You are selling, the pool has no certificate of occupancy, and you have somewhere between three weeks and three months. This is a decision about money and time, so let us treat it that way.
Option one: disclose and discount
You proceed to market, the issue is disclosed, and the price absorbs it.
In its favour: no delay, no outlay, and the sale runs on your original timetable.
Against it: you are asking a buyer to price an unknown, and buyers price unknowns pessimistically. They do not know whether resolving it costs $8,000 or $40,000, so they assume the top of the range and add a margin for the inconvenience. Financing can also become an obstacle — a lender or insurer taking a conservative view of unauthorised building work can end a contract that was otherwise sound.
The discount a nervous purchaser applies to an unquantified problem is routinely larger than the cost of quantifying it.
Option two: quantify it, then decide
This is the option most vendors skip, and it is usually the best value.
Before you list, or in parallel with early marketing, get the file reviewed and the pool assessed, and obtain a detailed written quote for the retrospective approval. You now have a number.
With a number in hand you can do things you could not do before: adjust the price by a known amount rather than a feared one, offer to complete the work before settlement, offer an adjustment at settlement with a quote attached, or simply decide to do the work because it turned out to be smaller than expected. Buyers respond very differently to a documented $9,500 scope than to “there is a problem with the pool.”
Cost: the assessment and quote. Time: usually days, not weeks.
Option three: fix it first
You complete the retrospective approval, obtain the certificate of occupancy, get the barrier certified, and list with clean paperwork.
In its favour: the strongest position available. No disclosure conversation, no buyer discount, no financing wobble, no risk of a contract collapsing late. For a property where the pool is a selling feature, this also lets you market it as one.
Against it: it takes time and the money goes out before the money comes in. How much time depends entirely on what is missing — a pool needing only a final inspection is quick; a pool needing plans, engineering, electrical remediation and a survey is not.
How to choose
| Your situation | Usually the right move |
|---|---|
| Not yet listed, no hard deadline | Fix it first |
| Listed, no contract yet | Quantify it now, decide with the number in hand |
| Under contract, settlement close | Quantify immediately; negotiate with a real quote |
| Deceased estate or forced sale | Quantify, disclose, price it — speed usually wins |
What not to do. Do not hope nobody asks. Pool paperwork is now a standard conveyancing enquiry in the ACT, and the pool safety reforms have made it more standard, not less. A problem found by the buyer’s side mid-contract costs you far more than the same problem disclosed on your own terms.
The agent’s perspective
If you are an agent reading this: ask two questions at appraisal on any property with a pool. When was the pool built, and is there a certificate of occupancy for it. Thirty seconds of asking saves a renegotiation later, and a vendor who hears it from you at appraisal is grateful, while a vendor who hears it from a buyer’s solicitor at week five is not.
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.
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