Pool Inspection in Moorabool Shire: What’s Different

Published by Local Pool Inspections · inspections carried out by Ryan Gaw, VBA-registered Pool Safety Inspector (Licence IN-PS 100055).

Moorabool Shire runs pool safety compliance for Bacchus Marsh, Ballan, Maddingley, Darley, Coimadai and the rural-residential corridor around them — roughly 20,000 households spread thin across a large, low-density council. On paper the Form 23 process is the same one I run in Greater Geelong. Two things change it on the ground: a smaller council team handling fewer lodgements, and the pools themselves, which sit on big native-soil blocks that move in ways suburban fill doesn’t.

Moorabool’s Form 23 Lodgement Process

Step 1: Pool registration

Every pool or spa capable of holding water more than 300 mm deep must be on Moorabool Shire’s Pool and Spa Register. Registration is free; you do it through the council website or the Building Permits team. This has to happen first, because an inspector can’t lodge a Form 23 against a pool the council has no record of.

Step 2: Inspection

I assess the barrier on-site against the edition of AS 1926.1 that applied when the pool was built. That construction-date rule is the one every Victorian council follows, and it doesn’t change with age: a pool built between 1 Nov 1994 and 30 Apr 2010 is held to AS 1926.1-1993, one built from 1 May 2010 to 30 Apr 2013 to AS 1926.1-2007, and anything from 1 May 2013 to the current AS 1926.1-2012. The walk-around covers barrier height, ground and rail gaps, gate self-close, latch height, the non-climbable zone, window and door access, and the gate hardware.

Step 3: Electronic lodgement

I lodge the Form 23 electronically with Moorabool Shire. Turnaround usually runs to several business days. That’s a little slower than Greater Geelong, for the simple reason that a smaller team processes fewer Form 23s each week. Once issued, the certificate must be lodged with council within 30 days of issue, with re-inspection required every four years.

Step 4: Council-stamped copy

Council emails the stamped Form 23 back to both of us, inspector and homeowner. That stamped copy is the one your conveyancer or agent will ask for at sale. For a full breakdown of what the certificate covers, see our Form 23 guide.

What’s Actually Different About a Moorabool Pool

Rural-residential block sizes

Most Moorabool pools sit on blocks running from 2,000 m² up to several hectares. A single job out to Ballan, Coimadai or Long Forest can add half an hour of driving each way that a Geelong-suburb job never involves. Running the base out of Maddingley is a deliberate choice to keep that travel inside the Shire. It’s the reason the $250 flat fee holds right across the council area with no rural surcharge tacked on.

Soil movement on larger blocks

Native-soil blocks move more over the years than the engineered fill under most suburban subdivisions, and barriers move with them. That’s why the under-fence gap is the failure I flag most often out here. The maximum allowed between the bottom of the barrier and the ground is 100 mm. A couple of dry-then-wet seasons of settlement under a fence post is enough to open it past that, on a barrier that passed cleanly four years earlier.

Frost and weather extremes

Bacchus Marsh and Ballan cop genuine frost most winters, the kind the Bellarine coast rarely sees. Metal hardware feels it. The expand-and-contract cycle works gate hinges and latches loose faster up here, so a self-closing gate that was crisp last inspection can be the thing that fails this one.

Spa-only properties

I see more spa-only properties across Moorabool than I do in Greater Geelong. Owners are sometimes surprised by this part: a spa that holds water more than 300 mm deep is held to the same barrier standard and the same Form 23 as a full in-ground pool. Same standard, same $250, same process.

Moorabool Suburbs We Cover

• Bacchus Marsh — the largest residential pocket, a mix of older inland-style homes and newer estates
• Maddingley — directly south of Bacchus Marsh, and where we’re based
• Darley — established residential, north of Bacchus Marsh
• Ballan — a smaller township with rural surrounds
• Coimadai — rural-residential to the west
• Outer rural — Long Forest, Myrniong, Greendale, Mount Wallace, Korweinguboora, Blackwood, Wallace, Mount Egerton, Lal Lal, Pentland Hills, Ingliston, Glenmore, Korobeit, Beremboke and Bungal

Same-Day Form 23 Availability

From the Maddingley base I can usually get same-day to Bacchus Marsh, Maddingley and Darley jobs on weekdays. The outer townships such as Coimadai, Long Forest and Myrniong are typically next-day, purely a function of the drive. There are dedicated slots held in the weekly schedule for Moorabool work so it doesn’t get bumped behind Geelong bookings.

How Moorabool Compares to Greater Geelong and Wyndham

If you’ve had a pool inspected in one of the bigger councils nearby, here’s roughly how Moorabool sits against them. Greater Geelong lodges fastest, usually within a few business days, and carries by far the largest pool population. Wyndham and Moorabool both land in the several-business-days range. Where Moorabool stands apart is the texture of the work rather than the rules: the smallest council team, the longest fence-to-fence drives, and the most genuinely rural feel of the three.

Melton City Council, immediately east of the Shire, is the other one worth knowing about if you’re near that boundary — and it’s running a very different pattern right now, with the growth-corridor estates all reaching their first four-year re-inspection at once. There’s a full breakdown in our guide to pool inspections in Melton Shire.

If Your Moorabool Pool Doesn’t Pass

When a barrier doesn’t meet the standard, it gets a Form 24 non-conformance report: photographs of each issue and a plain description of what needs to change. In Moorabool the two that come up again and again are hardware (corroded hinges, tired springs) and under-fence gaps (soil settlement). I don’t prescribe the specific fix or do the repair work myself. The report sets out the hazard so your licensed fencer or installer knows exactly what to address, and then I re-inspect at no extra charge. Hardware refreshes tend to take a week or two; under-fence regrading more like two to three, and the real bottleneck is usually fencer availability across the Shire rather than the work itself. The re-inspection is built into the $250. There’s more on what happens next in our failed-inspection guide.

FAQ

How much does a pool inspection in Moorabool Shire cost?

$250 all-inclusive (inc GST), flat across the entire Shire from Bacchus Marsh to the outer rural townships. There’s no rural travel surcharge, and a re-inspection is included if anything needs fixing.

How long does Moorabool Shire take to process a Form 23?

Around several business days for electronic lodgement, a touch slower than Greater Geelong because the council team is smaller. The inspector lodges the certificate within 30 days of issuing it, and the Form 23 certifies compliance on the inspection date, with re-inspection required on Victoria’s four-year cycle.

Does a spa in Moorabool need a Form 23?

Yes — any spa capable of holding water more than 300 mm deep needs a barrier and a Form 23, the same as a full pool. It must also be on the council’s Pool and Spa Register.

Why are under-fence gaps a common fail in Moorabool?

Many Moorabool pools sit on large native-soil blocks that move more than engineered suburban fill. Over a few seasons that settlement can open the gap under the barrier past the 100 mm maximum. Have it checked by your inspector if you’re unsure.