Pool Inspections in
St Albans Park, Victoria

The geology map for the suburb centre shows alluvial and coastal dune ground: silt and sand, laid down by water and wind. Fence posts in that kind of soil lean a little more each season, and a post that has leaned can leave a gate that once shut cleanly stopping short of its latch. The Barwon River runs along the southern edge, and yards on the low ground toward it tend to stay damper, which is hard on hinges and gate springs.

Across all our jobs, that gate is the defect we write up most: it no longer closes and latches by itself. So on soft ground we open it to several positions, let go each time and watch the latch catch, then check how each post stands and how worn the hinges and closer are. You can try it yourself the week before. Pull the gate about halfway, let go, and listen for the click.

A river at the back of the block doesn't count as a pool barrier. Neither does a reserve. The suburb has public parkland and a landscape overlay area, so some blocks back onto open space, and on those we check the outside face of the boundary for anything a child could climb. The pool still needs its own compliant barrier.

Neighbouring Whittington and Breakwater each have their own page. There's a page for barrier inspections around Charlemont too. Council's lodgement steps are in the council process for Greater Geelong. Before we arrive, try the gate self-close test; it takes two minutes. If you're in Thomson, use the Thomson pool inspection page instead.

St Albans Park sits in the City of Greater Geelong, and you register and lodge online with Greater Geelong. In Victoria the pool safety certificate is the Form 23. When the barrier passes, we issue it on site. Lodging it is the owner's job, and the four-year cycle runs from the day council receives that lodgement. Council's own count says about nine in ten registered pools have a current certificate across Greater Geelong.

Council's fees and wording change on council's own pages, so we keep one summary rather than copying them here. It's the Greater Geelong pool barrier compliance page, set out the way council states it. Not sure the pool was ever registered? Start there, or ring us and we'll sort out which step comes first.

A brand-new pool is the permit surveyor's to sign off, not ours; we come in at the first four-year inspection. For an existing pool, the pool safety barrier inspections page covers the visit from arrival to paperwork. Looking for St Albans in Melbourne's west instead? That's St Albans, under a different council.

Usually inside a week from your call. The suburb sits about 5 km south-east of central Geelong. It was split from Whittington around 1999, and Townsend Street is still the line between them. The drive from our Clifton Springs base is about 26 minutes. We group visits by area as calls come in rather than keeping fixed days for each suburb.

The checks are the same ones we run right across Geelong. When you book, tell us whether you'll be home; we'd prefer you there, and if you can't be, an agent, tenant or neighbour can let us in.

Got a council reminder letter? Call or send an enquiry with the address. If it's your first inspection, the Geelong pool inspection guide explains the visit, and all the areas we cover are listed in one place.