What Does "Registering a Pool" Mean in Victoria?
Registering a pool means putting it on your council's pool and spa register. That register is an ownership and location record. It's not a safety check, and getting on it doesn't say anything about whether your fence passes. Every Victorian council keeps one under the Building Act 1993 and the Building Regulations 2018, and it's the owner who has to lodge the registration — whether the pool went in last month or has sat in the backyard since the 1990s.
You do it on Form 22, the Application for Registration of Swimming Pool or Spa. It wants the property address, the pool or spa type, and roughly when it was built. That's about the whole form. It catches anything holding more than 300 mm (30 cm) of water, so a portable or inflatable pool left standing counts, not just a permanent in-ground one. Our pool safety barriers guide works through the same depth rule for temporary pools. Where owners trip up is treating Form 22 as the whole job: registration only lists your pool. A Form 23 is separate — that's a VBA-registered/BPC building inspector confirming your barrier was compliant on the day they checked it. You need both.
Before You Start
- Form 22 — address, pool/spa type, approximate build date
- Covers >300mm depth — in-ground, above-ground and set-up inflatables
- Not the same as Form 23 — registration lists you; Form 23 certifies the barrier
- Free with most councils — a separate charge to any later lodgement fee
When Do I Need to Register — New Pool vs One I Just Bought vs One I've Had for Years?
New pool or spa just built: you've got 30 days from the point the pool holds water or passes its final building inspection. Which of those two triggers the clock is stated on your council's registration page.
Bought a property with an existing pool: if the previous owner never registered it, that job lands on you the day you settle. Lodge Form 22 as soon as you find out. Waiting for a letter from the council is the wrong move — it may never come, and the obligation is yours either way. Our pool inspection for property sale service and pool inspection before settlement timeline guide go deeper on this one.
Pool you've owned for years and never registered: register now. Age is no exemption. Victoria's rules reach back over existing pools and spas, not only new builds, so a pool that predates the register still has to go on it, and lodging Form 22 is how you close that gap — whenever the thing went in.
Do I Register With the State or With My Council?
With your council. There is no single statewide portal for registration. Each council we work across — Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire, Wyndham City, Moorabool Shire, Melton City — runs its own register and its own Form 22 process, usually an online form or an email to the building team. The table below links straight to each one.
Council-by-Council: Where to Register Your Pool or Spa
Confirm the current form, fee (if any) and channel on your council's own page before lodging — councils update their process from time to time. Details below checked against each council's published registration page, current as at July 2026.
| Council | Register your pool/spa | LPI service area |
|---|---|---|
| City of Greater Geelong | Register your pool or spa online — a new pool or spa that can hold more than 300 mm of water must be registered within 30 days of completion. Pool and spa team contact is listed on that page. | Geelong · Highton · Newtown · Belmont · Bellarine Peninsula |
| Surf Coast Shire | Swimming pool and spa register — registration, inspector search and FAQs on the one page. | Surf Coast Shire hub · Torquay |
| Wyndham City Council | Register your swimming pool or spa through Wyndham's online registration portal — register within 30 days of completion. (A registration fee applies; the current figure is on that page — confirm it there before you lodge.) | Werribee · Point Cook · Tarneit · Hoppers Crossing · Wyndham Vale |
| Moorabool Shire Council | Register a pool or spa — existing pools/spas must be registered and are then subject to the four-year re-inspection cycle; new pools register within 30 days of the final building inspection. | Bacchus Marsh · Ballan · Darley · Coimadai |
| Melton City Council | Register your swimming pool or spa — every pool/spa holding more than 300 mm of water must be registered; registered pools then sit on the mandatory four-year re-inspection cycle. | Areas we service (Melton/Brookfield secondary priority) |
Not sure which council your address falls under, or whether your pool is already on the register? Call 0402 860 499. We work across all five council areas daily and can point you to the right form.
What Happens After I Register — Do I Need an Inspection Straight Away?
Registering doesn't book you an inspection — the two steps don't talk to each other. What it does is put your pool on a list that the council then expects to see move into the compliance cycle, and an older pool freshly added to the register often gets a window to show compliance in. That's why the order matters: register first, then book your Form 23 inspection. Do it the other way and you can end up flagged as registered-but-non-compliant, which is the exact state councils chase up. A pool safety inspection is $250 all-inclusive with Local Pool Inspections, and where the barrier's compliant we issue the Form 23 the same day.
What's the Difference Between Form 22 and Form 23?
Form 22 registers the pool. Form 23 certifies the barrier. We field the mix-up on nearly every job, so here's the line between them. Form 22, the Application for Registration of Swimming Pool or Spa, is one-time paperwork — no inspector, just ownership and location details, and your pool is on the register. Form 23 is the harder-earned one. A VBA-registered/BPC building inspector (pool safety) has to physically check the barrier before issuing it, because the certificate is a statement that your fence, gate and non-climbable zone met AS1926.1 on the day of that inspection.
Two Forms, Two Jobs
- Form 22 — registers the pool with council; no physical inspection
- Form 23 — certifies the barrier against AS1926.1; issued after an on-site inspection
- Order — register with council first, then have the barrier inspected
You need both. Register with council, then have the barrier inspected — our full Form 23 explainer walks through what the inspection actually checks.
Is There a Fee to Register My Pool?
Registration itself is free with most Victorian councils. You're only filling in Form 22, and no one charges you to go on a list. Where a charge does turn up is later, when you lodge the compliance certificate: Melton, for instance, publishes a Form 23 lodgement fee pegged to a statutory maximum (an FY2026-27 figure, current as at July 2026, indexed each financial year — confirm the exact amount on Melton's own page before you lodge). Wyndham is the odd one out on registration, charging a fee at that step itself. The rest of the councils here register for free.
Local Pool Inspections charges nothing extra for registration help. Our $250 flat fee covers the barrier inspection and your Form 23, and that's it — you register with your own council through the links above.
I Bought a House and the Pool Was Never Registered — Am I in Trouble?
No. Register it now rather than sit on it. Unregistered older pools turn up all the time, especially ones that went in before councils kept their registers as tightly as they do today. You don't inherit the previous owner's trouble for leaving it unregistered. You do inherit the job of sorting it. So the moment you know, lodge Form 22 with your council and book a compliance inspection. Our pool safety regulations for buyers and agents guide and buying property with a pool due-diligence guide cover this exact situation.
A late registration on its own isn't the problem. The trouble is a pool that's both unregistered and non-compliant, and that combination causes the most grief at sale (see Section 32 timelines).
Does Registering My Portable or Inflatable Pool Matter?
Yes, if it holds more than 300 mm of water and stays set up rather than getting emptied and packed away each time. A blow-up pool left standing in the backyard all summer sits under the same registration and barrier rules as an in-ground pool the moment it clears that depth. Construction material is beside the point here. What the register goes on is how much water the pool holds and whether it stays put for the season. Our non-climbable zone guide covers the barrier-clearance side of a temporary pool once it's up.
How Often Do I Need to Re-Register or Re-Inspect After the Initial Registration?
You register once. There's no re-registering every few years. What repeats is the compliance cycle: Victorian pool and spa barriers are re-inspected every four years, and you lodge the Form 23 from each inspection with your council within 30 days of it being issued. Our 4-year pool barrier inspection guide covers the full cycle and what sets your next inspection date.
Registered Your Pool? Book Your Form 23 Inspection Next
Once your pool or spa is on the register, the barrier compliance inspection is what's left. Local Pool Inspections is a VBA-registered/BPC building inspector (pool safety) service covering Greater Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, Surf Coast Shire, Wyndham City and Moorabool Shire.
$250 All-Inclusive
Flat fee, no hidden charges. Same-day Form 23 where your barrier is already compliant.
Free Re-Inspection
If your barrier isn't compliant, you get a written report, make the fix, and we come back at no extra cost.
See also: Form 23 Certificates · Pool Inspection for Property Sale · Compliance Consultation · Re-Inspections · Non-Conformance Reports · All service areas
Pool Registration FAQs
Do I have to register my pool in Victoria?
How do I register my swimming pool with the council?
What is Form 22 for a pool?
Is pool registration the same as a Form 23 compliance certificate?
Does it cost anything to register a pool in Victoria?
What happens if my pool isn't registered?
Do inflatable or portable pools need to be registered?
How long do I have to register a new pool after it's built?
Where we assess pool compliance across Victoria
Ryan Gaw assesses and certifies pool compliance right across Greater Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula, out to Moorabool Shire and Melton, and across Melbourne's western corridor. The Western Melbourne pool inspections hub lists Werribee, Point Cook, Tarneit and the rest of Wyndham and Melton's growth suburbs, and the full service area list has every suburb we cover.
Registered your pool? Book your $250 all-inclusive Form 23 inspection
Same-day certificate where compliant, free re-inspection if you don't pass first time. Call 0402 860 499 or book online.