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Building Act 2004

Building - Special provisions for residential pools

162D: Periodic inspections of residential pools

You could also call this:

“The council checks home pools every three years to ensure they are safe.”

You have a pool at home and the council needs to check it. The council must check your pool every three years to see if it is safe. They check if your pool has barriers that meet the requirements of section 162C.

If you have a small heated pool, it might not need to be checked. This is if it has a safety cover that meets the building code. The building code is a set of rules that buildings must follow.

You can get an independently qualified pool inspector to check your pool. The council might accept their report instead of doing their own check. If the inspector thinks your pool is not safe, they must tell the council.

The council has to keep track of when your pool was built or installed. This date is called the anniversary date. It is used to decide when the council should check your pool. The anniversary date is the date when your pool was finished being built, or when the council found out about it.

A certificate of periodic inspection is a document that says your pool is safe. It is issued by an independently qualified pool inspector. The inspector checks if your pool meets the requirements of section 162C. They then give you a certificate to prove it.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7084103.

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162C: Residential pools must have means of restricting access, or

"Pools at home must have a fence to keep young children safe."

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162E: Manufacturers and retailers must supply notice, or

"People who make or sell swimming products must give buyers a note about pool safety rules."

Part 2 Building
Special provisions for residential pools

162DPeriodic inspections of residential pools

  1. Every territorial authority must ensure that the following residential pools within its jurisdiction are inspected at least once every 3 years, within 6 months before or after the pool’s anniversary date, to determine whether the pool has barriers that comply with the requirements of section 162C:

  2. residential pools other than small heated pools:
    1. small heated pools, except for small heated pools with a safety cover that—
      1. complied with the building code when the cover was installed; or
        1. complies with the building code, as it currently provides.

        2. A territorial authority may accept a certificate of periodic inspection from an independently qualified pool inspector for the purpose of subsection (1) in lieu of carrying out an inspection under section 222.

        3. If a territorial authority decides not to accept a certificate of periodic inspection from an independently qualified pool inspector under subsection (2), the territorial authority must, within 7 working days of making that decision, give notice to the chief executive of the decision and the reasons for the decision.

        4. If an independently qualified pool inspector inspects a pool for the purpose of this section and decides that the pool does not have barriers that comply with the requirements of section 162C (subject to any waiver or modification granted under section 67A or 188), the inspector must, within 3 working days of the date of inspection, give written notice to the relevant territorial authority of the decision, attaching any information that the chief executive requires to accompany the notice.

        5. In this section,—

          anniversary date, in relation to a pool, means—

          1. the date of issue of the code compliance certificate or the certificate of acceptance in respect of the pool; or
            1. in the case of a pool that did not require a building consent,—
              1. the date on which notice was given under section 7 of the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987; or
                1. if subparagraph (i) does not apply, the date on which the existence of the pool came to the knowledge of the territorial authority

                certificate of periodic inspection means a certificate that—

                1. is issued by an independently qualified pool inspector; and
                  1. is in the prescribed form (if any); and
                    1. certifies that a pool has barriers that comply with the requirements of section 162C (subject to any waiver or modification granted under section 67A or 188).

                    Notes
                    • Section 162D: inserted, on , by section 10 of the Building (Pools) Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 71).
                    • Section 162D(1)(b): replaced, on , by section 23 of the Building (Earthquake-prone Building Deadlines and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2024 (2024 No 49).