QBCC licence classes for pool work

We found no QBCC licence class for pool fencing alone. The swimming pool construction, installation and maintenance class says its scope includes landscaping works for a pool, including pool fencing and paving. QBCC's fact sheet on fence builders lists the classes that may build fences, with the swimming pool classes shown for pool fences only and structural landscaping (trade) for all types. Whether a particular job falls inside a particular licence is a question for QBCC.Source: QBCC licence class pages (reviewed 31 Aug 2021) and the QBCC fact sheet on fence builders (no review date shown; the file name carries July 2019), read 6 Nov 2026.

The classes QBCC lists for pool work today

• Swimming pool construction, installation and maintenance. QBCC lists three scopes. Construction is for concrete pools and spas: earthworks, reinforcement and formwork, shaping the pool, pipework, landscaping works associated with the construction including pool fencing and paving, and ceramic tiling, painting, coping and internal finishes. Installation is for prefabricated and fibreglass pools and spas (QBCC says prefabricated includes above-ground pools), with the same kinds of work including pool fencing and paving. Maintenance and accessories is non-structural maintenance and general repair of pools and spas, with landscaping works that include pool fencing and paving.
• Structural landscaping (trade). Its scope includes preparing, fabricating and erecting carports, decking, fences, gazebos, pergolas and retaining walls (of a height that needs no engineering certification under a local law), and laying paving or concrete not intended to carry vehicles. It does not name pool fences.
• Glass, glazing and aluminium. Its scope includes commercial glazing, toughened glass assemblies and balustrading. The class page does not name pool fences. QBCC's fence builders fact sheet does, below.

Which classes may build a fence, according to QBCC's fact sheet

The fact sheet says the class needed depends on the construction material. It carries no review date, and its file name carries 1 July 2019, so confirm with QBCC on 139 333 before relying on it. These are the rows it lists:

• All types of fences: Builder (low rise, medium rise and open), Builder restricted to structural landscaping, and Structural landscaping (trade).
• Pool fences only, all types: Swimming pool construction, installation and maintenance (construction) and (installation).
• Glass and aluminium fences only (for example pool fences), and metal fences only: the sheet lists Glass, glazing and aluminium and Non-structural metal fabrication and installation together in the same row.
• One material only: Bricklaying (brick and block), Carpentry (timber and metal), Concreting (concrete), Stonemasonry (stone) and Structural metal fabrication and erection (metal).

The sheet also says no licence is needed where the fence is on land that is not agricultural or pastoral and its value is less than $3,300 (a fence around a domestic dwelling is its example), and lists other exceptions. It says a pool safety inspector cannot personally repair a pool fence over $3,300 without a licence. QBCC's inspect and certify page says work valued at $3,300 or more needs a contractor's licence of the appropriate class. Check the current figures with QBCC.

Older classes some licence holders still have

QBCC lists some classes as continuing for existing licence holders only, which cannot be issued or restored (page reviewed 27 May 2022). Three matter for pool work:

• Structural landscaping restricted to fences. Scope: fabrication, site preparation and erection of fences and gates.
• Swimming pool and spa construction restricted to finishes. Scope: applying exposed aggregate or other natural or synthetic finishes to the surface of a pool or spa by trowel, roller or brush.
• Builder restricted to swimming pool construction. Scope, in QBCC's document: earthworks, reinforcement, formwork, shaping a pool or spa, installing prefabricated pools, pipework, landscaping works including pool fencing, and tiling, painting, paving and plastering for a pool or spa.

Why a business appears under one label on PoolPreCert

• Pool builder listings come from QBCC's licensed contractors register: trade licences in the swimming pool construction, installation and maintenance class, and in the finishes-only pool and spa class.
• Pool fence contractor listings come from the same register: trade licences in the fences-only class, and licences in structural landscaping (trade), glass, glazing and aluminium or the swimming pool class where the business name says it does fencing. Because structural landscaping covers many kinds of fence, a fence listing does not mean the business builds pool barriers: ask.
• Supervisor licences, which belong to people working under another business, are left out.
• Check any licence on QBCC's licence search (opens in a new tab) before you sign anything. A listing is not a recommendation. See how our directory works.

What a licence does not say

A licence says what work a business may do. It does not say a fence or a pool meets the standard: a licensed pool safety inspector decides that, and an inspector should not decide on a barrier they repaired themselves unless the repairs were minor. The installer's side of that is in the installer checklist, and the homeowner's in hiring a pool fence contractor.

How this page was made: the PoolPreCert team read each page listed under Sources on 6 November 2026 and wrote this in plain words. The dates beside each source are the dates those pages show. PoolPreCert is not part of QBCC or the Queensland Government, and only a licensed pool safety inspector decides whether a pool meets the standard.