If a swimming pool fails inspection, the owner may engage any appropriately accredited private certifier or the council to reinspect it.
Even if the pool was first inspected by the council, or reported to it as a significant risk, the owner does not have to ask the council for the reinspection.
However, before inspecting a pool, it's good practice to:
- check the NSW Swimming Pool Register to see if a certificate of non-compliance and notice have been issued and, if so,
- contact the council or certifier that issued these, to discuss why, if the reasons aren't clear in the inspection record.
If the pool has been deemed a significant risk, contacting the council is important because the council may be planning follow-up action.
Also, pool owners might assume that a certificate of compliance automatically makes void any previous notice or council direction. Certifiers should explain this is not necessarily the case, because the council still has discretion to take action.
Councils take note: contract only needed for s.22C pool inspections by certifiers
A written contract for a pool barrier inspection is needed only if both of the following apply:
- the inspector is an accredited certifier (private or council)
- the inspection is carried out under section 22C of the SP Act (i.e. at the owner's request, not under council's pool inspection program).
A contract is not required for any inspection by a council officer who is not an accredited certifier, or an inspection by a certifier that is part of council's pool inspection program under section 22B of the SP Act.