Doors, windows and balconies

Doors

Make sure no doors open directly onto your outdoor pool or spa area.

Indoor pools

Only indoor pools or spas may be accessed by a child-resistant door set A child-resistant door set cannot be used to accessed outdoor pools. For a child-resistant door set:

• The door handle must be at least 1500mm high.
• The door must not open towards the pool.
• The door must be self-closing and self-latching.
• You must have no climbable items within the non-climbable zone.

Windows

 A window can be part of your pool or spa fence if either:

• it has a clear drop of at least 1800mm from the sill down to the pool area, and
• the sill is not less than 1200mm high on the inside (the side away from the pool area) with no climbable objects within 900mm (non-climbable zone). 

If your window opens onto the pool or spa area and does not fit these requirements you need to make sure it cannot open more than 100mm by either:

• fitting a permanent security screen
• altering the window so it cannot be opened more than 100mm by permanently fixing screws or similar to the top and/or bottom of the openable section of the window

If the bottom of your window is between 900mm and 1200mm from the floor on the inside you can use:

• a permanent flyscreen (a fixed security flyscreen).

Louvres

If you have louvered windows opening onto your pool area you must make sure the:

• gaps between louvres are no more than 100mm
• louvres are fixed in place so that they cannot be removed without using a tool
• glass is strong and rigid.

Balconies

If you have a balcony over or within 900mm of the pool fence, its balustrade must comply with the safety standard for pool fences.

Check regularly around your balcony to make sure you don’t have any climbable objects such as BBQs, outdoor furniture, pot plants, play or gym equipment too close the fence. 

Patio, deck, pergola

If you have a patio, verandah, deck, pergola, balcony or the like that either form a fence or are within the pool area, you must have one side permanently open, i.e. one complete side cannot be fitted with blinds, insect screens, shade cloth or the like. This is to ensure you can see and supervise young children in the pool area.