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Swimming pools and spas

If you have a pool or spa in Victoria, you must make sure it is registered, inspected and compliant.

Aerial of boy swimming in a pool

Victorian Government law requires for you to register your swimming pool or spa with your local council. This is to improve swimming pool and spa barrier safety and prevent children from drowning. The rules apply regardless of whether young children live at the property or visit the property.

You must register your new pool and/or spa with us within 30 days of completion. If you have purchased a property with a pool or spa, you can check with us if the pool or spa is already registered. 

Every 4 years you must engage a Pool Barrier Safety Inspector as an independent check of your pool / spa barrier. They will provide you with a Form 23 Compliance Certificate which must then be lodged with Council.

It is the pool or spa owner’s responsibility to always maintain the safety barrier’s effective operation, ensuring that the gate is self-latching and self-closing. Gates to pool and spa safety barriers must remain closed except when entering and exiting the pool or spa.

Where you are renting and want to put up a portable pool in the backyard you should notify your landlord (or agent) as soon as possible.  The landlord (or owner) is required to register the relocatable pool with Council on or before the fourth day after erecting the pool. The portable pool or spa must be located within a compliant safety barrier fence. The landlord must also lodge a certificate of barrier compliance with Council within 30 days of the registration date.

To check your registration status please email [email protected] providing:

  • your name
  • the property address where the pool/spa is located
  • your contact number.

In Victoria, the design, construction and installation of swimming pools, spas and safety barriers are subject to strict requirements under the Building Regulations 2018.

Under the Regulations, swimming pools, spas and safety barriers must be:

  • constructed by a builder registered in an appropriate category or class, or an owner-builder who has an owner-builder certificate of consent
  • have self-latching and self-closing gates
  • comply with AS1926.1-2012.

Property owners and occupants are responsible for making sure pool barriers are maintained, repaired and kept in working order. A new outdoor pool or spa area must not be directly accessible via a building.

All pools and spas capable of holding more than 30 cm of water must have a compliant safety barrier. This applies to all construction types including:

  • permanent pools
  • in-ground pools
  • above-ground pools
  • indoor pools
  • hot tubs
  • bathing and wading pools
  • relocatable and inflatable pools and spas.

Baths and indoor spa baths used for personal hygiene and emptied after each use are exempt from these conditions.

Relocatable (moveable or portable) pools and spas on land that you own must be registered if they are erected for three or more consecutive days. You must apply for the registration on or before the fourth day.

If your relocatable pool or spa is in place for a period less than three consecutive days, you do not need to apply for registration, but you do need a compliant safety barrier fence.

Statistics

Number of Pools and Spas RegisteredNumber of Pools and Spas with a current Compliance CertificateNumber of known unregistered Pools and Spas
 88567955 (89.8%)78
Figures as at 1 June 2026   
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