Current Page

[tharra]

We’re lucky enough to have an indoor pool, spa & sauna in our residential apartment block. The facilities are provided for the use of residents. The legal definiton in NSW of a public pool is:

“public swimming pool or spa pool means a swimming pool or spa pool to which the public is admitted, whether free of charge, on payment of a fee or otherwise, including:
(a) a pool to which the public is admitted as an entitlement of membership of a club, or
(b) a pool provided at a workplace for the use of employees, or
(c) a pool provided at a hotel, motel or guest house or at holiday units, or similar facility, for the use of guests, or
(d) a pool provided at a school or hospital,
but not including a pool situated at private residential premises.“

From: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/publicpools/Documents/public-health-act-2010-pt3.pdf

I don’t think pools in apartment blocks are public pools but I’m not a lawyer. Does anyone know if my take on this is correct?

Thanks in advance.

Topic

[Lady Penelope]

I agree with you in the most part. In most situations I would think that an indoor pool within a strata building would NOT technically be classified as a “public pool”.

If the pool is located on common property then the occupants may use it in accordance with any by-laws conditions. All the lot owners jointly own any swimming pool or spa pool that is on common property.

Members of the public are not entitled to access the common property of your strata scheme unless invited by an occupant. Invitees must comply with all conditions imposed by the by laws and the Act. 

Although strata pools are not technically “public pools” they would still need to comply with the various Acts that govern pools e.g. the Swimming Pools Act 1992 for safety issues.

The quote that you provided is from the Public Health Act 2010 . Environmental Health Officers do not regulate public health issues in pools and spas within private residential premises including strata residential buildings. However, an OC has a duty of care to provide a safe and healthy environment for users of the common property pool. 

See here for more information on pools in strata: 

https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/sites/ftw/Consumers/Product_and_service_safety/Pool_safety/Swimming_pools.page

Quote

[Sir Humphrey]

I agree that the pool is private. It is situated at the private residential premises of the members of the Owners Corporation, that is, on your collectively-owned ‘backyard’, the common property. Nonetheless, it would be wise to look at the health and safety requirements for a public pool and apply those as far as possible. 

Quote

[tharra]

Thanks for the responses. Yes, water quality is professionally maintained & monitored in the pool & spas & the areas kept clean. Our pool is certified & registered on the NSW Swimming Pool Register.

Where my original question leads is what happens with whole of apartment short term lets? Does that activity turn a private pool into a public one with the more onerous & costly compulsory health & safety measures? e.g. our pool & spas are tested 3 times a week during the day, not every day before the pool opens (ours opens at 6am) as mandated in “Public Health Regulation 2012
Schedule 1 Requirements for public swimming pools and spa pools (Clause 15)“.

BTW I should have read a little more with regards to my first question as the “Public Swimming Pool and Spa Pool Advisory Document” available from NSW Health:

https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/Pages/swimming-pool-and-spa-advisory-doc.aspx

states:

“An emerging type of swimming pool is the multi-residential pool such as those associated with apartments or town house developments. While such pools are not public swimming pools under the Public Health Act, they can still pose risks in terms of bather risk. The advisory document is equally applicable to this situation, but in a non-regulatory and advisory sense.“

Nice to know that Flat Chat advice is spot on.

Quote

[Lady Penelope]

Tharra – It should not make any difference to your pool cleanliness routine or your pool cleaning costs whether the apartments are rented short term or not.

It would be advisable from a hygiene perspective for pool cleaning and monitoring to be predicated on the maximum possible usage i.e. all occupants, whether they be owners or long term renters or short term renters using the pool on a daily basis, rather than on the minimum usage.

Quote

[Sir Humphrey]

@Lady Penelope said:
It would be advisable from a hygiene perspective for pool cleaning and monitoring to be predicated on the maximum possible usage i.e. all occupants, whether they be owners or long term renters or short term renters using the pool on a daily basis, rather than on the minimum usage.  

Possible usage gives a worst case scenario but you could reasonably base it on actual observed usage. Perhaps in practice, even in the middle of summer, only some fraction of the occupants of units use the pool on any particular day. 

Quote

[tharra]

Thanks for the responses. I am not concerned about our current pool & spa hygiene routine. Our on site building management people do a sterling job keeping everything tickety boo with the help of the contracted pool maintenance firm & we’ve not had any problems thus far.

My concern is the line between what is advisable & what is compulsory. Take a hypothetical apartment building with pool & spa facilities deemed private for residents. In this legislative fairyland all levels of government including the owners corporation decide that short term lets are perfectly acceptable & owners start letting whole apartments on that basis. At what point, if ever, do the apartment building’s pool & spa facilities turn into “public” facilities in the eyes of the public health legislation resulting in compulsory compliance measures? i.e. is there a point where the apartment building is deemed a hotel?

Quote

[Jimmy-T]

That is a very good point.  I would advise any building that has a swimming pool to monitor its usage now before the shackles are taken off the short-stay letting global mega-corporations so that any costs related to additional use by holiday guests can be sheeted back to those who are profiting most.

And if they set a benchmark at which holiday lets go from complying to “change of use” then you want to make sure that the hosts are paying for every additional expense that causes.

If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.

Quote

[Author]

Replies