There is a recurring issue when undertaking compliance inspections where a boundary fence is used as part of a pool barrier. It is particularly where the fence posts and rails are on the pool side of the boundary fence.
Standards AS1926.1-2007 and 2012 state that where a boundary fence forms part of the pool barrier the boundary fence must have a height not less than 1,800mm on the pool side of the fence as well as there not having any climbable surface/objects/trees on the inside of the fence within a 900mm arc measured down and out from the top of the boundary fence.
During a recent pool barrier compliance inspection in Lovely Banks, the timber paling fence was less than 1,800mm in height so the homeowner secured fence extensions to the top of the fence. They were mindful not to leave spaces of greater than 10mm between the horizontals of the extenders, and also not to leave a ‘lip’ with a depth of greater than 10mm between the top of the palings and the extenders. Because the horizontal surface of the upper fence rail and the upper surface of the fence post had a 10mm depth and were within the 900mm non-climbable arc measured down from the top of the extended fence, the surfaces facilitated a climbable surface for a child climbing down from the top of the boundary fence.
To rectify this issue, the homeowner added timber to the top of the upper horizontal rail which was angled at 60 degrees to the horizontal – noting that a 60 degree surface is considered under the Standard as non-climbable. In addition, the homeowner modified an ‘offcut’ of an old fence post, so it too was angled at 60 degrees to the horizontal rendering it non-climbable. These modifications rectified the issue and allowed the homeowner to achieve compliance of their pool barrier.
