Pool fencing in Wollongong, set out to the standard before it goes in

We are based in Wollongong and install pool fencing across the Illawarra and South Coast: Helensburgh, Thirroul, Woonona, Bulli, Corrimal, North Wollongong, Fairy Meadow, Figtree, Unanderra, Port Kembla, Dapto, Horsley, Albion Park, Warilla, Oak Flats, Shellharbour, Shell Cove, Minnamurra, Kiama, Jamberoo, Gerringong, Berry and Nowra.

A pool barrier is the one fence on a property where the measurements are not a matter of taste. The heights, the gaps and the climbable zone are set by AS 1926.1-2012, and an inspector measures them. We set out to those numbers at the site measure, which is cheaper than moving a fence afterwards.

These are the figures the standard sets. They are worth knowing before you choose a fence, because they rule some options out on some blocks.

• Height. A pool barrier is a minimum of 1200mm. Where the barrier is also a boundary fence, it is 1800mm.
• Gap at the bottom. No more than 100mm between the bottom of the barrier and the finished ground.
• Non-climbable zone. 900mm, kept clear of anything a child could use as a foothold.
• Latch height. 1500mm from the ground, or 1200mm if the release is on the inside with the release point 150mm below the top of the gate.

The non-climbable zone is the one that catches people out. A retaining wall, a garden bed, an air-conditioning unit, a pot or a tap can all sit inside it, and the barrier fails even though the fence itself is correct. We look for those at the measure.

All three can be made compliant. They differ in what they cost to maintain and how they handle salt air.

• Frameless and semi-frameless glass. The clearest view and the most expensive hardware. The spigots and hinges do the structural work, so that is where the specification matters.
• Aluminium. Light, powder coated, and the common choice. Aluminium does not rust, but it does pit in salt air and it suffers galvanic attack where it contacts stainless or steel fixings, so fixings are matched to the fence.
• Steel. Fabricated in our shop, hot-dip galvanised to AS/NZS 4680 where it lives outside, then coated. Heavier and the most repairable of the three.

Close to the water, surface finish and a regular fresh-water rinse do more for stainless hardware than the grade alone. Both 304 and 316 stainless can tea-stain near the coast; 316 resists chloride pitting better, but neither is maintenance free.

A pool gate has to swing outward away from the pool, self-close from any position it is opened to, and self-latch without being lifted or pushed. Most barriers that fail an inspection fail at the gate rather than along the fence.

Because fabrication is our own trade, gate frames are squared in the shop before they come to site, and the hinge and post detail is set for a gate that will be slammed several thousand times. A gate that drops out of square stops self-latching, and that is the whole point of the barrier.

Half an hour here saves a failed inspection later.

• The finished ground level along the whole line, because the 100mm bottom gap is measured to finished ground, not to where the dirt is today.
• Anything inside the non-climbable zone on the outside of the barrier: walls, beds, pots, taps, units, furniture.
• Boundary fences doing double duty as pool barriers, where the 1800mm height applies.
• Where the gate opens, what it swings over, and whether there is room for it to swing away from the pool.
• Windows and doors that open into the pool area, which have their own requirements.

We build the barrier to the standard. The compliance certificate itself is issued by your council or a registered private certifier after they inspect it, not by the fencing contractor, and that inspection is booked by the pool owner.

What we give you is a barrier set out to the AS 1926.1 figures and a straight answer at the measure about anything on the block that will not pass, so you are not finding it out from an inspector.

Four stages.

• Site measure and set out. Levels, the non-climbable zone, gate swing and anything that has to move before we start.
• Fabrication. Gate frames and any steel are made and squared in the shop.
• Install. Posts set, panels or glass hung, gate fitted and adjusted until it self-closes and self-latches from every opening angle.
• Handover. We walk the barrier with you, show you what the inspector will check, and take the offcuts.