A Form 23 Certificate of Barrier Compliance is the official Victorian document confirming your pool or spa barrier meets the required safety standard. A VBA-registered pool safety inspector issues it on the same day as a passing inspection. The certificate is issued on the day of a passing inspection and certifies compliance on that date, with re-inspection every 4 years, and costs $250 all-inclusive with Local Pool Inspections.
Facts checked against the Building Regulations 2018 (Vic), 9 October 2026
A Form 23 pool safety certificate is the approved form a registered inspector signs when your pool or spa barrier passes. It records that the barrier complied on the day of the inspection. It isn’t a licence that runs for a set period, and most of the questions people ask about it come down to dates and who does what.
- Your next certificate is due four years after the last one was lodged with council, not four years after the inspection (reg 147V(4)). Council writes to you with the exact date.
- You have 30 days from the issue date to lodge it. After that, the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC, formerly the VBA) says a fresh inspection is needed (reg 147V(2)).
- You lodge it, not the inspector. I issue the certificate; the lodgement, and council’s fee, are yours.
- Your barrier is checked against the standard council has registered for your pool, which follows its construction date (regs 5 and 147T). A pool built between 1 May 2013 and 30 April 2026 is usually on AS 1926.1-2012. Older pools sit on older editions.
- Selling doesn’t start a new deadline. Council registers the new owner and tells them when the next certificate is due (reg 147ZL), so the buyer inherits that date along with the cost of any fix.
Ready to book instead? If you already know you need a Form 23 pool safety certificate and just want it done, go straight to the booking page — flat $250 all-inclusive, same-day certificate where your barrier passes, across Greater Geelong, the Bellarine, Moorabool and Wyndham. This guide is the full explainer if you want to understand the certificate first.
What is a Form 23?
A Form 23 is the approved Victorian form for the certificate of pool and spa barrier compliance — the document a registered pool safety inspector signs after your barrier passes inspection. It sets out the property, the pool or spa it covers, the standard it was measured against, and the inspector’s registration details, and it is lodged with your council once issued. Think of it as the paper trail that proves, on the day it was signed, your barrier met the standard your council has registered for your pool.
The Form 23 Certificate of Pool and Spa Barrier Compliance is the official document the owner of a residential pool or spa over 300 mm deep in Victoria must lodge with council, with a new one due every 4 years. It’s issued by a pool safety inspector registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission (formerly the VBA) after an on-site assessment against your pool’s applicable barrier standard; you then lodge it with your local council within 30 days of issue. Here’s everything Victorian property owners need to know about the certificate itself: what it contains, how long it lasts, and what makes one valid (or not). For the full compliance picture beyond the certificate, see our pool safety compliance guide.
Need a Form 23 in Greater Geelong, Bellarine, Moorabool or Wyndham? Flat $250 all-inclusive, same-day where compliant, free re-inspections. Call 0402 860 499 or book online.
What Form 23 Actually Is
Under Part 9A of the Building Regulations 2018 (Vic), the owner of every registered Victorian residential pool or spa over 300 mm deep must lodge a Certificate of Pool and Spa Barrier Compliance (the “Form 23”) with the local council, and lodge a new one every 4 years (reg 147V). The certificate confirms the barrier system surrounding the pool meets its applicable barrier standard. For pools built from 1 May 2013 to 30 April 2026 that is usually AS 1926.1-2012, the Australian Standard for residential swimming-pool and spa-pool safety barriers.
The Form 23 is paired with two other instruments:
- Non-Conformance Report — issued when the barrier doesn’t pass; lists every issue and required remediation. (Form 24, the separate Certificate of Pool and Spa Barrier Non-Compliance, is a council-lodged escalation document reserved for limited circumstances.)
- Form 33 — Application to Decommission a Pool. Used when permanently removing a pool from council records.
What a Form 23 pool safety certificate proves
A Form 23 pool safety certificate is proof that on the day I inspected it, your barrier met the standard your council has registered for that pool. It is not a receipt for the inspection and it is not a builder’s sign-off. On a pass I issue it the same day, and it goes to your council inside 30 days. What you receive is the approved Form 23 — there is no separate short-form or summary version for council purposes.
What’s on a Form 23
A valid Form 23 contains:
- Property address — exact, must match the council Pool and Spa Register entry
- Pool/spa identifier — which body of water on the property the certificate covers
- Inspector details — name and VBA registration number (prefix IN-PS)
- Inspection date — when the on-site assessment was conducted
- Issue date — when the certificate was signed (usually same as inspection date)
- Applicable barrier standard — the standard council has registered for your pool, next to its date of construction
- Findings — a clear statement that the barrier complies
- Inspector signature
- Council lodgement stamp / receipt — added by council when the certificate is registered (typically 3–7 business days after lodgement)
If any of these are missing, the certificate may be invalid or unfit for sale purposes. Conveyancers in 2026 are scrutinising Form 23s carefully. See our buyer’s due-diligence checklist.
Form 23 Validity Windows
A standard Form 23 certifies compliance on the inspection date, and the next one is due 4 years after it was lodged with council. In between, you must keep the barrier properly maintained, and any change to the barrier or the area around it can put it out of compliance.
For sale purposes, conveyancers typically prefer a Form 23 issued within the last 12 months of the contract date. If your last Form 23 was lodged 3 years ago, the next one isn’t due for another year, but buyers’ representatives may request a fresh inspection to confirm nothing has changed since issue.
For 4-year renewal cycle details, see our 4-year pool barrier inspection guide.
When is your next Form 23 due?
Four years after your last certificate was lodged with council. That’s the anchor in reg 147V(4), and it’s why counting forward from the inspection date can leave you a few weeks out. A certificate can be dated up to 30 days before it’s lodged, so the issue date and the lodgement date often differ.
Council has to write to you with the lodgement date and the date the next certificate is due. That letter is the date to plan around. If you can’t find it, ask your council, which keeps the pool and spa register. Leave enough time before the due date for any repair and the free re-inspection.
Who Can Issue a Form 23
Under reg 147Y, a Form 23 can be issued by a registered pool safety inspector the owner engages, by the relevant building surveyor when barrier building work is finished, or by the municipal building surveyor. For the four-yearly certificate on an existing pool, you engage a pool safety inspector registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission (formerly the VBA). The BPC issues these registrations under the Building Act 1993; the licence prefix is IN-PS followed by a six-figure number. Here’s how to verify an inspector’s IN-PS registration on the public register before you book. Local Pool Inspections holds IN-PS 100055; you can verify on the VBA Practitioner Search at vba.vic.gov.au.
A Form 23 issued by anyone without current VBA registration is invalid. Council will not accept it; conveyancers will reject it; insurers may decline related claims. More on VBA registration and what IN-PS numbers mean.
How a Form 23 Is Lodged with Council
Once the inspector signs the Form 23 on-site:
- Same-day electronic lodgement — the owner lodges it with council, usually online within a day or two
- Council processing — typical turnaround: 3–5 business days for City of Greater Geelong, 5–7 for Wyndham City and Moorabool Shire
- Stamped copy returned — council emails the registered Form 23 back to the inspector and homeowner
- Master copy retained on the council’s Pool and Spa Register
For the full process by council, see Greater Geelong council lodgement, Wyndham council process, or Moorabool Shire process.
When You Need a New Form 23
- Selling the property — most agents and buyers’ conveyancers ask for a current Form 23 around the Section 32 vendor statement before settlement, though it isn’t a statutory Section 32 component. Selling timeline
- Selling the property — see the before-settlement inspection timeline
- Leasing the property — Form 23 in place before tenants move in
- 4-year renewal cycle — every existing pool needs re-certification every 4 years
- New pool installation — the building surveyor on your permit issues the first Form 23 after the final inspection, and your council’s registration notice tells you the date it must be lodged by
- Major barrier modification — re-inspection if you’ve changed fence sections, the gate, or the surrounding NCZ landscape
- Council audit — some councils (Greater Geelong has been active in 2026) audit short-stay listed properties; a current Form 23 is required
What happens to the Form 23 when a house with a pool sells?
Nothing resets. The obligation sits with the property, so when it changes hands council records the new owner and writes to them with the barrier standard that applies and the date the next certificate is due (reg 147ZL). A buyer inherits that date, and if the barrier has slipped since the last inspection, the repair bill comes with it.
No Victorian law sets a sale deadline for a Form 23, and the Sale of Land Act 1962 doesn’t mention pools at all. What you will run into is contract practice. A buyer’s conveyancer may ask for a recent certificate, or the contract may carry a special condition about the barrier, and those are terms the parties agree to rather than rules in the regulations. If you’re buying, check the date on the last certificate and ask council when the next one falls due.
What Happens If the Inspection Fails
If the barrier doesn’t meet its applicable barrier standard at inspection, the inspector issues a Non-Conformance Report instead of a Form 23. The Non-Conformance Report:
- Lists every issue with photographs (in our reports)
- References the clause of the applicable standard being breached
- Includes recommended remediation steps
Once you’ve remediated the issues, a re-inspection is required to issue a fresh Form 23. With Local Pool Inspections, re-inspections are included in your original $250 fee. More on what to do after a failed inspection.
About nine in ten of the barriers I inspect pass first time. When one doesn’t, the order is the same every time: the Non-Conformance Report lists each item, you get reasonable time to fix them, I come back at no extra charge, and the Form 23 is issued once the barrier passes. A Form 24 isn’t the next step. It’s kept for a barrier that poses an immediate threat to life, or for repair work that never gets finished. Repairs that fix flagged faults usually don’t need a building permit, though five things can change that, and the guide to pool barrier repairs and building permits walks through each one.
How Much Does a Form 23 Cost?
Local Pool Inspections charges $250 all-inclusive across our entire Victorian service area. That covers travel, on-site inspection, the Form 23 issued to you the same day, free re-inspections if your barrier needs remediation, and post-inspection email/phone support.
Some Melbourne-based inspectors quote a base rate and add travel surcharges, lodgement fees, and re-inspection fees on top. Detailed cost breakdown of what $250 covers.
Do You Always Need a Form 23?
Yes, if your pool or spa is over 300 mm deep when filled. The threshold isn’t pool design; it’s water depth. Most permanent pools, all spas, and even portable inflatable products that can hold over 300 mm of water trigger the requirement. Inflatable / portable pool requirements.
Pools under 300 mm (children’s wading pools, decorative shallow features) don’t require Form 23.
Whatever the trigger, the document that gets lodged is the same one: the Form 23 certificate of pool and spa barrier compliance, signed by a registered inspector on the day the barrier passed.
Pool safety services we provide
Common Form 23 questions
How do I get a Form 23 in Victoria?
Register the pool or spa with your council, book a registered pool safety inspector, have the barrier inspected against the standard that applied when the pool was built, then the inspector issues the Form 23 on a pass and you lodge it with council within 30 days of issue. In the Geelong region that is $250 all-inclusive, usually same-day.
How long is a Form 23 valid in Victoria?
A standard Form 23 is issued on the day of a passing inspection and certifies the barrier was compliant on that date; Victoria requires re-inspection every 4 years, and it must be lodged with council within 30 days of issue. Council registration typically takes 3–7 business days after lodgement.
Who can issue a Form 23?
A registered pool safety inspector you engage, the building surveyor after barrier building work, or the municipal building surveyor (reg 147Y). Inspectors registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission (formerly the VBA) carry an IN-PS registration number, which must appear on the certificate. The inspection is against your pool’s applicable barrier standard.
What is the difference between a Form 23 and a Form 24?
A Form 23 certifies the barrier complies, which is why a property with two separately fenced pools or spas needs two certificates. Form 24 is a separate, council-lodged Certificate of Pool and Spa Barrier Non-Compliance reserved for limited escalation circumstances. The routine outcome of a failed inspection is a Non-Conformance Report, which lists every issue and the required remediation. A Form 33 is the separate application used to permanently decommission a pool.
How much does a Form 23 cost in the Geelong region?
Local Pool Inspections charges a flat $250 all-inclusive across Greater Geelong, Bellarine, Moorabool and Wyndham, including a same-day Form 23 where the barrier is compliant and free re-inspections if it is not.
What is a Form 23 pool safety certificate?
It’s the approved Form 23 — the certificate of pool and spa barrier compliance a registered inspector signs after your barrier passes. It records the property, the standard the barrier was measured against, and the inspector’s registration, then gets lodged with your council.
Can I lodge a Form 23 online?
In most of our area, yes. The City of Greater Geelong takes Form 23s electronically, and Wyndham City has its own online portal. Moorabool, Surf Coast and Queenscliffe each run their own process, so check with the council. Either way, you lodge it, not the inspector, within 30 days of the certificate’s issue date, and council charges a lodgement fee.
What is an approved Form 23?
Approved Form 23 is the official Victorian form for a certificate of pool and spa barrier compliance, and it’s the form council registers. A letter, a checklist or an inspection report isn’t a Form 23, even from a registered inspector. On a pass you receive the form itself, signed, with the inspector’s registration number on it.
Does the Form 23 cycle carry over when you buy a house with a pool?
Yes, the four-year cycle carries over. Council registers you as the new owner and writes to tell you which barrier standard applies and when the next certificate is due (reg 147ZL). Nothing resets at settlement. If the barrier needs work before then, the cost of fixing it falls to you as the owner.
Who certifies the barrier on a brand-new pool?
On a new pool, the first certificate comes from the building surveyor on your building permit, issued after the final inspection (reg 147Y(1)). Your council’s registration notice then gives the date it must be lodged by. Local Pool Inspections comes in at the first four-year certificate and every one after it.
Do I need a separate Form 23 for a pool and a spa?
Only if they’re fenced separately. Each separately fenced pool or spa needs its own certificate, while a pool and spa sharing one barrier need just one. Both can be inspected in the same visit, at $250 per barrier. Our guide to multiple pools or spas on one property has the detail.
Form 23 across Geelong, Bellarine, Moorabool and Wyndham — $250 all-inclusive
VBA-registered (IN-PS 100055). Same-day Form 23 where compliant. Free re-inspections included. You lodge it with council within 30 days of issue.
Call 0402 860 499 or book online.
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