If you are thinking of installing a swimming pool in your home, you also need to make sure you have a budget for pool fencing.
In order to protect children from wandering into swimming pools and drowning, Australian law now requires all pools to have adequate fencing. The material that the fence is made from does not matter, as long as it conforms to regulatory standards that are designed to make sure children are adequately protected.
Regarding cost, you can safely expect your pool fencing to set you back $200 per metre for timber and $600 per metre for a frameless glass fence. Let’s take a look at a few of the basics when it comes to your options for pool fencing.
What type of pool fencing should you go with?
Under Australian law, you can buy and install any kind of pool fencing you want as long as it conforms to regulatory standards. Some of the most common types of fencing include:
Timber: Basic wood fencing
Metal: Most commonly made from either steel or aluminium. Aluminium is highly durable when power coated and marine grade steel is able to withstand high levels of water erosion. Metal fences are not permitted to have vertical bars as children are able to squeeze between them.
Glass: Glass has become the most popular kind of pool fencing in recent years as it allows unhampered view of the pool area without any ugly bars obscuring it. Each safety glass panel is affixed to an aluminium or stainless steel post with a spigot. You can expect to choose 8 mm, 10mm or 12mm thick glass panels.
Glass fencing styles
There are two basic types of glass pool fencing you can select from:
- Frameless – A series of panels is secured together by special ground affixed spigots or brackets. This option is naturally the most expensive as provides an uninterrupted glass surface.
- Semi-frameless – A series of panels is separated by posts to which each panel is attached. This option is cheaper as it includes the posts around the outskirts of the pool.
Pool fencing safety regulations
As mentioned, your pool fencing efforts are going to need to conform to the strict standards set out under the law. The general idea is that the pool fencing adequately prevents unsupervised children from breaching or climbing over the fence.
The pool fencing must be able to withstand a certain threshold of pressure and must not have any gaps or footholds that children can exploit.
The following specifications detail what is expected of a pool fence:
- Minimum 1.2 metres tall to prevent small children from climbing
- Perforated or mesh fences must have horizontal openings no larger than 13 mm if less than 1.8 metres in height.
- Mesh or chain link fences that have openings between 13mm and 100mm must be a minimum of 1.8 metres tall.
- Any gaps between vertical parts of a fence cannot be any larger than 100mm
- One side of the pool can be walled in, however the wall must be at least 1.5 metres in height any connected openings, doors or gates much have self-latching devices.
