Pool Inspection Wellington Point

This week I conducted a pool inspection in Wellington Point, among others in the Redlands. At first glance it appeared to be straight forward but there were some non-compliance issues needing attention. The most obvious was an electrical box located on the inside of the fence and within the 300mm clear area. This provides a foothold if a child puts their foot through the fence for a step-up. Therefore that part of the aluminium fence had to be shielded using either perspex or polycarbonate. Polycarbonate was used and the ribbing ran vertically so that a foothold could not be had. Problem solved !

On top of the retaining wall and set back a little was a 1200mm fence. In the neighbour’s yard there were trees acting as climbable objects and discussion with the neighbours provided permission to cut back the offending trees. One, virtually, had to be cut back to the base. Yes it would grow again but it passed the pool safety requirements on the day and besides it would grow back quite shrubbery-like. With another one it had to be trimmed to eliminate the hand holds and footholds. There was another section of fence where the fillet or wedge as it sometimes called that ran along the top rail had come loose. One screw was all that was required to fix that. A wedge is a length of timber that has a 60° angle and sits on top of the horizontal rail. It is often used on the bottom rail so that a foothold can’t be had or on the next rail up so that a hand grip can’t be had. It’s very effective. This picture demonstrates use of the wedge/fillet.

A really odd section was a cat enclosure, which separated access from the house to the pool area via a gate. At first I was preoccupied by the very small fence on the retaining wall but realised that the cat wire (similar to chicken wire) acting as a roof, prevented access over the fence. This was certainly sufficient to pass the pool safety laws.

If you live in Wellington Point or surrounding suburbs like Birkdale, Ormiston or Alexandra Hills I would be more than happy to conduct a pool inspection on your premises. Even if you don’t need an official Pool Safety Certificate from the QBCC I offer a consultation service, which provides you an in-writing Certified Standard letterhead outlining your pool barrier conformity.