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Backyard Swimming Pools

 

Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death in very young children who lack the cognitive and water skills to deal with the danger.

 

With over 300,000 backyard swimming pools in NSW, swimming pool safety is a vital issue that affects the whole community.

 

In 2012, a comprehensive review of the Swimming Pools Act 1992 was finalised. This review identified a number of amendments designed to enhance the safety of children under the age of five years around private (‘backyard’) swimming pools in NSW.

 

The Swimming Pools (Amendment) Act 2012

• NSW Swimming Pools Register available for use by 29 April 2013
• NSW Swimming pools to be registered by owners by 29 October 2013
• Pool owners require a compliance certificate before sale or lease of their property from 29 April 2014 

 

The Swimming Pools Amendment Act 2012 commenced on 29 October 2012 and makes a number of amendments to the Swimming Pools Act 1992: Information is provided below regarding the impact of these legislative amendments for pool owners and councils. Additional information about the staged implementation provisions is also provided below.

 

Pool Owners:

• Swimming pool owners are required to register their swimming pools on an online register to be provided by the NSW State Government.
• Swimming Pool owners will be required to self-assess, and state in the register that, to the best of their knowledge, their swimming pool complies with the applicable standard when registering their pool.
• There is a penalty for owners who fail to register a swimming pool (penalty notice amount of $220).
• Swimming pool owners will be required to provide a valid swimming pool compliance certificate before being able to sell or lease a property with a pool.
• Accredited certifiers under the Building Professional Act 2005 may conduct swimming pool inspections initiated by the pool owner.

 

Councils:

• Councils are required to:
  • develop and implement a swimming pool barrier inspection program in consultation with their communities
  • report annually on the number of pool inspections undertaken and the level of compliance with the requirements
  • inspect pools associated with tourist and visitor accommodation and multi-occupancy developments at three year intervals
  • at the request of a pool owner, inspect pools prior to sale or lease
  • issue compliance certificates after an inspection which finds a pool barrier compliant with the requirements of the legislation. Compliance certificates are valid for three years.
• A swimming pool subject to an occupation certificate is exempt from an inspection program for three years from the date of issue of the occupation certificate.
• Councils may inspect any swimming pool that is the subject of a complaint to the council.
• Council powers of entry will be consistent with the Local Government Act 1993.
• Councils may charge a fee for each inspection undertaken (up to a maximum of $150 for the first inspection and $100 for one re-inspection resulting from the first inspection). 

 

Staged implementation provisions:

The Act includes a staged implementation process to facilitate:

• the development and implementation of the Swimming Pools Register (to commence by no later than 29 April 2013)
• registration by pool owners of pools (after the register commences and by no later than 29 October 2013)
• councils’ inspection programs (to be developed in consultation with the community, adopted and commenced by no later than 29 October 2013)
• mandatory inspections by councils of tourist, visitor and multi-occupancy developments, and pools associated with property sale and lease (to commence by no later than 29 April 2014).

 

Further information will be available as the legislative amendments are implemented.

To check if a pool meets legislative requirements, pool owners and occupiers should contact their local council in the first instance.

 

Safety Information

Home pool safety information for pool owners and occupiers is available in the Division's Swimming Pool Laws brochure and Home Swimming Pool Safety Checklist.

 

The brochure and checklist are now available in 15 community languages. To download a brochure or checklist in another language click here Swimming pool safety information in 15 community languages.

 

Importance of supervision, pool barrier maintenance and CPR

It is important to remember that while fencing may assist in reducing drownings in backyard pools, the most effective way to prevent drownings is for children to be adequately supervised by a parent or other responsible adult.

 

Research on child drownings in backyard swimming pools indicates that the most common contributing factors are inadequately fenced pools and human error (for example, people leaving the gate open, or fences not being maintained in good condition).

 

People choosing to have a pool have a responsibility to ensure that pool safety barrier(s) and gate(s) are installed, operated and maintained to the Australian Standard referred to in the Regulation.

 

It is also important that parents and others responsible for supervising children know how to administer Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).

 

The Royal Life Saving Society of NSW and Surf Life Saving NSW conduct CPR courses. All supervising adults are encouraged to undertake CPR training.

 

Further information for councils is available in the Directory of Policy Advice for Councils under ‘Swimming pools (backyard)’.

 

Useful Links:

• Children's Hospital at Westmead - provides a Protect your Pool, Protect your Kids video produced by the Children's Hospital at Westmead which visually demonstrates the basic pool fencing requirements in the Swimming Pools Act and provides other key water safety messages. This website also contains other resources on pool safety.

 

• http://www.chw.edu.au/kidshealth/pool_fencing/Safewaters - provides further information on fencing backyard pools, frequently asked questions, information in community languages, and a checklists for pool owners.   http://www.safewaters.nsw.gov.au/fencepools.htm

 

• Swimsafe - Department of Arts, Sport and Recreation information regarding the availability of swimming lessons.   http://www.dsr.nsw.gov.au/swimsafe/index.asp

 

• Keep Watch – Royal Life Saving Society information including a checklist, fact sheets and other resources    http://www.homepoolsafety.com.au

 

The Swimming Pools Act

In NSW, private or ‘backyard’ swimming pool safety is legislated by the Swimming Pools Act 1992 (the Act) and the Swimming Pools Regulation 2008 (the Regulation). The legislation also applies to moveable dwellings, hotels and motels.

 

The Swimming Pools Act 1992 prescribes the fencing requirements of backyard swimming pools in NSW. Some other safety requirements are prescribed including the requirement for a CPR sign to be displayed near the pool.

 

The Swimming Pools Regulation

The Swimming Pools Regulation 2008 was re-made on 1 September 2008. It calls up AS1926.1-2007 Swimming Pool Safety, Part 1: Safety barriers for swimming pools, which includes new requirements for non-climbable zones, mesh sizes for fences, retaining walls that form part of a barrier and balconies that project into the pool area.

 

On 1 May 2011 the Swimming Pools Regulation was amended to replace certain references to the Australian Standard 1926.1-2007 Part 1: Safety barriers for swimming pools (the standard) with references to the Building Code of Australia (BCA). The BCA in turn will refer to the Standard.

 

The Regulation also requires that councils and the Division have the following documentation available for public inspection at no cost:

• Guideline 8 Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation - This Guideline is available at the Australian Resuscitation Council website at www.resus.org.au. By registering at the website visitors can access and print the guideline free of charge. Councils and others should consider subscribing as this will allow them to access an extensive range of related material.

 

• AS1926.1-2007, Australian Standard Swimming Pool Safety Part 1: Safety barriers for swimming pools - This Standard (as amended 5 May 2008) is available for purchase at www.saiglobal.com.

 

• Building Code of Australia - the Division and councils are required to make available a copy of the BCA for free public inspection.

 

The Australian Standard

For copyright reasons, the Division cannot make copies of the Australian Standard, AS1926.1-2007 Swimming Pool Safety, Part 1: Safety barriers for swimming pools, available to councils or other persons or bodies.

 

It is important to note that the maximum requirement of the clause as it relates to the Standard is that the Division and councils allow members of the public to attend any of their respective offices, libraries or outlets to look at (but not print or take any copy away of) the Standard during ordinary business hours.

 

If any body or agency exceeds this maximum standard, this may raise serious copyright implications for that agency or body.

 

If councils or others wish to allow public inspection of the Standard in any way other than by personal inspection at offices, branches or outlets, they must first contact SAI Global’s copyright section for further information to ensure that copyright of the Standard is not breached. SAI Global may be contacted on (02) 82066355.

 

The Regulation refers to AS1926.1-2007 as published on 12 July 2007 as the relevant Standard. The 5 May 2008 version may be used for reference purposes as it corrects typographical errors and makes minor clarification to the 12 July 2007 version of the Standard.

 

Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2010

Amendments made to the Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2010 mean that from 1 September 2010 contracts for the sale of land must include a warning in relation to a land owner's obligations under the Swimming Pools Act 1992 which states that:

 

"An owner of a property on which a swimming pool is situated must ensure that the pool complies with the requirements of the Swimming Pools Act 1992. Penalties apply. Before purchasing a property on which a swimming pool is situated, a purchaser is strongly advised to ensure that the swimming pool complies with the requirements of that Act."

 

Residential Tenancies Act 2010

Section 52 of the Residential Tenancies Act provides that a landlord must comply with a landlord’s statutory obligations relating to the health or safety of the residential premises. Section 52 includes the following note:

 

“Note. Such obligations include obligations relating to swimming pools under the Swimming Pools Act 1992.”

 

This note makes it explicit that, in accordance with the Swimming Pools Act, a landlord must ensure that a swimming pool situated on a tenanted premises must be at all times surrounded by a child-resistant barrier that separates it from any residential building on the premises and from any public or private place adjoining the premises.

 

The barrier must be designed, constructed, installed and maintained to the standards prescribed in the swimming pools legislation applicable at the time the pool was constructed or installed, unless it has been substantially altered. In this case, the standard applicable at the time the barrier was altered applies.

 

 Landlords should contact their local council in relation to the appropriate barrier standard that applies to their rental property pool.

 

Tenants are urged to notify landlords immediately of any damage they detect to any barrier surrounding a pool on a residential property that they are renting.

Tenants are also reminded that section 64 of the Act enables tenants to carry out urgent repairs and be reimbursed up to $1,000 for any fault or damage that causes the premises to be unsafe under certain circumstances, including if the landlord or agent cannot be contacted or does not carry out urgent repairs within a reasonable time.

 

Last Updated Wednesday, 14 November 2012

 

Source  :  http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/PublicTopicsIndex.asp?mi=0&ml=10&id=12

 

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