Safe Pools · Compliant Properties · Peace of Mind
Every ACT pool built before 1 May 2013 needs a compliance certificate before 1 May 2028. We inspect the barrier, tell you exactly where it stands, and issue the certificate — fixed fee, no reinspection charge, lodgement handled.
Fixed fee · same business day reply
No hourly rates and no travel charges inside the ACT. You know what it costs before we arrive.
$395 FIXED
$350 FIXED
$395 FIXED
Unapproved pools
If your pool never had its final inspection — the builder walked away, the paperwork stalled, or you have been directed by the ACT Government — the pool is unapproved and you generally cannot sell the property until that is fixed.
We run the entire retrospective approval as one managed package: building certifier, structural engineering, electrical sign-off, surveyor where the siting requires it, plans drawn up, barrier brought to standard, and the whole submission taken through to the ACT Government. You do not chase a single trade or lodge a single form.
The ACT reforms started on 1 May 2024 with a four-year window to get older pools certified. Every pool built, altered or installed before 1 May 2013 has to hold a compliance certificate before 1 May 2028, lodged with the Government within 30 days of issue.
Most barriers need at least one thing changed — a latch, a rail, a gap under a gate, a garden bed against the fence. That takes time to organise. Leaving it until 2027 means competing with every other pool owner in Canberra for inspectors and fencing contractors at once.
Getting it done now also means a certificate obtained during the transition period runs through to 30 April 2032, rather than five years from a later date.
What we measure
Three numbers decide most inspections: the barrier has to stand 1200mm above finished ground level, the gap underneath cannot exceed 100mm, and a 900mm arc struck from the top of the barrier has to be clear of anything a child could climb.
Every item we raise is written up with the clause it comes from and a plain description of what would fix it, so you can hand the report straight to a fencing contractor.
A barrier inspection is a measurement job, not an opinion. These are the items we work through on site, in the order the standard sets them out.
Every item we raise is written up with the clause it comes from and a plain description of what would fix it, so you can hand the report straight to a fencing contractor.
Call or send the form. We confirm the fixed price and a time, and tell you what needs to be accessible on the day.
45 to 90 minutes. We measure the barrier, gates, doors and zones, and give you the result before we leave.
You get a written notice with every item and a period to fix it. Photos of completed work are often enough to verify.
The certificate is issued and lodged with the ACT Government within the 30 days the legislation allows.
Our commitment
You are paying to know exactly where your barrier stands and what it takes to fix it. Most older Canberra barriers need something done, and that is normal, not a penalty.
If your barrier complies, the certificate is issued and lodged with the ACT Government for you. If it doesn’t, you get a written notice listing every item with the clause behind it, a realistic period to rectify, and the first reinspection at no extra charge. Photographs of completed work are often enough, which saves you a second appointment.
A regional finalist in the SPASA Awards for Pool Safety Barrier Inspector of the Year — recognition from the Swimming Pool & Spa Association, the industry’s own peak body, for the way this work gets done and not simply that it gets done. It is the same standard of work behind every fixed-fee inspection on this site.
Inspections carried out by Jason Huntly, Authorised Person SP0017, under Part 5A of the Building Act 2004 (ACT) against AS 1926.1–2012.
NSW runs a separate scheme under the Swimming Pools Act 1992: pools have to be on the NSW Swimming Pool Register, and a certificate of compliance is required before a property with a pool is sold or leased.
If you own on the NSW side, or you manage properties either side of the border, you can use one inspector for both. Same fixed fee, same turnaround, and a report that references the right legislation for the right property.
Inspected to AS 1926.1–2012 · Canberra and surrounding NSW
The standard is written in millimetres. Here is what those millimetres mean on the ground, in Canberra yards we have inspected.
Frameless glass, a Colorbond boundary and a raised garden wall all meeting in one yard. Each is assessed differently, and the corners where they intersect are where the extended zones apply.
We release this gate from three positions — barely ajar, halfway, and fully open — then lift it and push down on it. A gate that has dropped 5mm on its hinges will often unlatch when lifted.
A boundary fence doing barrier duty needs 1800mm, measured from the pool side, and the zone applies on the pool side. Ground levels on both sides of the fence decide whether it makes the height.
Heat pumps, filters and pumps end up against the fence because that is where the plumbing runs. Moving one is a plumbing and electrical job, which is exactly why it pays to know early.
Branch structure near a barrier can absolutely be climbable, and foliage is the single most discussed item on site. It is worth a conversation before anyone books a tree surgeon.
A CPR chart mounted where it can be read from the pool area. Mandatory in NSW, sensible everywhere, and one of the cheapest things on any list we hand over.
If your pool or spa can hold water deeper than 300mm, is on a property with a residence, and was built, altered or installed before 1 May 2013, then yes — you need a compliance certificate before 1 May 2028, and it has to be lodged with the ACT Government within 30 days of being issued.
Pools built on or after 1 May 2013 don’t have to be certified by that date, but you will need a certificate the next time you sell or lease. A certificate of occupancy covering the pool and its barrier can be used instead if it’s less than five years old.
This is the normal outcome, not a disaster — most older Canberra barriers need something done. You get a written notice setting out exactly what has to change and how long you have to do it. You fix the items, we verify the work, and the certificate is issued then. There is no extra inspection fee for the first reinspection.
Between 45 and 90 minutes on site for a typical suburban pool, longer if there are multiple barriers, retaining walls or a spa as well. We walk the whole barrier with you, measure everything, and tell you the result before we leave. The written report follows within 24 hours.
Yes. A spa that holds water deeper than 300mm is treated the same as a pool. There are limited exceptions — for example a spa with a compliant lockable child-resistant cover, or one on an apartment balcony where self-closing, self-latching doors restrict access. We’ll tell you on the phone whether yours is likely to qualify.
Until 30 April 2028 it can be, and it is often the faster path to settlement. A disclosure statement records the age of the pool and its status against the safety standard, along with the Minister’s guidance material, so you meet your obligation to the buyer or tenant. What it doesn’t do is certify the pool — the certificate is still required before 1 May 2028.
Measured as an arc from the top of the barrier on the outside, nothing within 900mm can give a child a handhold or a foothold. In real yards that usually means moving the pot plants, the pool pump housing, the woodpile, the trampoline or the bin off the fence line, and sometimes removing a horizontal rail or a garden bed edge. It is the single most common reason an otherwise good fence doesn’t pass.
Yes. Queanbeyan, Jerrabomberra, Googong, Bungendore, Murrumbateman, Yass and the surrounding area. NSW works under different legislation — the Swimming Pools Act 1992 — with its own register and certificate, and we handle that process too.
Usually we can be there within a few days, and we hold slots for settlement deadlines. If you have a date you have to hit, say so when you call and we’ll work backwards from it.
Two minutes on the phone is usually enough to work out whether you need a certificate now, a disclosure statement for a settlement, or nothing at all yet. The advice is free.
Call 0456 676 683Fixed fee, a clear result on the day, and the paperwork handled. Free advice on the phone if you are not sure which document you need.
We answer enquiries the same business day. If you have a settlement or a tenant moving in, tell us the date and we’ll work to it.
