Short answer
A strata scheme with a shared pool must keep the pool fenced and compliant with NSW pool safety law, and — because a shared pool is common property — maintaining that barrier is generally the owners corporation’s responsibility, not any individual owner’s. Pool safety sits under its own dedicated law, separate from the strata Act.
Which law applies
Pool safety in NSW is governed by separate pool-safety legislation and regulation, not the Strata Schemes Management Act. That law sets the requirements for barriers, gates, signage, registration on the state swimming pool register, and certificates of compliance. The strata Act determines who is responsible (the owners corporation, as it’s common property); the pool-safety law determines what compliance actually requires.
Flag: the technical detail — barrier heights and gaps, gate self-closing/self-latching rules, registration and inspection cycles, and certificate requirements — sits in NSW pool-safety law and can change. Confirm the current specifics with your council or a pool safety inspector rather than relying on a general summary.
Why it falls to the owners corporation
A shared pool and its surrounds are common property, so keeping the barrier compliant and maintained falls to the owners corporation as part of its general duty to maintain common property. That covers the fence and gates, signage, and arranging any required inspection or certification — not leaving it to whoever lives nearest the pool.
Why it’s taken seriously
Pool barriers exist to prevent young children drowning, so compliance is treated strictly and non-compliance can carry penalties. A gate that no longer self-latches, a propped-open pool gate, or a lapsed certificate are exactly the kinds of faults that matter — small in appearance, serious in consequence.
Not letting the compliance cycle lapse
Pool compliance is recurring — inspections, certificate renewals and barrier maintenance all run on their own clocks, and they slip when nobody is watching the calendar. Straita keeps a self-managed scheme’s pool-safety obligations and their renewal dates tracked alongside its other recurring compliance items and flags them before they fall due, so the committee acts in time rather than after a certificate has already expired.
Primary sources
- NSW Government — Swimming pools and spas — NSW pool safety, registration and compliance requirements.
- NSW Government — Strata schemes (Fair Trading) — the owners corporation’s duty to maintain common property.