The Building Regulations 2012 (the Regulations) requires all private swimming and spa pools that contain water that is more than 300mm deep to have a compliant safety barrier installed that restricts access by young children to the pool and its immediate surrounds.
In Western Australia, there are two sets of safety barrier requirements depending on when the private swimming pool was installed or when plans for the installation of the pool were submitted to the permit authority for approval.
Generally:
- Post 1 May 2016 private swimming pools are required to have safety barriers that comply with the edition of the Building Code of Australia (BCA) currently in effect. The BCA references AS 1926.1:2012 (Safety barriers for swimming pools) and AS 1926.2:2007 (Location of safety barriers for swimming pools) incorporating amendments 1 and 2;
- Pre 1 May 2016 private swimming pools can continue to comply with their existing requirements under the Regulations or alternatively comply with the new requirements (that is the BCA).
In April and May 2016, DMIRS held a number of information sessions on the changing requirements for swimming and spa pool safety barriers. An adaption of these presentations is available to view online:
Online information session:
Swimming and spa pool safety barriers – changes to the rules (Part 2)
AS 1926.1-2012 Safety barriers for swimming pools
AS 1926.2-2007 Location of safety barriers for swimming pools
Scenarios
Click here to view Part 2 (Running time 24:04 min)