How to check a pool certifier is actually accredited (NSW and QLD)

A business name like Pool Certify or iCertified is not itself an accreditation. Here is what each state actually requires, and the two official registers where you can look someone up before you book.

Last reviewed July 2026. Pool rules change and vary by council, so confirm the current requirement with your state authority before you act.

Looking at a specific certifier by name, maybe one you found on a listing, through a referral, or with a quick search? The business name is not what actually gets checked. Every NSW certificate of compliance and every QLD pool safety certificate has to come from a personal registration or licence, not a brand on a van or a website. This page sets out what each state requires and the two places you can look someone up yourself, whichever certifier you are weighing up.

The business name is not the accreditation

A pool certification business can trade under almost any name it likes. What the law cares about is whether the specific person doing the inspection personally holds the right registration for the state the pool is in, current on the day of the inspection. A polished website or a long-established sounding name is not proof of that on its own, and a small or newer business is not evidence against it either. The reliable check is the official register, not the marketing.

New South Wales

In NSW, a certificate of compliance is issued after an inspection, and nsw.gov.au is direct about who can carry it out: local councils and registered swimming pool inspectors (certifiers) can inspect swimming pool and spa pool barriers. Service NSW's own registration page calls that same role a registered swimming pool certifier. Which registration a certifier actually needs, though, depends on how your barrier was approved, not just on whether they hold a certifier registration at all.

Since 1 September 2018, the performance requirements of the Building Code for a NSW pool barrier can be met using either a performance solution or a deemed-to-satisfy solution. If your barrier was approved as a deemed-to-satisfy solution, council or someone registered in the Swimming Pool Inspector class can inspect and certify it. If it was instead approved as a performance solution, a certifier registered as a Swimming Pool Inspector cannot certify it: nsw.gov.au is explicit that you need council or a certifier registered as a building surveyor, either unrestricted or restricted for all classes of building, and the restricted class 1 and 10 category only where the performance solution relates to clause H2P4 of Volume 2 of the BCA. If you are not sure which kind of approval your pool has, that is worth asking about before you book an inspection, not after.

Service NSW calls the role a registered swimming pool certifier, which is not the class name you will find on the register itself. The Building Certifiers Public Register lists the category as Swimming Pool Inspector for the everyday, deemed-to-satisfy case, or the matching building surveyor class above if your barrier went through a performance solution.

• Building Certifiers Public Register (NSW Fair Trading)
• nsw.gov.au: pool owner obligations (performance solution vs deemed-to-satisfy)
• Service NSW: apply for swimming pool certifier registration

Queensland

Queensland's pool safety certificate, the Form 23, works differently again. The QBCC is direct about who can issue one: only a pool safety inspector, licensed by the QBCC, can issue pool safety certificates. That licence, not the name on the van or the listing, is what to look up.

Other QLD routes exist, and it helps to know they are different documents for different situations, not another way to get the same certificate. A building certifier, a different role from the pool safety inspector, can certify a recently built pool with a Form 17 or a Form 11, or a replaced or altered pool fence with a Form 17. An approved pool safety management plan can also substitute for a certificate on certain Class 3 buildings, such as hotels and motels. Neither changes who issues the everyday Form 23 for an existing backyard pool: that stays with a pool safety inspector licensed by the QBCC.

• QBCC pool safety inspector search
• QBCC: inspect and certify a pool

Look them up before you book

Both registers let you search by name in a couple of minutes, free of charge. If a name does not come up, the entry looks out of date, or you are not sure which registration class applies to your pool, ask about it directly before you pay for an inspection you might end up needing to repeat with someone else.

Certifiers people search for by name

Pool Certify, AHA Pool Certification and Pool Safe Sydney all show up as NSW certifiers around Greater Sydney. Pool Inspector G, Brisbane Pool Safety and iCertified show up as QLD pool safety inspectors around Brisbane and South East Queensland.

All six appear on this directory, sorted by service area. This site is a directory, not a certifier: we do not carry out inspections ourselves, and a listing here reflects what a business publishes about its own service area, not an independent check of its current registration. Run that check on the register above for whichever certifier you are considering, then use the directory to compare service areas and get in touch.

• Find an accredited inspector or certifier by region
• NSW vs QLD pool certificate terminology explained

This is general information, not legal advice. The authorities are NSW Fair Trading and the NSW Swimming Pool Register in New South Wales, and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) in Queensland. Always confirm the current rule for the state your pool is in.