Pool Inspections in Bendigo

With me, a first inspection is from $270 +GST. That includes your Form 23 certificate within 48 hours if your barrier passes. A re-inspection after fixes is from $100 +GST. Check the council's page for any registration or lodgement fee it charges.

Every four years. The Form 23 lasts four years from the date it's issued, and the council needs a new one lodged when it runs out.

Nothing dramatic. You get a clear report with photos of what failed and what to fix. Typical fixes are small: a gate that won't latch, something climbable inside the 900mm zone, a gap under the barrier. Once it's fixed, a re-inspection from $100 +GST gets you your certificate.

Bendigo uses the Victorian barrier rules, the same as every council in the state. At least 1.2m of fence, no gap over 100mm underneath, a 900mm non-climbable zone outside the fence and 300mm inside it. The gate must open away from the pool, self-close and self-latch, with the latch at least 1.5m off the ground or shielded. A boundary fence in the barrier has to be at least 1.8m. Then register the pool with the council and lodge a Form 23 within 30 days of issue, every four years. Which version of the standard applies depends on when the pool went in.

Test the gate first. Open it a little way and let go, then again from wide open. It has to close and latch on its own both times. Then move anything a child could climb away from the outside of the fence: pots, furniture, the pump, the woodpile. Check under the fence for gaps where the ground has eroded. I send a checklist before I come out and look at your photos, so most pools I inspect pass on the first visit.

Yes. If it holds more than 300mm of water it needs a compliant barrier, and that covers spas, hot tubs and the big inflatable pool that stays up all summer.