How do I take my pool off the register?

The thing that catches people: demolition and deregistration are two acts

An owner fills the pool in, the yard becomes lawn, and eighteen months later a compliance notice arrives about a pool that has not existed for a year and a half.

This happens because the register is a record you are on, not a description of your yard. The contractor who removes the pool has no obligation to tell the register, and in the states we checked, does not.

The quotable version: the excavator finishes the job; the register does not know until you tell it.

The consequence is not merely administrative. A pool that remains on the register keeps the barrier compliance obligation attached to it — in Victoria, the four-yearly certificate cycle; in WA, the local government's periodic inspection program; in NSW, registration and certificate obligations at sale or lease. Our pages on what happens if you do not register a pool and how to check if your pool is registered cover the obligations that continue in the meantime.

Before starting, check whether the removal itself needs approval — see whether council approval is needed to remove a pool.

The 300mm test, and what councils accept as proof

The standard is capability, not appearance, and it is set at the same depth that brings a pool into the barrier rules in the first place.

Mornington Peninsula Shire's decommissioning fact sheet states that ‘a property owner will need to satisfy Council that their pool/spa no longer exists or is no longer capable of holding 300mm of water’, and that once the council receives the information ‘they will need to inspect to confirm that the pool/spa can be removed from the Council register’. The council then removes the information and notifies the owner that ‘there is no further obligation for the owner to lodge a Certificate of Pool and Spa Barrier Compliance’.

The published decommissioning methods are more specific than most owners expect:

• Relocatable and above-ground pools: completely dismantled and removed.
• Above-ground spas: completely removed, or 4–6 holes of 50mm diameter drilled in the bottom.
• In-ground pool left in situ and buried: cut at least two holes at least 500mm x 500mm in the deep end (or as an engineer determines), remove debris from the cut-outs, remove the filtration system and access ladders, and fill the excavation with appropriate back-fill compacted in layers of maximum 300mm depth. Cutting down the side walls may also be considered.
• Complete removal: back-fill with soil appropriate for the site as determined by a geotechnical or structural engineer, compacted in layers of maximum 300mm.

And a rule that catches boundary-close pools: where the pool or spa is within 2m of a boundary or another building, a demolition permit is required, because the demolition may have an adverse effect on adjoining properties or buildings. Mornington Peninsula strongly recommends obtaining engineering advice before removing a pool.

In Western Australia, the City of Fremantle's published requirements follow the same logic: notify the city once decommissioned, an authorised inspector attends, and for below-ground concrete or fibreglass pools the minimum includes cutting a minimum of 2 x 500mm x 500mm squares in the base and disconnecting filtration and ladders. Where a pool is close to a boundary, BA20 and BA20A forms signed by the adjoining owner may be required before removal.

The variation almost nobody plans for: keeping it as a pond

Converting a pool to a pond is a common instinct and it is not a shortcut out of the register.

Mornington Peninsula publishes a pathway, and it is more involved than filling it in. The owner must decommission the pool by removing the filtration pipes, blocking all pipe inlets with concrete, and injecting concrete into all internal water jets and skimmer boxes. On top of that, the owner must agree to a statement being placed on the Land Information Certificate under section 229 of the Local Government Act, recording that the structure is no longer a class 10b swimming pool or spa but has been adapted to a pond, and that a building permit is required to recommission it.

That is a permanent note on a property certificate a future buyer's conveyancer will read. It is not a reason to avoid the pathway, but it is a reason to choose it deliberately rather than by default. Our page on selling a house with a pool covers what buyers and their advisers look for.

The council also notes that it always recommends installing a compliant barrier first, and that where a building notice or order has been issued to fence a non-compliant pond, an owner who disagrees can apply to the Building Appeals Board for a modification under section 160 of the Building Act to modify or delete the requirement of Regulation 147A of the Building Regulations 2018.

One more consequence worth knowing before you choose to bury rather than remove: the same fact sheet warns that decommissioning an in-ground pool that remains in situ ‘can be problematic if any future construction and/or re-development is proposed on the site in the future’.

What it costs, and the order to do it in

Fees for deregistration itself are low or nil where published, but the removal work is not, and the sequence affects both.

On fees, Mornington Peninsula publishes that there is no fee for removal or decommissioning, and no refund of previous registration fees. Other councils set their own, so confirm locally rather than assuming. Our page on pool permit and registration fees by state covers the fees on the way in.

The cost that dominates is the physical removal, which varies enormously with access, pool type and whether the shell is removed or buried — what it costs to remove a pool sets out the published ranges.

Common questions

Sources

• Mornington Peninsula Shire — fact sheet: decommissioning or removal of a swimming pool or spa
• City of Fremantle — decommissioning swimming pools or spas
• Kiama Municipal Council — removal of a swimming pool information sheet

General information only, current at 2026-09-22. 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.