Pool Fencing Contractor: Who Tells the Building Surveyor

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If your pool builder is not contracted to build the safety barrier, the obligation falls on you. Section 25A(2) of the Building Act requires the owner to give the relevant building surveyor details of the fencing contractor within 14 days of engaging them. No contractor does it for you, and the compliance record depends on it.

The short answer

The trigger is a split contract. It applies where the pool builder is not contracted to construct the safety barrier — a very common arrangement.
14 days from engagement, not from when the fencing work starts or finishes.
It is the owner's obligation, under section 25A(2) of the Building Act. Not the pool builder's, and not the fencing contractor's.
Recommended practice is for the surveyor to note it on the building permit with a reminder — so check your permit, because the reminder may already be on it.
The barrier is part of the same permitted building work. Nobody can sign off a pool whose barrier was built by a contractor the surveyor was never told about.

Who is responsible for what when the barrier is a separate contract
Task	Pool builder	Fencing contractor	You
Build the pool	Yes	No	No
Build the safety barrier	No, in a split contract	Yes	No
Tell the surveyor who the fencing contractor is	No	No	Yes — within 14 days
Arrange the mandatory inspections	For the pool stages	For the barrier	Confirm they happened
Maintain a barrier once water exceeds 300mm	While on site	—	Ultimately yours
Hold the completed compliance documents	No	No	Yes

Where the obligation comes from, and why it exists

Practice Note 05-2018 records it as part of what a surveyor should do at permit stage: “If the pool builder is not contracted to construct the safety barrier, recommended practice is for the RBS to note this on the building permit and include a reminder that section 25A (2) of the Act requires the owner to provide the RBS with details of the fencing contractor within 14 days of their engagement.”

The reason is structural. A pool building permit covers the pool and its safety barrier as a single piece of building work — the practice note is explicit that “any building permit for a pool or spa must also include detailed information about the required safety barrier”. The surveyor is responsible for inspecting that work through to a final inspection.

But a surveyor can only inspect work they know is happening, carried out by someone they know about. When the barrier is built by a contractor engaged directly by the owner — after the pool contract has run its course — there is no contractual thread connecting that contractor to the surveyor at all. Section 25A(2) supplies the missing link, and it does so through the only party who is present at both ends of the job: you.

For what the barrier itself has to achieve, see the pool fence rules and the non-climbable zone.

The 14 days runs from engagement, not from the work

The clock is worth stating precisely because it is easy to assume it starts later than it does.

It runs from the engagement of the fencing contractor — that is, from when you appoint them. Not from when they start on site, and not from when the barrier is finished.

That ordering is deliberate and it is in your interest. Notifying at engagement means:

the surveyor knows who is building the barrier before it is built;
any concern about the proposed barrier can surface while it is still a drawing;
the mandatory final inspection can be sequenced properly rather than chased afterwards.

A short note is enough. Identify the property and the building permit number, name the fencing contractor and their business details, give the date of engagement and the expected start date. Send it by email so there is a timestamp.

One practical trap: people often engage a fencing contractor informally — a verbal yes and a deposit — weeks before any paperwork exists. The engagement is what starts the 14 days, so if you accepted a quote in March and signed something in May, the earlier date is the one to work from. When in doubt, notify early; there is no penalty for telling the surveyor sooner than required.

What to check on your own permit today

Because the practice note describes it as recommended practice rather than a mandatory permit condition, whether the reminder appears on your permit varies between surveyors. That makes this a two-minute job worth doing rather than assuming.

Look at your building permit and answer three questions:

Does the permit note that the pool builder is not constructing the safety barrier?
Is there a reminder about section 25A(2) and the 14 day notification?
Which building practitioners are listed on the permit? The permit “must list building practitioners to be engaged in the building work”, so a barrier contractor appointed later will not be on it.

If the reminder is there, the obligation is already flagged and the date matters. If it is not there, the obligation still applies — a reminder is a courtesy, not the source of the duty.

There is a related permit question worth resolving at the same time. The practice note notes that where building work is to be undertaken on an existing safety barrier, the surveyor can issue a building permit just for the barrier; and where a pool is being installed within an existing approved barrier that satisfies AS 1926 Parts 1 and 2, a permit just for the pool. So “is the barrier inside this permit or does it need its own?” is a real question with more than one correct answer, and it is better asked at the start.

If the council or surveyor has already knocked something back, what to do when an application is rejected covers the routes available.

Why split contracts produce most of the loose ends

The notification duty is one symptom of a broader pattern, and recognising the pattern is more useful than memorising the rule.

When the pool and the barrier are bought from two different businesses, the gaps between them become the owner's problem by default. There is nobody whose job it is to look at the whole thing.

The recurring ones, all of which we have seen turn into real cost:

The notification itself — 14 days, section 25A(2), owner's duty.
Level changes. A surround or deck built to the barrier line counts as finished ground level, so a compliant 1200mm fence can become a 950mm one without the fence being touched. The barrier and the paving are usually two different contracts designed by two parties who never speak.
The gap in time. A pool that holds more than 300mm of water needs a complying barrier immediately, which can fall in the window between the pool finishing and the fencing contractor starting.
Warranty insurance. Each contract stands on its own for cover purposes, so a barrier job priced below a state's threshold may not be insured even where the pool is.

None of this argues against splitting the contract — it is often cheaper and it lets you choose a fencing specialist. It argues for deciding, in advance and in writing, who is responsible for each of the four items above. Asking that question while comparing pool quotes also tends to reveal which builders have thought about it, and our guide to insurance on a pool fence contract covers the last of them.

Common questions

Who has to tell the building surveyor about the fencing contractor?

The owner. VBA Practice Note 05-2018 records that “section 25A (2) of the Act requires the owner to provide the RBS with details of the fencing contractor within 14 days of their engagement”, where the pool builder is not contracted to construct the safety barrier. Neither contractor does it for you.

When does the 14 days start?

From the engagement of the fencing contractor, not from when the work begins or finishes. If you accepted a quote and paid a deposit well before any contract was signed, work from the earlier date. There is no downside to notifying sooner than required.

What if my pool builder is also building the fence?

Then this obligation does not arise, because it applies specifically where the pool builder is not contracted to construct the safety barrier. The barrier is covered by the same building permit and the same contractor relationship, so the surveyor already knows who is doing the work.

Will the reminder be on my building permit?

It may be. The practice note describes it as recommended practice for the surveyor to note on the permit that the pool builder is not constructing the barrier and to include a reminder about section 25A(2). Because it is recommended rather than mandatory, practice varies — and the obligation applies whether or not the reminder appears.

Does the barrier need its own building permit?

Sometimes. Where building work is to be undertaken on an existing safety barrier, a surveyor can issue a permit just for the barrier. Where a pool is being installed within an existing approved barrier that satisfies AS 1926 Parts 1 and 2, a permit just for the pool can issue. It is worth settling which applies before work is arranged.

Sources

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.

Who tells the building surveyor about the fencing contractor?