Pool Inspections in Ballarat

A first inspection with me is from $270 +GST, and that includes your Form 23 within 48 hours if the barrier passes. If something needs fixing, a re-inspection is from $100 +GST. Any registration or lodgement fee is set by the council, so check its page for those.

Every four years. Your Form 23 is valid for four years from the date it's issued, and the council needs a new one lodged at the end of each cycle.

You get a report with photos showing exactly what failed and what to fix. Typical fixes are small things: a gate that doesn't latch, pot plants hard up against the fence, a gap where the ground has washed out under it. Fix them, then a re-inspection from $100 +GST gets you the certificate.

The barrier rules are Victorian, so Ballarat follows the same standard as the rest of the state. The fence has to be at least 1.2m high with no gap over 100mm under it. You need a 900mm non-climbable zone outside the fence and 300mm inside it. The gate has to swing away from the pool, self-close and self-latch, with the latch at least 1.5m off the ground unless it's shielded. A boundary fence that's part of the barrier needs to be 1.8m or higher. Then the council side: register the pool, and lodge a Form 23 within 30 days of issue, every four years. Which version of the standard applies depends on when your pool went in.

Start with the gate. Open it partway and let it go, then try from wide open. It has to close and latch by itself both times. Then clear everything within 900mm of the outside of the fence: pots, chairs, the pump, the BBQ. Walk the fence line and look for gaps under it. Before I come out I send a checklist and look at your photos, which is why most pools I inspect pass first go.

Yes. Anything that can hold more than 300mm of water needs a compliant barrier. That includes spas, hot tubs and inflatable pools that stay up over summer.