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How much does it cost to fill in a pool in Australia?

Filling in a pool means decommissioning it and backfilling the hole with soil, not filling it with water. It is the cheaper way to get rid of a pool on the day, and the one with more council approval and register paperwork afterwards.

Updated 2026-09-24 7 sources cited
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Filling in a pool costs about $3,500–$7,000 in Sydney and $4,000–$9,500 in Perth for a concrete pool, going by contractors' published prices, against $8,000–$16,000 to remove a concrete pool entirely. The physical work takes 1–3 days: drainage holes are cut in the floor, the upper walls are typically broken down, and the hole is backfilled with clean fill compacted in layers of no more than 300mm. Access, fill volume and approvals move the price.

The short answer

  • “Filling in” a pool means backfilling it with soil and decommissioning it. If you meant filling it with water, that costs about $136 for a 40,000 litre pool in Sydney — see what it costs to fill a pool with water.
  • Published fill-in prices: $3,500–$7,000 from a Sydney contractor and $4,000–$9,500 from a Perth one for a concrete pool; a Melbourne contractor quotes $2,000–$16,000 across all methods. None of these is a regulated price.
  • Extras sit on top: tight access $1,000–$3,800, a crane lift $900–$2,500, backfill and compaction $50–$95 per cubic metre, and $1,500–$3,500 for compaction and geotechnical testing if you want to build on the spot later.
  • The cheaper method needs the harder approval. In NSW, councils state that partial removal cannot be done as complying development, needs a development application, and can put a notation on the property title.
  • Clean fill only. The broken shell and coping may not be used as fill, all pipework and equipment must go, and the pool stays on the register until you deregister it.
What filling in a pool costs: contractors' published prices, by city
SydneyPerthMelbourne
Fill-in (partial removal), concrete pool$3,500–$7,000$4,000–$9,500$2,000–$16,000, all methods
Full removal, concrete pool$8,000–$15,000$8,500–$16,000—
Full removal, fibreglass pool$10,000–$20,000$3,500–$8,500—
Tight access surcharge+$1,000–$3,500+$1,200–$3,800—
Crane lift—+$900–$2,500—
Backfill and compaction—$50–$95 per m³—
Pool deeper than 1.8m+$2,000–$5,000——
Compaction and geotechnical testing, to build on later$1,500–$3,500——
Coping and paving removal$80–$150 per m²Not included in base price—
Time on site1–3 days——

Filling in a pool vs filling a pool with water

The two searches look almost identical and mean opposite things. Filling a pool is putting water in it: a 40,000 litre pool is 40 kilolitres, which costs about $136 at Sydney Water's 2026–27 rate. Filling in a pool is getting rid of it: draining it, breaking it down and backfilling the hole with soil so the yard becomes lawn or garden again.

This page is about the second job. For the first, see the cost to fill a pool with water in Australia. For taking the whole shell out rather than burying it, see what it costs to remove a pool.

How a pool is filled in, step by step

Council specifications for a pool left in place and buried are more prescriptive than most quotes suggest. Mornington Peninsula Shire's published method, which matches what NSW councils require, runs like this:

  1. Drain the pool and remove the filtration system, access ladders and all plumbing, pipework and cabling. These go to a licensed disposal facility; capping and burying them is not permitted.
  2. Cut drainage holes in the floor — at least two holes of at least 500mm × 500mm in the deep end, or as an engineer determines — and clear the debris out of them, so water drains away rather than pooling in a buried shell.
  3. Break down the walls as specified. Contractors typically remove the upper section of the walls, and Mornington Peninsula notes that cutting down the side walls may also be considered.
  4. Backfill with clean fill or certified excavated natural material, compacted in layers of no more than 300mm, back to the level of the surrounding ground.
  5. Keep the receipts for disposal and for the clean fill delivered. NSW councils say they may ask for them.

A Sydney contractor puts the physical work at 1–3 days, and allows 4–6 weeks from start to finished paperwork where the ground has to be shown fit to build on.

Worked example: how much fill does a pool take?

The fill is a line you can check yourself. Pool volume is length × width × average depth. An 8m × 4m pool averaging 1.5m deep is 48 cubic metres.

At the backfill and compaction rate one Perth contractor publishes, $50–$95 per cubic metre, that is $2,400–$4,560 for the fill alone. Compacted soil takes up less room than it did on the truck, so the quantity delivered is larger than the hole's measured volume. Ask for the delivered quantity and the rate as separate lines on the quote.

A plunge pool is far less: a 4m × 2.5m pool averaging 1.4m deep is 14 cubic metres, or $700–$1,330 at the same rate. This is why access, not size, usually decides which end of the range your quote lands on.

Is it cheaper to fill in a pool or remove it?

On the day, filling in is cheaper — roughly half the price of full removal in both the Sydney and Perth figures above. Over the life of the property it can cost more, because of what it leaves behind.

NSW councils publish this plainly. Kiama Council's position is that removal “ordinarily” means taking out the whole structure so that no disused pool is buried on the site. Where leaving part of it is considered at all, “the partial pool removal could not be done as Complying Development”, it needs a development application, and it “will likely result in a notation being placed on the property title identifying contamination (i.e. buried waste) at the site”. Bayside Council adds that an approval may require the coping to be left exposed above ground so later owners know a shell is there.

Mornington Peninsula Shire warns that a pool left in place “can be problematic if any future construction and/or re-development is proposed on the site”. If you might extend, subdivide or build a granny flat where the pool is, get a price for full removal as well. The approval routes are covered in do I need council approval to remove a pool.

Can you fill in a pool with concrete or rubble?

Not with rubble, and not with the pool itself. The council requirements we found are explicit: “It is not permitted to leave remnants of the pool shell in the ground or to use portions of the pool shell and/or pool coping as filling within the pool excavation.” Building or demolition waste cannot be used to fill the pool. The fill must be certified clean fill or certified excavated natural material, well compacted.

Crushing the shell and using it as fill is the cheapest way to do this job, and it is not permitted. A quote priced as though it were is worth a question before a signature. Pouring new concrete into the hole is not what these specifications describe either — they call for compacted clean fill — so ask your council before considering it.

After the pool is filled in: take it off the register

Filling in the pool does not remove it from the pool register, and contractors do not usually do this for you. Until you do, the barrier obligations continue.

  • Queensland: email the QBCC to ask for the pool to be removed from the register once it is decommissioned.
  • NSW: notify your council with the approval number, or dated photographs where no approval was needed.
  • Victoria: satisfy your council that the pool no longer exists or can no longer hold 300mm of water; council inspects before removing it.
  • Western Australia: notify your local government; an authorised inspector attends.

Step-by-step detail: how to take a pool off the register.

Common questions

How much does it cost to fill in a pool in Australia?
Contractors publish about $3,500–$7,000 in Sydney and $4,000–$9,500 in Perth to fill in a concrete pool, and a Melbourne contractor quotes $2,000–$16,000 across all methods. Tight access, crane lifts and council fees are extra.
Is filling in a pool the same as filling a pool?
No. Filling a pool means putting water in it, which costs about $136 for 40,000 litres in Sydney. Filling in a pool means draining, breaking down and backfilling it with soil, which costs thousands.
Is it cheaper to fill in a pool or remove it?
Filling in is cheaper on the day, roughly half the price of full removal. But in NSW partial removal needs a development application rather than complying development and can put a notation on the property title, and a buried shell can complicate building on that spot later.
Do I need council approval to fill in a pool?
Usually. In NSW, partial removal cannot be done as complying development and needs a development application. In Victoria, Mornington Peninsula Shire requires a demolition permit where the pool is within 2m of a boundary or another building. Check with your council before booking a contractor.
How long does it take to fill in a pool?
The physical work takes 1–3 days, according to a Sydney contractor. Where the ground has to be shown fit to build on, the same contractor allows 4–6 weeks from start to finished paperwork.
What can I use to fill in my pool?
Certified clean fill or certified excavated natural material, compacted in layers no deeper than 300mm. The broken pool shell, coping and other demolition waste may not be used as fill.

Sources

General information only, current at 2026-09-24. Pool rules differ by state and by council, and penalty amounts are updated regularly. Confirm your own obligations with your council or a registered inspector before acting.

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