Important news for Victorians with backyard swimming pools

Important changes to the timeline for the new backyard pool and spa fence rule have been made.

All pools built prior to 1994 were initially required to be inspected and have a compliance certificate issued by November 1.

With that date only weeks away, many Victorians were scrambling to try and get their pools inspected.

That deadline has now been pushed back to 1 June next year.

Executive director of building at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Trevor Pisciotta, acknowledged the news has come quite late.

“If we had have been able to make these changes a little bit earlier that would’ve been great, but that isn’t the way things have played out,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“But the government has recognised the impact of COVID and the fact that has hindered people getting their pools inspected and certified and so we are extending that deadline from the 1st of November this year until the 1st of June 2022 for the first tranch of pools.”

The deadlines for pools built after 1994 have also been extended by seven months.

Mr Pisciotta said pool inspections have been permitted throughout COVID-19 lockdowns, but uncertainty over the rules and reluctance to have strangers in the home have caused many to delay their inspection.

“There was probably a bit of uncertainty over whether pool inspections could continue under the restrictions we’ve been under. They can continue, the are essential,” he said.

“But at the same time I understand that some people may not want to have a pool inspector … over to their property in the context of COVID.”

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