How an 1800mm high Pool Barrier can help with Compliance

You may be surprised to learn that not all pool enclosures are found to be Compliant.  Some pool enclosures may have been compliant at one time but changes may have been made that have created Non Compliances.  A part of the role of a Registered Swimming Pool Inspector is to provide the pool owner with assistance to comply as well as determine which modifications will be required.     

Let’s talk about the 1800mm high Pool Barrier and how this may be utilised to solve certain Non Compliances.  In this example the pool enclosure is formed by 3 sides pool barrier and one side boundary fencing. Within the narrow block, a pathway led to a covered area with separate structure to the rear of the block. 

At some point the pool filter equipment was housed within a structure that intrudes into NCZ2, the 900mm Non Climbable Zone of the left pool barrier.  A typical resolution would be either move the fencing further from the structure or move the structure away from the Non Climbable Zone. However neither of these options were feasible.  The solution was a section of 1800mm high fencing.  This height of pool barrier has no Non Climbable Zones but like the 1200mm high pool barrier, any steps, retaining walls, objects or level changes that would otherwise reduce the height of a barrier shall not be located within 500mm of the barrier.  Fortunately there was 500mm clearance.

A similar resolution was applied to the front pool barrier when a large outdoor kitchen was located within NCZ 2; also the 500mm Zone was found to be breached.  To retain the outdoor kitchen on the veranda, the pool barrier height was extended to terminate under the eaves of the veranda.  By increasing the fence height in this way, the barrier is no longer scalable.