Fencing

Pool fencing rules in New Zealand

Every residential pool that is filled or partly filled and can hold water 400 mm deep or more must have physical barriers restricting access by unsupervised children under five (Building Act ss 162B–162C). In practice that means a barrier at least 1.2 m high with no gaps over 100 mm, nothing climbable within 1.2 m outside it, gates that open away from the pool and close and latch themselves, and a latch at least 1.5 m up where it can be reached from outside. Your council must ensure it is inspected at least every 3 years (s 162D).

Check my fence How inspections work

Read from the sources on 16 September 2026.

Which pools this covers

The rules apply to any pool with a maximum depth of water of 400 mm or more that is filled or partly filled with water, including an inflatable or portable one (Building Act s 162B, Building Code F9.2).

Building Act 2004 s 162B; Building Code F9.2

What the law itself says

Two documents do the work. The Building Act 2004 creates the duty; clause F9 of the Building Code, which is Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 1992, sets what the barrier has to achieve. Both are quoted here from legislation.govt.nz.

Section 162A states the purpose in one sentence: to prevent drowning of, and injury to, young children by restricting unsupervised access to residential pools by children under 5 years of age. Section 162C(1) then requires every residential pool that is filled or partly filled with water to have physical barriers that restrict access to the pool by unsupervised children under 5. Section 162C(3) adds the spa exception: for a small heated pool, the means of restricting access need only restrict access when the pool is not in use.

Does every gate open away from the pool?

Gates must open away from the pool.

Building Code F9.3.3(a) · Building Regulations 1992; Auckland Council; Tauranga City Council

Does every gate self-close and self-latch from any open position, every time?

Gates must not be able to be readily opened by children and must automatically return to the closed position after use, latching each time from any open position.

Building Code F9.3.3(b) and (c) · Building Regulations 1992; Auckland Council; Tauranga City Council

Does every door from a building into the pool area either sound an alarm or close and latch itself?

Where a building forms all or part of the immediate pool area barrier, doors between the building and the pool area must not be able to be readily opened by children, and must either emit an audible warning when the door is open, or close automatically after use.

Building Code F9.3.4(a) · Building Regulations 1992; Tauranga City Council

Are windows that open into the pool area restricted so a child cannot get through?

Windows opening from a building into the immediate pool area must be constructed or positioned to restrict the passage of children. Tauranga City Council states that a window with a sill less than 1.0 m above the indoor floor must be restricted to a 100 mm opening, shielded, or otherwise built to stop a child passing through.

Building Code F9.3.4(b) · Building Regulations 1992; Tauranga City Council

Is any ladder or step into the pool removed, made inoperable, or inside a complying barrier?

For a pool installed after 1 January 2017, a removable ladder is not accepted as the means of restricting access: the ladder must be enclosed by a complying barrier and gate. For a pool that existed before 1 January 2017 and relies on s 450B, any ladder or means of access must be able to be readily removed or made inoperable, and must be removed or made inoperable whenever the pool is not intended to be in use.

Building Act s 450B(3)(c); Tauranga City Council on post-2017 pools · Building Act 2004; Tauranga City Council

Is the top of every wall of the spa at least 760 mm above the floor or ground, with walls that cannot be climbed?

A cover may be the barrier only where the top surface of every wall of the small heated pool is at all points not less than 760 mm above the adjacent floor or ground and the walls of the pool inhibit climbing.

Building Code F9.3.2(b) · Building Regulations 1992

Does the cover restrict children when closed, take a load, return to closed easily, and carry child-safety signage?

A cover used as a barrier to a small heated pool must restrict the entry of children when closed, be able to withstand a reasonably foreseeable load, be able to be readily returned to the closed position, and have signage indicating its child safety features.

Building Code F9.3.5 · Building Regulations 1992

Is the cover kept closed and secured whenever the spa is not in use?

For a small heated pool the means of restricting access need only restrict access when the pool is not in use, which means it must actually be in place whenever the spa is not in use.

Building Act s 162C(3) and Building Code F9.3.1 · Building Act 2004; Building Regulations 1992

The dimensions, and where they come from

The numbers everyone quotes — 1.2 m, 100 mm, 900 mm, 1.5 m — are not in the Act or in clause F9. They come from acceptable solution F9/AS1, which is one way of showing compliance with F9. MBIE's building.govt.nz returns a block to anything but a browser, so we could not read F9/AS1 directly. Every figure below is one that both Auckland Council and Tauranga City Council publish in the same terms, and both are cited. Where they disagree, the rule is not on this site at all.

Is the barrier at least 1.2 m high at every point around the outside?

The barrier must be at least 1.2 m (1200 mm) high at every point, measured above the ground and above any permanent projection or object placed on the ground outside the barrier and within 1.2 m of it.

Acceptable solution F9/AS1, as stated by Auckland Council and Tauranga City Council · Auckland Council; Tauranga City Council

Are all gaps in or under the barrier 100 mm or smaller?

There must be no gap or space greater than 100 mm in or under the barrier, including pet doors.

Acceptable solution F9/AS1, as stated by Auckland Council and Tauranga City Council · Auckland Council; Tauranga City Council

Is there nothing climbable within 1.2 m outside the barrier?

There must be no permanent climbable surface, object or projection within a 1.2 m arc measured from the top of the barrier on the outside, and the barrier must have no permanent objects or projections on the outside that could assist a child in negotiating it.

Building Code F9.3.3 (no permanent objects or projections outside), with the 1.2 m arc from F9/AS1 as stated by Auckland Council and Tauranga City Council · Building Regulations 1992; Auckland Council; Tauranga City Council

Are any horizontal rails on the outside of the barrier at least 900 mm apart?

Horizontal or angled supports such as rails, rods or wires on the outside of the barrier must be at least 900 mm apart.

Acceptable solution F9/AS1, as stated by Auckland Council and Tauranga City Council · Auckland Council; Tauranga City Council

If the latch can be reached from outside, is it at least 1.5 m above the ground?

A latch that is accessible from outside the barrier must be at least 1.5 m (1500 mm) above the outside ground level and above any surface or projection near it. A latch mounted on the inside must not be reachable from outside.

Acceptable solution F9/AS1, as stated by Auckland Council and Tauranga City Council · Auckland Council; Tauranga City Council

Drawn from the requirements Auckland Council and Tauranga City Council both publish, and from clause F9 of the Building Code. Not to scale. Mesh and trellis aperture sizes are deliberately not shown: the two councils publish different figures, so we left them out.

What we deliberately left out

This is a child-safety subject, so an incomplete page is better than a wrong one. These rules are real; we simply could not source them well enough to publish a number.

Maximum aperture (hole size) for mesh, netting or trellis used as a barrier. Auckland Council states 10 mm or less for barriers between 1.2 m and 1.8 m, and 35 mm or less above 1.8 m. Tauranga City Council states 13 mm up to 1200 mm, 35 mm up to 1800 mm and 50 mm over 1800 mm. Those are different rules, and building.govt.nz returns 403 to anything but a browser, so F9/AS1 itself could not be read to settle it. If your barrier is mesh, netting or trellis, ask your council for the aperture that applies before you buy it.
The exact wording of the non-climbable zone in F9/AS1. The 1.2 m arc measured from the top of the barrier is published by both Auckland and Tauranga, so the checker uses it. The precise F9/AS1 wording, and how it treats a boundary fence that is climbable only from a neighbour's side, is not quoted here because we could not read the clause.
A maximum opening width for doors from a house into the pool area. Tauranga City Council states that for pools installed after 1 January 2017 such a door must be restricted to no more than a 1000 mm opening. No other source we could read states it, and it reads as though it may be a typographical error, so it is not in the checker. The alarm-or-self-closing requirement is in the Building Code itself (F9.3.4(a)) and is used.

The full list, and how we handle sources.

Pools built before 2017

The saving provision

A pool built before 1 January 2017 is deemed to comply if its barriers met the Schedule of the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987 and still do, subject to any exemption that was in force. Alternatively it complies if the outside of its side walls inhibits climbing, no part of the top of any side wall is less than 1.2 m above the ground or above anything within 1.2 m of the walls, and any ladder can be readily removed or made inoperable and is removed whenever the pool is not in use (Building Act s 450B).

Building Act 2004 s 450B

What the old rules still allow, in full.

What it costs to get right

CheckMyBuilder prices barrier fencing at $5,000 – $25,000, and the barrier needs its own building consent even where the pool itself is exempt (Schedule 1 clause 23(2)). Ultimate Pools publishes aluminium fencing from around $8,000–12,000 and fully frameless glass reaching $25,000–40,000. See the cost page.

If it fails

A council can issue a notice to fix. Failing to comply with one about a pool barrier is an infringement offence with a $500 fee, and on conviction a fine of up to $20,000 for an individual or $60,000 for a body corporate (s 168(1AA)–(1AB)). If you have read that the fine is $5,000, that figure predates the current regime. What happens if your barrier fails.

Sources

General information, not legal or building advice. Only your council or an independently qualified pool inspector can decide whether a barrier complies.

Questions

What are the pool fencing rules in NZ?

Every residential pool that is filled or partly filled and can hold water 400 mm deep or more must have physical barriers restricting access by unsupervised children under five (Building Act ss 162B–162C). In practice that means a barrier at least 1.2 m high with no gaps over 100 mm, nothing climbable within 1.2 m outside it, gates that open away from the pool and self-close and self-latch, and a latch at least 1.5 m up if it can be reached from outside.

Does the law say 1.2 metres?

Not in those words. The Building Act and clause F9 of the Building Code set performance requirements; the 1.2 m height and the 100 mm gap come from acceptable solution F9/AS1, which Auckland Council and Tauranga City Council both publish in those terms. We cite the councils for those figures because MBIE's site blocks us from reading F9/AS1 itself.

Who is responsible for the pool fence?

Section 162C(4) names the owner of the pool, the pool operator, the owner of the land, the occupier, a hire-purchase buyer of the pool, and in some cases a lessee. Auckland Council puts it as homeowners, tenants, landlords and property managers carrying joint responsibility.

What is the fine for a non-compliant pool fence?

Failing to comply with a notice to fix about a means of restricting access to a residential pool is an infringement offence with a $500 fee, and on conviction carries a fine of up to $20,000 for an individual or $60,000 for a body corporate (Building Act s 168(1AA)–(1AB)).

Do the rules apply to a paddling pool?

They apply to any pool with a maximum depth of water of 400 mm or more (Building Act s 162B). Auckland Council's guidance is that shallower paddling pools should be supervised at all times and emptied after use.