I thought I’d share a picture of a homeowner’s innovative thinking which addressed the issue of a large gap between the bottom of the pool barrier and ground level. The relevant Australian Standard (in this case AS1926.1-2012) for this pool barrier specifies that “the height of any opening between the bottom of the fencing and the finished ground level shall not exceed 100mm”. Furthermore, the Standard advises that the finished ground level must “not be easily removed or eroded by a young child, animals or weather” which if eroded would increases the height of the gap further.
The homeowner had a gap that was significantly larger than the maximum permitted 100mm but did not have an issue with the ground level being easily eroded. In response to this non-compliant issue, the homeowner securely fastened a section of pool barrier to the lower horizontal rail of the pool barrier and in doing so completely removed the gap. It should be noted that the requirement isn’t to completely remove the gap, rather the gap only needed to be reduced to no greater than 100mm.
As a result of this innovation, this clause of the Australian Standard was compliant which because all other aspects of the pool barrier were compliant, allowed us to issue the Certificate of Pool Barrier Compliance (Form 23) on the same day as the compliance inspection.
