Just a few decades ago, pool safety in Queensland was pretty bad. The biggest cause of death amongst little tots was death by accidental drowning. The first round of pool safety laws managed to get that figure down but the Queensland government felt that more needed to be done. The new pool safety laws call for pool safety inspections to be carried out to ensure that both existing and new pools meet the basic compliance criteria.
When you are buying, selling or leasing a property with a pool, there are certain responsibilities that you have. It is best to get the professional advice of a buyers agent Brisbane, if you are not completely sure what to do. In terms of the law, you need to issue the prospective buyers with a form that basically informs them that the pool may not comply with the new law. Should you not provide this, the buyer may demand a pool safety compliance certificate from you. Without one or the other, the sale may be invalid.
If you are renting a property with a pool, you are not legally allowed to enter into a lease agreement if the pool safety certificate is not present. This can lead to trouble further down the line as the lease agreement may be deemed invalid if the pool is not compliant. If you are buying a property, the seller has a duty to inform you, in writing, whether or not the pool is compliant – this will either be through the use of a Form 36 Notice of no pool safety certificate, Form 26 which show what work is required to make the pool complaint or through the presentation of a Form 23 a Pool Safety Certificate. You will then need to decide how you want to proceed in terms of the purchase of the property. You can make it a condition of sale that the pool safety certificate is obtained or you can accept the property as is. Just keep in mind that you will then be responsible for getting the pool safety certificate. It is wise to contact someone with expertise as a buyers agents Brisbane to make sure that everything is handled correctly.
Whether you are the owner of the property or merely just the tenant, pool safety is something that is very important and should be taken to heart. Use a bit of common sense as well. The pool can be one hundred per cent compliant but that will not make any difference if you are going to leave the gates to the pool area open. Use your brain and do not let kiddies play by the pool unsupervised.
