A Queensland pool safety certificate lasts 2 yearsSource: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool for a non-shared pool and 1 yearSource: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool for a shared one. You cannot lease a property with a non-shared pool without one: the rule is a current certificate before the lease is signedSource: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool. Sellers without a certificate lodge Form 36Source: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool. And unlike some states, Queensland has one standard for every pool (MP 3.4)Source: Queensland Government: Pool safety laws.
There is no fixed cycle of certificates in Queensland, unlike Victoria's four-yearly one. The certificate matters the moment you list the house or sign up a tenant, which is exactly when a failed gate is most expensive to discover.
How long does a certificate last?
It depends on who uses the pool. A non-shared pool, the one behind a single house, gets 2 yearsSource: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool. A shared pool, the kind a body corporate looks after in a unit block, gets 1 yearSource: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool, because more people and more gates mean more chances for something to drift.
See this chart as a table
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Non-shared pool, one household | 2 years | QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool |
| Shared pool, body corporate | 1 year | QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool |
What does a seller have to do?
If you hold a current certificate, the job is small: give the buyer a copy before settlementSource: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool. If you do not, you lodge Form 36Source: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool, a notice that there is no pool safety certificate, with the QBCC and hand the buyer a copy. At auction the buyer needs it before the contract is entered into, not after the hammer falls.
The notice is not a loophole so much as a transfer. A buyer who receives one must get a certificate within 90 days of settlementSource: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool, and for a shared pool it is the pool owner, usually the body corporate, who must get one and give the buyer a copy within 90 days of settlementSource: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool.
Which means the cost does not disappear at settlement. It moves to the other side of the table, and buyers price it in. Getting the inspection done before you list is often cheaper than the discount a buyer will ask for.
See this timeline as a table
| When | What has to happen | Source |
|---|---|---|
| before settlement | With a current certificate, give the buyer a copy | QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool |
| Form 36 | Without one, lodge this notice with the QBCC and give the buyer a copy | QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool |
| within 90 days of settlement | The buyer must obtain a certificate by then | QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool |
What about leasing?
Stricter, and worth reading twice: for a non-shared pool you need a current certificate before the lease is signedSource: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool. There is no equivalent of the seller's notice for a private pool, so the barrier has to be right before a tenant signs anything.
A shared pool works differently. If there is a current certificate, the new occupier and the pool owner get a copy. If there is not, a Form 36 is lodged, then the pool owner has 90 daysSource: QBCC: Buy, sell or lease a property with a pool to get one. If you are letting a unit, ask the body corporate for the current certificate before you assume one exists.
Does anyone check between transactions?
Yes. Queensland local councils are authorised to inspect pools and fine owners for non-compliance, and the QBCC fines owners who do not register their poolSource: QBCC: Pool safety standard. Going years without a certificate does not make a barrier compliant, and a council inspection can happen whether or not the house is on the market.
Which standard applies to an older pool?
The current one. Queensland's pool safety laws apply to every pool, new or old, and there is one standard for every pool (MP 3.4)Source: Queensland Government: Pool safety laws. That is a real difference from NSW, Victoria and WA, where an older barrier can be assessed against the standard that applied when it was built. A Queensland pool built decades ago is measured against the same rules as one finished last month.
Building a new pool
The permanent fence often goes up last, so the temporary one matters. A temporary fence can stay up for up to 3 monthsSource: QBCC: Pool fences, and only with a certifier or inspector’s approval. Plan the build so the permanent barrier is finished inside that time.
What gets measured
The QBCC publishes its barrier numbers in more detail than any other regulator we have found online: fence height, the gap underneath, the non-climbable zone, and gate, latch and hinge positions. The full set, with each figure linked to the QBCC page it comes from, is in pool fence rules, and the faults that fail most often are in what fails a pool inspection.
If you are mid-transaction, the compliance checker will list the Queensland obligations for selling or leasing with the deadlines attached.