Exemptions from the pool safety standard in Queensland

The owner of a regulated pool can ask the local council to exempt part of the pool safety standard, on one of two grounds: disability, or that meeting that part of the standard is not practicable. The council decides. An exemption goes only as far as is reasonably necessary, and the pool safety standard still applies to everything the exemption does not cover.Source: Building Act 1975 (Qld), Chapter 8 (reprint in force 1 Feb 2026) and Queensland Government, Pool fencing and safety laws (page updated 24 Jun 2022), both read 5 Nov 2026; Business Queensland, Local government and pool safety laws (page reviewed 10 Jun 2025).

The two grounds

Disability

• Who applies: The owner of the pool, or the future owner where the pool is still to be built (Building Act ss 235 to 237).
• What the council must be satisfied of: A person with a disability is, or is to become, an occupier of the land, and it would be physically impracticable for that person to reach the pool if the barrier met the standard. Queensland Government: you live or will live at the property and could not reach the pool if the fencing met the laws.
• How fast: The Act says the council must decide within 5 business days of the application (s 237).
• How long it lasts: It ends if you stop owning the pool, the person it was granted for is no longer an occupier of the land, or reaching the pool would no longer be physically impracticable (s 241).

Impracticality

• Who applies: The owner of the regulated pool (s 245).
• What the council must be satisfied of: That meeting that part of the standard is not practicable. The council can ask for further information (s 245A) and may consider matters such as the cost of barriers and whether a building would have to be moved or demolished (s 245B).
• How fast: If the council does not decide within the decision period, the application is taken to be refused (s 245B).
• How long it lasts: It continues to apply unless the council revokes it (s 245D). The council can revoke after a show cause notice if the application contained false or misleading information or a condition was broken (s 245E).

Both processes sit with the local council for the area where the pool is. The Business Queensland page says councils decide impracticality exemptions and existing disability exemptions, and can charge a cost recovery fee. Fees differ, so ask your council, which is why we do not list one.

What an exemption does not change

• It covers only part of the barrier rules, not the whole barrier. The Queensland Government says it applies only to the extent necessary, and the Act says the pool safety standard still applies to the extent the exemption does not cover it (ss 240 and 245C).
• The council may grant it on reasonable conditions it considers necessary to prevent a young child getting to the pool (ss 237 and 245B).
• It does not decide anything about a certificate. Only a licensed pool safety inspector can issue a pool safety certificate or a nonconformity notice.

What we have not covered

We have not listed the application forms, which differ between councils, or whether other approvals are needed for the work an exemption would cover. We found no source on appeals, so we say nothing about them. Ask your council, and see the usual requirements for the rules an exemption would change.

How this page was made: the PoolPreCert team read each page listed under Sources on 5 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.