIMBABLE OBJECTS SAFETY CHECKLIST

  • Shield any climbable objects with a non-climbable material such as flat polycarbonate sheeting, vertical palings or a ‘fillet’ that has an angle of 60 degrees or more

  • Trim any branches within 900 millimetres of the pool barrier – if there are branches overhanging from an adjacent property, you may need to negotiate with your neighbour to remove them

  • If vertical gaps are more than 10mm, fix a timber wedge fillet (minimum 60 degree angle) along the horizontal rails within the 900 millimetre non-climbable zone

  • Shield any lattice or other climbable material within the non-climbable zone with a non-climbable material such as flat polycarbonate sheeting or vertical palings

  • Trim any climbable vegetation away from the barrier

  • Remove all climbable objects within the 900 millimetres non-climbable zone

DOORS & WINDOWS

  • Doors from a dwelling are prohibited from opening into a swimming pool area. The only exception is for doors opening directly to an indoor swimming pool or spa.

  • Acceptable window fixing treatments are as follows:

  • Those totally enclosed by screw fixed security screens that can only be removed by the use of a tool

  • Those that are fixed so the window cannot open more than 100mm max

  • Those with a lowest opening panel not less than 1.8 above the ground level to the pool area

  • Those that have firm fixed metal fly-wire installed that is fixed to the building with fasteners that can only be removed by the use of a tool

A window can be part of the barrier if..

  • There is a clear drop of at least 1800mm from the sill down to the pool area, or

  • The window sill is 1200mm high on the inside with no climbable objects within 900mm

  • Otherwise, the window must be permanently fixed shut with security screens or with a permanent window chock so it can’t be opened wider than 100 mm. This ‘chock’ is not able to be removed by hand and can only be removed by way of using a tool e.g. an Allen Key.

  • A permanent flyscreen can be used if the height on the inside is more than 900mm and less than 1200mm.

  • Gaps between louvers must be no more than 100mm and louvers must be fixed in place so that they cannot be removed without the use of a tool. Glass louvers must pass strength and rigidity requirements, and thin glass may not meet standards.

  • Window locks cannot be used as they can be left unlocked.

We have a number of contacts for pool safety inspections, professional licensed fence builders as well as many gate, hinge and latch spare parts. Please contact us if you’re unsure if your pool fences & gates are up to standard.