Spasa Victoria Consumer Guide

Prior to the commencement of work, a building permit from a Registered Building Surveyor must be issued to the owner with the registered builder’s details. The purpose of this building permit is to ensure that your pool meets all the applicable requirements of your municipality’s planning scheme, relevant building regulations, Codes and Standards, including all relevant structural and safety requirements. In order to obtain this building permit, the appointed building surveyor can provide advice on the minimum requirements of an application which includes the following information: STEP 6: SAFETY BARRIERS Pool fencing / safety barriers are required by legislation for any pool or spa with water in excess of 300mm in depth and must be in place prior to filling the pool or spa with water. The key elements of the relevant Australian Standard, A.S. 1926- 2012 are designed to deny access by unsupervised young children, especially those under 5 years of age, to the swimming pool area. There is an expanded discussion of the fencing regulations on Fact Sheet 2 “Safety Barriers”, but it is worth noting here that fences and gates must have an effective minimum perpendicular height of 1.2 metres. Existing standard paling fences can be used provided they meet certain conditions. Gates must open away from the pool enclosure and return to the closed position, engaging the latch automatically. Although walls of buildings can be used as swimming pool safety barriers, child resistant doors from the building are no longer permitted for new pools. Windows within external walls of dwellings are permitted to open to the pool enclosure but must be constructed in accordance with the standard. Please refer to A.S 1926.1 for the specific details of the safety barrier and window requirements. STEP 7: WATER When thinking of investing in a pool or spa, the first step is to read up on our Water Neutral Pool Program. The pleasure derived from your pool need not impinge on water catchments. In fact, a Water Neutral Pool can provide you with a means of producing thousands of litres of surplus water for use around the home. STEP 8: COMPLETION Once the pool construction is complete according to the terms of your contract, your warranty period begins. At that point, your builder must issue you with a Completion Certificate. However that is not necessarily the end of the relationship. The pool is under domestic builder’s insurance for 6 years during which time you are able to check with your builder if you have any major concerns. Kit pools installed by unregistered pool builders can leave homeowners with expensive legal bills, warranty, OHS and insurance issues. The most effective way consumers can protect their financial and legal position is to use a builder registered with the Victorian Building Authority, specifically in the categories of ‘Domestic Builder – Unlimited’ or ‘Domestic Builder – Limited Swimming Pools’. Without doubt the best way to ensure a stress-free experience is to use a SPASAVIC Pool Builder Member. There are three essential questions prospective pool or spa owners should ask – 1. Are you a Registered Building Practitioner? 2. Are you a SPASAVIC Pool Builder Member? 3. Do you use a SPASAVIC Pool Construction Contract? Unregistered and inexperienced pool builders can talk unwitting homeowners into accepting all of the responsibility for occupational health and safety, building faults or structural failures of the pool or spa by getting them to become Owner Builders. This means that the builder avoids having to provide domestic building insurance for work over $16,000 – which is mandatory for all registered pool builders. It is illegal for any building work to be completed on a swimming pool, in excess of $10,000, without VBA registration and a compliant contract. It’s usually only when the homeowner goes to sell their home, within six and a half years of the pool being built, that they find out they are legally bound to provide domestic building insurance before the sale can go ahead. What most Owner Builders don’t realise is that they become liable for issues such as damage to a neighbour’s property, or a worker being injured on site. This could see the Owner Builder entangled in legal battles for compensation. Warning: Don’t cut corners. BUYER BEWARE: KIT POOLS, OWNER BUILDERS & UNREGISTERED POOL BUILDERS • Copy of the Certificate of Title • Copy of the block plan showing all existing buildings • A letter of authority for the builder to apply for a building permit on your behalf • A signed agreement to comply with the requirements to provide a safety barrier / pool fence FACT SHEET 3 • cont inued 10 • SPASAVIC CONSUMER GUIDE