Do I need council approval to remove a pool?

The three pathways, in the council's own words

Kiama Council's fact sheet on removing a swimming pool sets the framework out plainly, and it matches what other NSW councils publish.

No approval: “Only swimming pool and spa structures that can be constructed as Exempt Development under State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 (Code SEPP) may be demolished/removed without approval.” In practice this covers portable pools and spas that meet all the exempt criteria — not a conventional in-ground pool.

Otherwise: “deconstruction, demolition or decommissioning of any swimming pool and/or spa structure requires the obtaining of a Complying Development Certificate (CDC) from a Certifier or the preparation and lodgement of a Development Application (DA) with the Council.”

And the timing rule that is easy to miss: “The CDC or the DA must be approved before works can lawfully commence.”

One trap sits beside the pool itself. Removing “ancillary structures such as decking or retaining walls may require a prior development approval being obtained prior to their demolition unless they were constructed under the exempt provisions of the Code SEPP”. So a pool that can be removed under one pathway may sit inside a deck that cannot, and the deck is a separate question.

Requirements differ between councils and NSW is not every state, so confirm with yours before booking anyone. What generalises is the structure: there are three pathways, the narrow one is genuinely narrow, and approval comes before work.

Why the cheaper method needs the harder approval

This is the finding that reverses what most people assume, and two councils publish it in nearly identical language.

Asked whether the shell can be left in place and filled, Kiama Council answers: “Ordinarily no, as removal and demolition of a swimming pool requires removal of the total structure and all associated materials from the site so that there is no waste (i.e. disused pool structure) buried on the site.”

Where partial retention is considered at all, three consequences follow:

• it “would require the submission and consideration of a DA”;
• “The partial pool removal could not be done as Complying Development as it would not meet the complying development criteria”;
• it “will likely result in a notation being placed on the property title identifying contamination (i.e. buried waste) at the site”.

That third point is stated more strongly than most owners expect. Kiama does not describe a possible administrative note; it describes a notation identifying contamination, on the title, because buried demolition waste is what the shell becomes.

So the economics invert. Partial fill-in is cheaper to perform and more expensive to approve, and it leaves a permanent record on your title. Full removal costs more on the day and can often proceed as complying development, leaving nothing behind.

The reason generalises even where the wording differs: a buried shell is a drainage, stability and disclosure problem for every future owner of that land, and planning systems answer permanent consequences with permanent records. Our companion page covers what the two methods cost — see what it costs to remove a pool.

What the approval actually requires you to do

Whichever pathway applies, the physical requirements are consistent across the councils publishing on this, and they are stricter than most quotes assume.

Everything goes. “Removal and demolition of a swimming pool includes the removal of all associated plumbing, pipework, cabling, filters, and other material from the site. These materials must be taken to a licenced disposal facility.” Capping and burying services is not permitted.

Clean fill only. “Only certified clean fill material or certified Excavated Natural Material (ENM) can be used for filling of the pool excavation. The filling must be well compacted. Building or demolition waste cannot be used to fill the pool.”

And specifically, not the pool itself: “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.”

Restore the levels. The excavation “must be filled to restore the site to the ground level (existing) adjacent to the pool, considering any sloping of the site”, well compacted.

Keep the receipts. “Yes, it is important to keep receipts for disposal of all demolition waste together with receipts for delivery of all certified material used for filling of the pool excavation.”

Read together, these explain a large part of the spread between removal quotes. Crushing the shell and using it as fill is the single cheapest way to do this job, and it is expressly not permitted. A quote priced as though it were is a quote worth a question rather than a signature.

The receipts requirement is worth honouring even where nobody asks. They are the only evidence you will ever hold that the work was done properly, and the person most likely to want that evidence is a buyer's solicitor some years from now.

The step that is definitely yours: getting it off the register

Removing the pool does not remove the pool from the record, and no contractor does this for you.

Kiama sets out what the council wants in order to update the register:

• the property address and the CDC or DA approval number, where demolition approval was required;
• where no prior approval was required, proof such as photographs that the pool has been removed from the site;
• a brief statement that the pool has been removed or demolished and is no longer required to be on the Swimming Pool Register.

Until you do this, the pool legally still exists, and so do its obligations. A registered pool carries barrier compliance duties, and in NSW a certificate of compliance or non-compliance is part of selling or leasing the property. Discovering at exchange that the register still shows a pool that has been gone for three years is an avoidable problem.

Queensland handles it differently again — the QBCC is asked to remove the pool from the register once it has been decommissioned. The common thread is that the notification is the owner's job in every state we have looked at.

Three things worth doing on the day the work finishes, while everything is still fresh:

• photograph the site from several angles, with a date;
• collect the disposal and clean-fill receipts from the contractor before they leave;
• notify the register, and keep the acknowledgement.

Related reading: how to check if your pool is registered, what happens if a pool is not registered, and selling a house with a pool.

And if the plan is to remove one pool in order to build another, the two run on separate approvals and separate contracts. Comparing quotes for the replacement is worth doing before the first one comes out, because access for the removal and access for the new dig are the same constraint.

Common questions

Sources

• Kiama Council NSW — removal of a swimming pool fact sheet
• Bayside Council NSW — removal of a swimming pool information sheet
• NSW Department of Planning — demolition of buildings: rules for exempt and complying development

General information only, current at 2026-09-20. 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.