This is the most common question we get from agents and property managers, and the answer matters, because choosing the wrong one either wastes money or leaves an obligation unmet.
The short version
| Compliance certificate | Disclosure statement | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Certifies the pool barrier against the prescribed safety standard | Discloses the pool’s age and its status against that standard |
| Who issues it | An authorised person | Prepared from what is reasonably within the owner’s knowledge, commonly with an inspection behind it |
| Satisfies disclosure on sale or lease | Yes | Yes, until 30 April 2028 |
| Satisfies the 2028 certification obligation | Yes | No |
What the law asks of you when you sell or lease
During the transition period — from 1 May 2024 until 30 April 2028 — an owner selling or leasing a property with a regulated pool or spa has to do two things. First, provide the guidance material issued by the Minister about the obligations that attach to premises with a regulated pool. Second, provide at least one of the following:
- a disclosure statement recording the age of the pool and its status against the prescribed safety standard, so far as that is reasonably within the owner’s knowledge;
- a compliance certificate;
- an exemption certificate; or
- a certificate of occupancy covering the pool and its safety barrier, no more than five years old.
From 1 May 2028 the disclosure statement drops off that list. After then, a sale or lease needs a compliance certificate, an exemption certificate, or a statutory declaration covering a circumstance where compliance isn’t required.
When a disclosure statement is the sensible choice
A disclosure statement is a transaction tool. It suits the situation where a property has to go to market, or a tenant has to move in, before the barrier can realistically be brought up to standard.
Say a rental property changes tenants in three weeks and the barrier has eight non-compliances, including a boundary fence section that needs rebuilding. Certification isn’t going to happen in three weeks. A disclosure statement documents exactly what the issues are, the incoming tenant knows what they are moving into, and the owner has met the obligation while the rectification work is organised properly rather than in a panic.
What it doesn’t do. A disclosure statement does not make a non-compliant barrier compliant, and it does not extend the 2028 deadline. For a pool built before 1 May 2013, the certificate is still coming. Treat the disclosure statement as a bridge, not a destination.
When to go straight to the certificate
If the pool is reasonably modern, or the barrier looks in good order, skip the intermediate step. The price difference is small, the inspection is largely the same work, and a certificate closes the matter out until 2032 rather than reopening it at the next lease renewal.
It is also the stronger position in a sale. A buyer reading a disclosure statement listing eight defects is a buyer with a reason to renegotiate. A buyer handed a current compliance certificate has one less thing to think about — and pool compliance is one of the few items in a Canberra contract that can be resolved with certainty before listing.
A note for agents and property managers
The safest habit is to ask two questions when a listing with a pool comes in: when was the pool built, and is there a certificate. If the answer to the first is “before 2013” and the second is “no”, the vendor has an obligation with a date on it, and you have a conversation worth having early rather than during a cooling-off period.
Need this sorted for a specific property?
Fixed-fee inspections across the ACT and surrounding NSW. Certificate $395, disclosure statement $350. Free advice on the phone if you’re not sure which you need.
Book an Inspection 0456 676 683