Pool Inspection for Inherited Properties in Victoria

Reviewed by Ryan Gaw, VBA-registered pool safety inspector (IN-PS), Local Pool Inspections.

Inherited a Victorian property with a pool? The compliance obligations transfer with the asset. A current Form 23 already in place stays valid until its expiry, but it doesn’t renew itself, and if the estate sells the property, a current certificate is part of the Section 32 vendor statement. Executor or beneficiary, the jobs are the same; the timing is what trips people up.

Compliance During Estate Administration

From probate through to final transfer, the pool safety obligation sits with the executor, not the beneficiary waiting on the keys. What that covers:

• The pool stays registered on the council’s Pool and Spa Register under the deceased’s name until the title transfers.
• A Form 23 that was current at the time of death remains valid until its expiry date. A Form 23 certifies your barrier was compliant on the inspection date; Victoria re-inspects pools on a four-year cycle.
• If that certificate expires during administration, renewing it falls to the executor.
• If the estate sells the property, a current Form 23 is required as part of the sale. Your conveyancer will confirm the exact provisions that apply.

Finding the Existing Form 23

Estate paperwork ends up scattered across drawers, inboxes and the solicitor’s file, and the Form 23 is one of the easiest things to lose in it. Three places worth checking:

1. Estate papers. A Form 23 is often filed with property documents, insurance papers, or council correspondence.
2. The council. City of Greater Geelong, Wyndham City or Moorabool Shire can supply a copy of the Form 23 on file against the property’s Pool and Spa Register record.
3. The deceased’s email, if you can access it. Most recent Form 23 lodgements are emailed, so a search there often turns up the latest copy.

If no current Form 23 turns up, you’ll need a fresh inspection before a sale can proceed.

Pool Registration vs Form 23 — Two Different Records

People mix these two up constantly, and it bites at settlement. The council keeps them as two separate records:

• Pool and Spa Register entry — confirms the pool exists at the property. Created at install or first registration, and it doesn’t expire.
• Form 23 certificate — confirms current barrier compliance. Valid four years, lodged separately, and must be lodged with council within 30 days of issue.

Both need to be in order for a sale to complete. If either is missing or expired, deal with it before listing rather than mid-contract.

If You’re Keeping the Property

Once the title transfers to you, standard owner-occupier rules apply:

• If a current Form 23 is on file, you’re covered until that certificate’s expiry, then the pool moves onto the ongoing four-year re-inspection cycle.
• If there’s no current certificate, arrange an inspection so a fresh Form 23 can be lodged. Our guide to the current Victorian pool safety regulations covers what the barrier is measured against.
• Update the council’s records so the Pool and Spa Register shows the new owner’s name and contact details.

For how that recurring cycle works, see our guide to the four-year re-inspection cycle inspection.

If You’re Selling the Property

This is where most of our inherited-pool jobs come from. The executor, or a beneficiary acting as vendor, has to put a current Form 23 into the Section 32 vendor statement before the property changes hands. The order we’d suggest:

1. Book the Form 23 inspection four to six weeks before listing, so there’s time to sort any remediation without holding up the sale.
2. Walk the property in person first, using our pool compliance checklist as you go. Homes that have sat empty often have non-climbable-zone overgrowth, gate hardware that’s degraded from disuse, and erosion-related gaps under the fence that nobody was there to catch.
3. Budget for likely remediation. A property left vacant for six months or more commonly has gate hardware issues that have progressed.

For the full sale timeline, see selling a house with a pool in Victoria. If a beneficiary is buying out the others and keeping the property, the same checks a purchaser would run apply — see buying a house with a pool in Victoria.

What We See Most on Inherited Pools

1. Vegetation grown into the non-climbable zone

When a property has been vacant or the previous owner was unwell, gardens push into the non-climbable zone (NCZ) — the clear area on the outside of the barrier, the side a child would climb from, swept as an arc from the top of the fence. The NCZ is 900 mm for pools built from 1 May 2010 and 1200 mm for pools built between November 1994 and April 2010, depending on the standard your pool was built to. Anything that gives a child a foothold inside that arc is a breach, right down to a planter pot someone left leaning on the fence. On a property that’s sat empty through a long illness or a drawn-out probate, overgrowth into that zone is the first thing I look for, and I rarely come up empty.

2. Gate self-close gone soft

A gate left unused for months doesn’t look worn. The spring loses tension anyway. We routinely find gates that self-closed and latched fine a couple of years before the owner died, and now won’t return and latch from every open position the way the standard requires. Don’t try to adjust or replace the spring yourself — the gate needs to be checked and any repair handled by a licensed installer, then verified at inspection.

3. Pool water and equipment condition

Not a Form 23 issue, but worth flagging while you’re there. Long-neglected pools often have stagnant water, a failed pump, or chemistry well out of balance. None of that affects the Form 23, but it can affect how the property shows to buyers.

If the estate property came with pets, or a buyer asks, note that the barrier is measured against child-safety dimensions rather than animals — we cover that difference in pet safety vs child safety in pool barriers.

4. Council registration that was never done

If the deceased never registered the pool — uncommon on newer builds, but we still see it on 1970s and 80s installs that predate the register — registration has to be completed before any Form 23 can be lodged against the property. The catch for executors: the registration form asks for owner details, and with the title mid-transfer that’s a question your conveyancer usually has to answer rather than you. Allow an extra two to three weeks, and don’t book the inspection until the register entry exists.

5. Patchy historical records

Older Form 23 records were paper-based. If the deceased’s papers are incomplete and the council’s file is thin too — rare, but it happens with very old pools — it’s worth establishing the position with council before lodging a fresh certificate, so nothing surfaces later in the sale.

Pricing for Inherited Pool Inspections

Same flat $250 inc GST. There’s no estate or commercial premium — the work is the same, the standard is the same, the certificate is the same. If a vacant property needs remediation, the re-inspection for those items is included in that $250, the same as any other job. Receipts can be issued in the estate’s name on request.

One thing we don’t do: the initial Form 23 on a brand-new pool. At first occupancy of a new build, the building surveyor certifies the barrier as part of the build. Local Pool Inspections handles the ongoing four-year renewals and pre-sale inspections — which is exactly what an inherited property needs.

FAQ

Does a Form 23 transfer to me when I inherit the property?

The certificate doesn’t transfer automatically, but a Form 23 that was current at the time of death stays valid until its expiry. A Form 23 certifies your barrier was compliant on the inspection date; Victoria re-inspects pools on a four-year cycle. Once it expires, a fresh inspection and lodgement are needed.

Who is responsible for pool compliance while the estate is being administered?

The executor. Until the title transfers, the obligation to keep the barrier compliant and the Form 23 current sits with the estate, not the eventual beneficiary.

Do I need a current Form 23 to sell an inherited property with a pool?

Yes. A current Form 23 forms part of the Section 32 vendor statement when the estate sells. Book the inspection four to six weeks before listing so there’s time for any remediation. Your conveyancer will confirm the exact provisions.

How do I find a Form 23 the deceased held?

Check estate and property papers, ask the relevant council (Greater Geelong, Wyndham or Moorabool) for the copy on file against the Pool and Spa Register, and search the deceased’s email, since most recent lodgements are emailed.