Councils will determine the date of construction based on range of different sources of information that are prescribed in the proposed Regulations. Because the proposed Regulations apply to all swimming pools and spas, including those built before the Building Act or Building Regulations were introduced, the intent is to give council the widest possible scope and discretion to reach a determination regarding the date of construction. It should be noted that councils are not obliged to use all of these sources of information if, for example, a pool owner is able to provide records of building approvals then council may choose to rely on that and look no further. Once the council has reached a determination as to the date of construction and registered the swimming pool or spa they must notify the owner in writing as to the date of construction and applicable barrier standard.

Determination will largely define what barrier standard the pool owner must comply with, there is the potential for a pool owner to disagree.n obvious example might be where a council determines the date of construction as being after 1 May 2010, and therefore the applicable barrier standard would require a four-sided isolation barrier where one doesn’t currently exist.For that reason, the proposed Regulations allow pool owners an avenue of appeal. If they disagree with the determination of the relevant council, they have a period of 30 days from the day they receive notice of the determination to appeal to the Building Appeals Board (BAB). Under the Building Act, the BAB may affirm, vary or substitute the determination of the relevant council.

A certificate of pool and spa barrier compliance must be in the form of Form 23.