Incidents of drowning in home swimming pools have become relatively common. However, pool safety laws have reduced the overall number of drowning incidents. It would be a vital aspect in the sale of properties entailing pools. Experts would advise the sellers and buyers of their responsibilities and make sure smooth proceedings of the contract.
I often wonder do I need a pool safety certificate. Rest assured you would require having a pool certificate. It would be evidence of your pool adhering to several pool safety rules and regulations. It would be inclusive of the rules related to the installation of safety signs and pool fences.
Obligations of the owner for ensuring pool safety
People owning a pool in a residential area would be required to adhere to the pool safety laws. These laws cover all kinds of pools ranging from community to accommodation settings.
However, these laws would not apply to ponds, tanks, or dams for water storage needs, pools used for decoration purposes, spa baths less than 300ml deep, portable wading pools, or watercourses.
For your home swimming pool, consider adhering to the obligation of having a pool safety certificate.
For a newly built pool, consider seeking a Form-17 from a building certifier for the final inspection certificate. It would be equivalent to the pool safety certificate.
Penalties imposed for lack of pool safety certificate
Several penalties would be imposed on you for lacking a pool safety certificate or non-registration of your pool on the pool safety register.
The fines could range from moderate to higher amounts. Therefore, it would be vital that you keep the certificate updated.
Why do you require a pool safety certificate?
When it comes to the importance of having a pool certificate, rest assured it would be vital in sale, purchase, lease, or entering an accommodation agreement for a property entailing a pool. A certificate for shared pools would be valid for twelve months, whereas the validity for non-shared pools would be for two years. It would be worth mentioning here that the validity of the pool certificate for shared and non-shared pools would remain intact regardless of the property having a certified pool being re-sold or re-leased during the stipulated time.
After the expiration of the pool certificate, the owner of the property would not be required to seek another certificate instantly, unless he or she wishes to lease or sell the home quickly.
For a shared pool, the owner or the body corporate should encompass a pool certificate along with making the certificate accessible to all unit owners. One certificate would be adequate to cover all unit owners. As a result, you do not require obtaining individual pool certificates for the same swimming pool.
Cancellation of the pool certificate
Where a pool safety certificate has been issued and the local authorities have adequate evidence about the safety standards have been broken by the owner, the local government could cancel the pool safety certificate. After the cancellation, the body corporate or the owner of the property would be required to file for another pool safety certificate on the sale or lease of the property.
