Do I need a permit or a fence for a pool or hot tub in BC?

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Accepted Answer

The council's bylaws decide: Coldstream and the Okanagan-Similkameen ask for a building permit and a fence at least 1.2 m high with a self-closing, self-latching gate. A backyard pool or hot tub is a drowning risk for small children, so many BC councils have rules for building one and fencing it in. The Province's pool rules leave out a pool at a house; the council's building and zoning bylaws decide. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. Whose rule it is: The Province's Pool Regulation leaves out a pool installed for the occupants and guests of one house or duplex, unless it's a strata's common facility (s. 2 (1) (a)). For a pool or hot tub at a house, the council's building bylaw says when it needs a permit and how it's fenced, and its zoning bylaw where it may stand (our reading; ask the building department). Coldstream, as one example: The District of Coldstream's Building Bylaw No. 1758, 2021 asks for a building permit to build or structurally repair a swimming pool (s. 15.1). A pool, spa or hot tub must be enclosed by a fence at least 1.2 m high, with no footholds or grips a child could climb and no opening over 100 mm (s. 15.2), entered only through a self-closing, self-latching gate with the latch on the pool side (s. 15.3), and kept in good repair while the pool is used (s. 15.4). The Okanagan-Similkameen, as another: The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen's Building Bylaw No. 2805, as its pool handout gives it, asks for a building permit with a plan showing where the pool sits and how it's enclosed (ss. 14.1, 14.2), the same 1.2 m fence (s. 14.3) and a self-closing, self-latching gate unless the way in is through the house (s. 14.4). An above-ground pool with sides at least 1.2 m high may fence just the ladder (s. 14.5), and pool water must be drained on the same property, to the ground where practical (s. 14.7). Where it may stand, and the rest: A zone can count a pool as an accessory structure with its own setbacks (our reading; check the zone). A pump, heater or hot tub needs an electrical permit (see electrical and gas permits), a pool cut into a slope can need a retaining wall (see retaining walls), and emptying one is a question of drainage and the council's sewer bylaw (see drainage). Shared and rental pools: A strata's pool, and one at a business offering 4 or more rooms or campsites to the public, is a commercial pool under the Pool Regulation (ss. 1, 2 (1) (d)): building it takes a health officer's construction permit on plans sealed by an engineer or architect (s. 5), running it an operating permit (s. 6), and it must be fenced with controlled access (s. 7). What it means for a buyer: A pool built without a permit the bylaw asked for is unpermitted work (see unpermitted work). Check that the fence is unbroken, the gate closes and latches on its own, and a hot tub's cover locks, and ask your insurer what it requires (our reading).

Do I need a permit or a fence for a pool or hot tub in BC?

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