Residential pools, including portable pools, in-ground pools and spa pools must have physical barriers restricting access by unsupervised children under 5 years of age. The full requirements can be found on the Building Performance website.

Safety guidance for pool owners(external link)

Tenants and landlords, including property managers, all have responsibilities when it comes to pool safety, maintenance and compliance.

Landlord responsibilities

• If you have a pool at your rental property, you must notify your local council.
• You must make sure the pool barrier meets compliance requirements under the Building Act.
• Inspections must be conducted by an Independent Qualified Pool Inspector or your local council every 3 years.
• It is recommended you keep all records, such as current certificate of periodic inspection and original building compliance documents.
• Include pool safety checks in your regular property inspections.
• If you find out that your tenants have installed a pool (portable or otherwise), you need to take steps to ensure the tenant restricts access in accordance with legal requirements, or have the pool removed.

If you’re a property manager, make sure you have a clear understanding of the obligations and compliance requirements for pool barriers. Check your local council website for pool area safety checklists and consider including them in your property inspections. Request copies of compliance documents from the owner of the property such as the current ‘certificate of periodic inspection’ and original building compliance documents. Take note of when pool inspections by authorities are due for your properties.

Tenant responsibilities

• You must report any maintenance issues to your landlord as soon as possible, for example if the latch on the gate isn’t closing properly. You must restrict access and be extra careful until repairs have taken place.
• Make sure there is nothing near the pool barrier that children could climb on to get over the fence.
• You are responsible for keeping the property reasonably clean and tidy, this includes the pool and its’ filters if they’re easily accessible.
• If you want to install a pool at your rental property (portable or otherwise), you must get written permission from your landlord first. Make sure you do your research first, including checking your local council website for information on pool safety, your potential liability, and checking the requirements for pool barriers.

Tenants making changes to the property

For further information please see:

Building Regulations 1992 (SR 1992/150) (as at 01 January 2017) Schedule 1 The building code – New Zealand Legislation(external link)

NZS 8500:2006 :: Standards New Zealand(external link)

Local Councils(external link)

Pool inspector public register | Independently Qualified Pool Inspectors(external link)