Pool fence mesh and glass: what is allowed?

13mm and 100mm: the only two numbers you need

The rule for perforated and mesh barriers is a threshold ladder, and once you know where your material sits on it the height requirement follows automatically.

Apertures not greater than 13mm, measured horizontally across the widest part: minimum 1200mm in height, with non-climbable zones in accordance with clause 2.2 of AS1926.1-2012. This is the ordinary fence height, so a fine mesh barrier behaves like any other barrier.

Apertures more than 13mm but not greater than 100mm: minimum height 1800mm. That is 600mm taller, and it is a completely different-looking fence.

Apertures greater than 100mm: shall not be used. Not “may be used if taller” — not permitted.

The reason for the jump is climbability. Small apertures give no foothold. Once a gap is wide enough to take the toe of a child's shoe, the barrier is a ladder, and the standard's answer is to put the top of it out of reach rather than to make the holes safe. This is the same logic that lets an internal barrier of 1800mm or more dispense with non-climbable zones entirely and be climbable on both sides.

The practical trap is at the specification stage. Decorative screening, welded mesh and many privacy panels sit in the 13–100mm band, so a material chosen from a photograph can quietly commit you to an 1800mm fence. Measure the aperture across its widest part before you price the job, not after. Comparing quotes that specify the material and height in writing is how that mistake gets caught early rather than at inspection.

The 25kg test that rules out flimsy mesh

Height alone is not enough, because mesh sags. The standard therefore requires that barriers of perforated or mesh materials be of sufficient height that a 25kg weight supported at any point along the top of the barrier will not reduce the height to less than 1200mm.

The phrase doing the work is “at any point”. It is not a test at the post, where everything is stiff. It is a test at the middle of the longest span, where a lightly framed mesh panel will deflect. A barrier that measures 1220mm at rest and 1150mm with a child's weight on it does not comply, and this is precisely the failure mode that a tape measure on its own will not find.

Alongside it, the bottom gap must be installed so that it does not exceed 100mm when a vertical lift force of 100N is applied. Same principle at the other end: the gap is measured under load, not at rest. Flexible mesh that lifts is the common offender.

And every component — panel infills, top and bottom rails, rods, palings, pickets and the like — must sustain a force of 330N without breaking, showing signs of fracture, loosening so the effectiveness of the panel is impaired, or becoming permanently deformed by more than a factor of 1/200 over its length. Each post and its footing must withstand 330N applied horizontally at 1200mm above finished ground level, which is about 33 kilograms and can be tested in the field with a calibrated spring balance.

Glass: the standard you have probably never heard of

Glass barriers are treated separately and they have their own reference. AS1926.1 includes provisions at clause 2.3.3 for glass barriers and glass gates with top and bottom pivot style hinges, and the glass itself must comply with AS1288, the Australian Standard for glass in buildings.

That second requirement is the one worth asking about, because it is invisible once installed. AS1288 governs the selection and installation of glass, including the safety glazing requirements that determine how a panel behaves when it breaks. The compliance lives in the glass specification and the certification, not in how the finished fence looks — and two frameless glass fences that look identical are not necessarily equivalent.

Glass has no apertures, so the 13mm/100mm ladder does not apply to the panels. The rest does: an internal glass barrier under 1800mm needs non-climbable zones, the bottom gap rule applies, and the 330N component test applies. A frameless glass panel is stiff enough that the 25kg deflection question rarely arises, which is part of why it is a popular answer — and part of why it costs more. What a pool fence costs sets out the material ranges.

What happens at the top and bottom of the panel

Two details decide more inspections than material choice does, and both are about the 900mm zone above the ground on the outside face.

Projections and indentations. Within NCZ 1 — the vertical plane on the outside face of the barrier — a horizontal surface with a depth greater than 10mm should not be made. Projections or indentations with horizontal surfaces deeper than 10mm should be not less than 900mm from the top of the barrier and less than 900mm above finished ground level.

Ten millimetres is not much. A chunky rail, a decorative capping, a bolt head with a washer stack: each is a toehold, and each is assessed as one.

Steps and level changes. A step, object or level change that abuts the fence is considered to be the finished ground level, so the 1200mm is measured from that point rather than from the ground. Clause 2.3.1 requires steps, objects or level changes to be set back a minimum of 500mm from the barrier.

On a sloping block this is where compliant fences become non-compliant later, because the landscaping arrives after the fence. A retaining wall, a raised garden bed or a paved step built up against the barrier can cost you the height you paid for. Non-climbable zones explained covers the geometry in full, and pool landscaping covers what to keep 500mm back.

Common questions

Sources

• VBA Practice Note 05-2018 — Swimming Pool & Spa Safety
• Australian Standard AS 1926.1-2012 — Safety barriers for swimming pools
• Australian Standard AS 1288 — Glass in buildings
• VBA Practice Note 05-2018, as published by Mornington Peninsula Shire

General information only, current at 2026-09-16. 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.