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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
New South Wales
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Contents
Page
1 Name of Act 2
2 Commencement 2
Schedule 1 Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49 3
Schedule 2 Amendment of other legislation 15
b2011-102-31.d15
New South Wales
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
No , 2012
A Bill for
An Act to amend the Swimming Pools Act 1992 and other legislation with respect to
the registration, inspection and certification of swimming pools; and for other
purposes.
Clause 1 Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
The Legislature of New South Wales enacts: 1
1 Name of Act 2
This Act is the Swimming Pools Amendment Act 2012. 3
2 Commencement 4
(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3), this Act commences on 5
the date of assent to this Act. 6
(2) Schedule 1 [16] and [26] commences 6 months after the date of assent 7
to this Act. 8
(3) Subschedules 2.2 and 2.3 commence 18 months after the date of assent 9
to this Act. 10
Page 2
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49 Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1
1992 No 49 2
[1] Section 3 Definitions 3
Insert in alphabetical order in section 3 (1): 4
certificate of compliance means a certificate issued under 5
section 22D. 6
council means the council of an area within the meaning of the 7
Local Government Act 1993. 8
Director-General means: 9
(a) the Chief Executive of the Division of Local Government 10
within the Department of Premier and Cabinet, or 11
(b) if there is no such position within that Department, the 12
Director-General of that Department. 13
Register means the Register of Swimming Pools under 14
section 30A. 15
relevant occupation certificate in respect of a swimming pool 16
means an occupation certificate issued under the Environmental 17
Planning and Assessment Act 1979 that is less than 3 years old 18
and that authorises the use of the swimming pool. 19
Standard Instrument means the standard local environmental 20
planning instrument prescribed by the Standard Instrument 21
(Local Environmental Plans) Order 2006. 22
tourist and visitor accommodation has the same meaning as in 23
the Standard Instrument. 24
[2] Section 3 (1), definition of "residential building" 25
Omit paragraph (b) of the definition. Insert instead: 26
(b) a moveable dwelling, or 27
(b1) tourist and visitor accommodation, or 28
[3] Section 3 (1), definition of "swimming pool" 29
Omit "of 300 millimetres or more" from paragraph (a) of the definition. 30
Insert instead "greater than 300 millimetres". 31
[4] Section 3 (1A) 32
Insert after section 3 (1): 33
(1A) For the avoidance of doubt, a swimming pool is situated on 34
premises on which another building is located if the swimming 35
Page 3
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 1 Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49
pool is ancillary to that other building, regardless of whether the 1
swimming pool is on a separate lot, such as on common property 2
under a strata scheme. 3
[5] Section 4 Swimming pools to which Act applies 4
Omit "dwelling, a hotel or a motel". 5
Insert instead "dwelling or tourist and visitor accommodation". 6
[6] Section 8 Exemption for swimming pools constructed before August 7
1990 and existing swimming pools on small properties 8
Insert after section 8 (3): 9
(4) This section ceases to apply in respect of a swimming pool if a 10
barrier is erected on the premises (between the swimming pool 11
and a residential building) as a barrier to direct access to the 12
swimming pool from any residential building situated on the 13
premises. 14
[7] Section 9 Exemption for swimming pools on large properties 15
Insert after section 9 (4): 16
(5) This section ceases to apply in respect of a swimming pool if a 17
barrier is erected on the premises (between the swimming pool 18
and a residential building) as a barrier to direct access to the 19
swimming pool from any residential building situated on the 20
premises. 21
[8] Section 10 Exemption for swimming pools on waterfront properties 22
Insert after section 10 (4): 23
(5) This section ceases to apply in respect of a swimming pool if a 24
barrier is erected on the premises (between the swimming pool 25
and a residential building) as a barrier to direct access to the 26
swimming pool from any residential building situated on the 27
premises. 28
[9] Part 2, Division 2, heading 29
Omit "dwellings, hotels and motels". 30
Insert instead "dwellings and tourist and visitor accommodation". 31
[10] Section 11 Swimming pools to which Division applies 32
Omit "dwelling, a hotel or a motel". 33
Insert instead "dwelling or tourist and visitor accommodation". 34
Page 4
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49 Schedule 1
[11] Section 12 General requirements for outdoor swimming pools 1
Omit "dwelling, hotel or motel" from section 12 (a). 2
Insert instead "dwelling or tourist and visitor accommodation". 3
[12] Section 13 Exemptions for existing swimming pools 4
Insert after section 13 (1): 5
(1A) This section also applies to swimming pools: 6
(a) that are situated on premises on which there is tourist and 7
visitor accommodation (but not if there is a moveable 8
dwelling, hotel or motel on the premises), and 9
(b) the construction or installation of which commenced 10
before 1 May 2013. 11
[13] Part 2, Division 4, heading 12
Omit "General". 13
Insert instead "Additional requirements for swimming pools". 14
[14] Section 19 House wall may be used as part of required child-resistant 15
barrier 16
Omit "of a residential building, hotel or motel" from section 19 (1). 17
Insert instead "of a residential building or a building used for the purposes of 18
tourist and visitor accommodation". 19
[15] Section 19 (1) 20
Omit "the residential building, hotel or motel". Insert instead "the building". 21
[16] Part 2, Division 5 22
Insert after section 22: 23
Division 5 Inspections and compliance with Part 24
22A Definition 25
In this Division: 26
accredited certifier means an accredited certifier within the 27
meaning of the Building Professionals Act 2005 holding: 28
(a) category A1, category A2 or category A3 accreditation 29
under that Act, or 30
(b) if the regulations prescribe alternative qualifications, those 31
alternative qualifications. 32
Page 5
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 1 Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49
22B Mandatory pool inspection program by local authority 1
(1) A local authority must, within 6 months after the commencement 2
of this section, develop and adopt a program for the inspection of 3
swimming pools in its area to ensure compliance with the 4
requirements of this Part. 5
(2) Within 12 months after the commencement of this section, the 6
program must make provision for the inspection, at least once 7
every 3 years, of any swimming pool situated on premises on 8
which there is tourist and visitor accommodation or more than 9
2 dwellings. 10
(3) The program is not to require the inspection of a swimming pool 11
in respect of which there is a valid certificate of compliance or a 12
relevant occupation certificate. 13
(4) A local authority must inspect swimming pools in its area in 14
accordance with its program. 15
(5) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the 16
development and adoption of programs for the inspection of 17
swimming pools including: 18
(a) the form and content of programs, and 19
(b) the manner in which the public is to be consulted during 20
the development of any such program, and 21
(c) the carrying out of inspections under the program. 22
(6) In this section: 23
dwelling has the same meaning as in the Standard Instrument. 24
22C Other inspections at request of owner 25
(1) The owner of any premises on which a swimming pool is situated 26
may, at any time, request the local authority or an accredited 27
certifier to inspect the swimming pool. 28
(2) A local authority or an accredited certifier may carry out any such 29
inspection if requested to do so. 30
(3) A local authority must carry out an inspection under this section, 31
and must carry out that inspection within a reasonable time, if the 32
request to the local authority is in writing and states that the 33
inspection is required to enable the sale or lease of the premises 34
or part of the premises on which the swimming pool is situated. 35
(4) The regulations may make provision for what is a reasonable 36
time for the purposes of subsection (3). 37
Page 6
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49 Schedule 1
22D Certificates of compliance 1
(1) The requirements for the issue of a certificate of compliance in 2
respect of a swimming pool are that: 3
(a) the swimming pool is registered under Part 3A, and 4
(b) the swimming pool complies with the requirements of this 5
Part. 6
(2) A local authority or an accredited certifier must issue a certificate 7
of compliance in respect of a swimming pool if the local authority 8
or accredited certifier: 9
(a) has inspected the swimming pool under this Division, and 10
(b) is satisfied that the requirements for the issue of a 11
certificate of compliance have been met. 12
(3) A local authority or an accredited certifier must not issue a 13
certificate of compliance except as provided by subsection (2). 14
(4) A local authority or an accredited certifier may refuse to issue a 15
certificate of compliance until any fee payable for the inspection 16
has been paid. 17
(5) A certificate of compliance in respect of a swimming pool is to 18
be issued to the owner of the premises on which the pool is 19
situated in a form approved by the Director-General. 20
(6) A certificate of compliance remains valid for a period of 3 years 21
from the date on which it is issued but ceases to be valid if a 22
direction is issued under section 23 in respect of the swimming 23
pool to which the certificate relates. 24
(7) A local authority or accredited certifier that issues a certificate of 25
compliance in respect of a swimming pool must ensure that 26
details of the certificate are entered on the Register, by providing 27
the details to the Director-General in a form approved by the 28
Director-General. 29
(8) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the 30
time and manner in which any such information is to be entered 31
on the Register. 32
22E Notices by accredited certifier if pool does not comply 33
(1) This section applies to an inspection carried out by an accredited 34
certifier under section 22C. 35
(2) An accredited certifier must provide a written notice to the owner 36
of a swimming pool if the accredited certifier has inspected the 37
Page 7
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 1 Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49
swimming pool and is not satisfied that the requirements for the 1
issue of a certificate of compliance have been met. 2
(3) A notice under this section is to set out the following: 3
(a) the date of the notice, 4
(b) the address of the swimming pool to which the notice 5
relates, 6
(c) the date on which the inspection took place, 7
(d) the reasons why the accredited certifier is not satisfied that 8
the requirements for the issue of a certificate of 9
compliance have been met and the steps that need to be 10
taken in order to meet those requirements, 11
(e) whether the accredited certifier is of the opinion that the 12
swimming pool poses a significant risk to public safety, 13
(f) a warning that a copy of the notice will be forwarded to the 14
local authority for the area in which the swimming pool is 15
situated: 16
(i) immediately, if the accredited certifier is of the 17
opinion that the swimming pool poses a significant 18
risk to public safety, or 19
(ii) 6 weeks after the date of inspection (or such other 20
time as may be prescribed by the regulations) if a 21
certificate of compliance is not issued for the 22
swimming pool before that time, 23
(g) such other matters as may be prescribed by the regulations. 24
(4) An accredited certifier who issues a notice under this section in 25
respect of a swimming pool must forward a copy of the notice to 26
the local authority for the area in which the swimming pool is 27
situated: 28
(a) immediately, if the accredited certifier is of the opinion 29
that the swimming pool poses a significant risk to public 30
safety, or 31
(b) within 5 days after the end of the period specified in 32
subsection (3) (f) (ii) in any other case. 33
(5) An accredited certifier is not required to forward a copy of any 34
notice to a local authority in respect of a swimming pool if, at the 35
time at which the notice is due to be sent, the swimming pool has 36
a valid certificate of compliance. 37
Page 8
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49 Schedule 1
22F Inspections carried out by local authority 1
(1) A local authority may charge the owner of premises a fee for 2
carrying out an inspection under this Division being a fee that is 3
no greater than the maximum fee (if any) prescribed by the 4
regulations, but it may not charge a separate fee for issuing a 5
certificate of compliance. 6
(2) A local authority that is a council must include in its annual report 7
under section 428 of the Local Government Act 1993 such 8
information (if any) in relation to inspections under this Division 9
as is prescribed by the regulations. 10
(3) An inspection by a local authority is to be conducted by an 11
authorised officer and entry on to premises to carry out such an 12
inspection is to be in accordance with Part 3. 13
22G Local authorities that are not councils 14
The regulations may: 15
(a) modify the application of the provisions of this Division 16
with respect to a local authority that is not a council, and 17
(b) provide for any functions of such a local authority under 18
this Division to be exercised by another person or body. 19
[17] Section 24 Local authority must grant certificate of compliance if 20
swimming pool complies with this Part 21
Omit the section. 22
[18] Part 2, Division 6, heading 23
Insert before section 25: 24
Division 6 Defences and appeals 25
[19] Section 25 Defences to offences under Part 26
Omit section 25 (2) (a) and (b). Insert instead: 27
(a) that there is a valid certificate of compliance or relevant 28
occupation certificate in respect of the swimming pool that 29
is the subject of the alleged offence, and 30
[20] Section 26 Appeals against decisions of local authority 31
Omit section 26 (1) (c) and (d). Insert instead: 32
(c) a decision to refuse to grant a certificate of compliance 33
under section 22D, 34
(d) a decision to give a direction under section 23. 35
Page 9
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 1 Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49
[21] Section 26 (3) 1
Insert after section 26 (2): 2
(3) A local authority is taken to have refused to issue a certificate of 3
compliance in relation to a swimming pool if the local authority 4
has failed to issue either a certificate of compliance or a direction 5
under section 23 in respect of the swimming pool, within 6 weeks 6
(or such other period as may be prescribed by the regulations) 7
after: 8
(a) an inspection of the swimming pool is carried out under 9
section 22B, or 10
(b) a written request is made under section 22C to the local 11
authority that stated that the inspection was required to 12
enable the sale or lease of the premises or part of the 13
premises on which the swimming pool is situated. 14
[22] Sections 27A and 27B 15
Insert after section 27: 16
27A Grounds for entering premises 17
(1) An authorised officer may enter premises for any one or more of 18
the following purposes: 19
(a) to carry out an inspection of a swimming pool under 20
Division 5 of Part 2, 21
(b) to investigate a complaint under section 29A, 22
(c) to investigate any contravention of this Act or the 23
regulations that the authorised officer reasonably suspects 24
to have occurred. 25
(2) Nothing in this section prevents an authorised officer from 26
entering premises with the consent of the owner or occupier of 27
those premises. 28
27B Powers of entry and search warrants--local council 29
(1) This section applies to an authorised officer who has been 30
appointed by a local authority that is a council. 31
(2) Part 2 of Chapter 8 of the Local Government Act 1993 applies to 32
the entry of premises by an authorised officer for any purpose 33
specified in section 27A and an authorised officer is taken to be 34
an authorised person for the purposes of section 201 of that Act. 35
(3) For the avoidance of doubt, the investigation of any 36
contravention of this Act or the regulations that an authorised 37
Page 10
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49 Schedule 1
officer reasonably suspects to have occurred is a function of the 1
council that appointed the authorised officer. 2
[23] Section 28 Power of entry--local authority other than local council 3
Omit section 28 (1). Insert instead: 4
(1) This section applies to an authorised officer who has been 5
appointed by a local authority other than a council. 6
(1A) An authorised officer who enters premises for any purpose 7
specified in section 27A may examine the premises and, in 8
particular, any swimming pool, and any barrier or other means of 9
restricting access to any swimming pool, situated in or on the 10
premises. 11
[24] Section 29 Search warrants--local authority other than local council 12
Insert before section 29 (1): 13
(1A) This section applies to an authorised officer who has been 14
appointed by a local authority other than a council. 15
[25] Section 29A Investigation of complaint 16
Omit "in accordance with section 28" from section 29A (4). 17
Insert instead "in accordance with this Part". 18
[26] Part 3A 19
Insert after Part 3: 20
Part 3A Registration of swimming pools 21
30A The Register of Swimming Pools 22
(1) There is to be a Register of Swimming Pools. 23
(2) The Director-General is responsible for the keeping and 24
administration of the Register. 25
(3) The regulations may make provision for the manner and form in 26
which the Register is to be kept, the information that is to be 27
entered on the Register, the fees (if any) payable for entering 28
information on the Register and any other matter concerning the 29
keeping and administration of the Register. 30
30B Registration of swimming pools 31
(1) The owner of the premises on which a swimming pool is situated 32
must ensure that any information prescribed by the regulations in 33
Page 11
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 1 Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49
relation to the swimming pool (the registration information) is 1
entered on the Register. 2
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units. 3
(2) A person complies with subsection (1) in respect of a swimming 4
pool, if the person: 5
(a) provides to the Director-General, in a form approved by 6
the Director-General, the registration information in 7
relation to the swimming pool, or 8
(b) provides to a local authority, in a form approved by the 9
local authority, the registration information in relation to 10
the swimming pool and pays to the local authority any fee 11
required by the local authority (being no more than the 12
maximum fee (if any) prescribed by the regulations). 13
(3) A local authority is required to enter on the Register, in a form 14
approved by the Director-General, any information provided to it 15
under subsection (2) (b). 16
(4) A swimming pool is registered when the registration information 17
about the swimming pool is entered on the Register. 18
30C Evidence of registration 19
(1) The Director-General may issue a document certifying as to 20
whether or not a particular swimming pool is or was registered at 21
a particular time and certifying as to any registration information 22
for the swimming pool entered on the Register at a particular time 23
(including whether a certificate of compliance was valid with 24
respect to a swimming pool at a particular time). 25
(2) A document issued under this section is evidence of the matters 26
certified. 27
30D Director-General may enter into agreements for purposes of Part 28
(1) The Director-General may enter into agreements and other 29
arrangements with a person or body in respect of the exercise of 30
functions of the Director-General under this Part by the person or 31
body on behalf of the Director-General. 32
(2) An agreement or other arrangement may make provision for the 33
ownership of information entered on the Register to be vested in 34
the Director-General. 35
Page 12
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49 Schedule 1
30E Access to Register 1
(1) An authorised person is entitled to access information contained 2
in the Register. The Director-General is required to provide that 3
access free of charge. 4
(2) The regulations may provide for the ways in which access can or 5
must be given to authorised persons. 6
(3) The regulations may require the Director-General to keep 7
specified records with respect to the access given to the Register 8
under this section and may provide for the persons who are 9
entitled to have access to those records. 10
(4) The Director-General may give different degrees of access to the 11
Register to different classes of authorised persons, having regard 12
to the different functions that they perform. 13
(5) The Minister and any person acting with the Minister's authority 14
is entitled to full and free access to information contained in the 15
Register at all times. 16
(6) The following persons are authorised persons for the purposes of 17
this section: 18
(a) authorised officers, 19
(b) a person who is a member of a class of persons prescribed 20
by the regulations as authorised persons for the purposes of 21
this section. 22
(7) The regulations may prescribe the circumstances in which other 23
persons may access information contained in the Register. 24
[27] Section 38 Regulations 25
Insert after section 38 (1) (b): 26
(b1) inspections of swimming pools, and 27
(b2) the Register of Swimming Pools, and 28
[28] Schedule 3 Savings, transitional and other provisions 29
Insert at the end of clause 1 (1): 30
Swimming Pools Amendment Act 2012 31
Page 13
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 1 Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 No 49
[29] Schedule 3, Part 4 1
Insert after Part 3: 2
Part 4 Provisions consequent on the enactment 3
of the Swimming Pools Amendment Act 4
2012 5
17 Definition 6
In this Part: 7
amending Act means the Swimming Pools Amendment Act 2012. 8
18 Existing certificates of compliance 9
(1) A certificate of compliance issued under section 24 before the 10
repeal of that section by the amending Act is taken to be a 11
certificate of compliance issued under section 22D and remains 12
valid for a period of 3 years from the date on which it was issued 13
or until 6 months after the date of assent to the amending Act 14
(whichever is the later). 15
(2) A certificate of compliance ceases to be valid if a direction is 16
issued under section 23 in respect of the swimming pool to which 17
the certificate relates. 18
19 Registration of swimming pools 19
The owner of premises on which a swimming pool is situated is 20
not required to comply with section 30B until 12 months after the 21
date of assent to the amending Act. 22
20 Local authority not required to inspect pools 23
A local authority is not required to carry out an inspection under 24
section 22C (3) until 18 months after the date of assent to the 25
amending Act. 26
Page 14
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Amendment of other legislation Schedule 2
Schedule 2 Amendment of other legislation 1
2.1 Building Professionals Act 2005 No 115 2
Section 3 Definitions 3
Insert at the end of paragraph (c) of the definition of certification work in 4
section 3 (1): 5
, or 6
(d) the carrying out of inspections for the purposes of 7
section 22C of the Swimming Pools Act 1992 and the 8
issuing of certificates of compliance under that Act. 9
2.2 Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2010 10
Schedule 1 Prescribed documents 11
Insert after clause 15: 12
16 If the contract relates to land on which there is a swimming pool 13
within the meaning of the Swimming Pools Act 1992 to which 14
that Act applies, a copy of either of the following in respect of the 15
swimming pool: 16
(a) a valid certificate of compliance issued under that Act, 17
(b) a relevant occupation certificate within the meaning of that 18
Act and evidence that the swimming pool is registered 19
under Part 3A of that Act. 20
Note. A relevant occupation certificate is an occupation certificate 21
issued under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 that 22
is less than 3 years old and that authorises the use of the swimming pool. 23
2.3 Residential Tenancies Regulation 2010 24
Schedule 1 Standard Form Agreement 25
Insert after clause 40: 26
[Cross out this clause if there is no swimming pool] 27
40A. The landlord agrees to ensure that at the time that this 28
residential tenancy agreement is entered into: 29
40A.1 the swimming pool on the residential premises is 30
registered under the Swimming Pools Act 1992 and 31
has a valid certificate of compliance under that Act 32
or a relevant occupation certificate within the 33
meaning of that Act, and 34
Page 15
Swimming Pools Amendment Bill 2012
Schedule 2 Amendment of other legislation
40A.2 a copy of that valid certificate of compliance or 1
relevant occupation certificate is provided to the 2
tenant. 3
Page 16
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