Form 26 is the pool safety nonconformity notice a licensed pool safety inspector gives the owner when a regulated pool does not meet the pool safety standard. You complete it after the inspection, with the non-compliance and the action the owner must take written plainly enough to fix and reinspect. QBCC guidance requires the notice to reach the owner within 2 business days of the inspection under section 246AB of the Building Act 1975.
This is the current QBCC Form 26. Tradie Forms follows the official section order and maps your answers onto the official PDF layout.
Recording that no pool safety certificate is in effect for a sale or shared-pool lease, rather than nonconformities after an inspection? Use QLD Form 36
Almost every weak Form 26 comes from writing it later from memory. Have these in front of you at the barrier.
Your pool safety inspector licence
Only a licensed pool safety inspector can issue this notice. A general building or plumbing licence does not authorise it.
The pool owner on record
Full name of the owner or owners, or the body corporate for a shared pool. Match the person who carries the fix obligation, not only the person who opened the gate.
Property and land details
Street address, lot and plan, and local government area from the title, rates notice, or engagement paperwork.
Photos and measurements
Each nonconformity close enough to read, a wider shot showing where it sits on the barrier, and any measurement you relied on with the gauge in frame.
A complete fault list
Walk the barrier once and list every fault before you open the form. A notice that only records the first item fails reinspection later.
Seven fields gate the download: owner's full name, how the pool does not comply, action required, date of inspection, inspector name, pool safety inspector licence number, and statement date.
Identifies who the notice is given to and who must arrange the fix.
Owner's Full NameTextRequired
The pool owner or owners' full name as on the title or body corporate record. For a shared pool this is usually the body corporate, not the resident who met you on site. If only a tenant or agent is present, confirm the legal owner before you leave rather than guessing from the mailbox.
Save this section as Owner to prefill it on your next Form 26 for the same pool owner.
Locates the pool so the notice, the reinspection, and any later council follow-up all point at the same parcel.
Street AddressAddressOptional
The street address of the property where the pool sits. Address search is limited to Queensland and fills the street line, suburb and postcode. Check the result against the engagement paperwork, especially on multi-unit sites where the street number alone does not identify the dwelling.
Lot DetailsTextOptional
The lot number from the title or rates notice, such as 15. On multi-unit sites this is what stops the notice being filed against the wrong unit. The PDF allows a short value, so enter the lot only rather than a full description.
Plan DetailsTextOptional
The plan reference from the same source, such as RP812345. Together with lot details this is the legal land description when the postal address is shared or has been renumbered.
Local Government AreaTextOptional
The council area. Address search may fill this. Confirm it near a boundary, because if the owner lets the three-month reinspection period lapse you must notify this local government.
Fill lot, plan and LGA whenever you have them. They are optional in the form, but a street address alone is a weak match for the parcel when the notice is checked later.
Records whether the pool serves one dwelling or more than one.
Pool typeChoiceOptional
Starts on non-shared pool, so leaving this alone records a private pool on a house or unit. Switch to shared pool when the pool serves more than one dwelling or premises, such as a body corporate, resort, caravan park or hotel. The choice changes who carries the safety management obligations, so do not leave the default if you are on a common property pool.
States how the pool fails the pool safety standard. This is the heart of the notice under section 246AB, and vague wording here is what causes disputes and wasted reinspections.
How the Pool Does Not ComplyTextRequired
List every fault you found against the pool safety standard in Queensland Development Code MP 3.4. For each item give a findable location, what is wrong, and the measurement where one decides the outcome. Name the barrier part (gate, panel, latch, non-climbable zone, window or door) rather than a general impression. Long text continues on the PDF; keep the wording tight enough that an owner or a second inspector can find each item without you there.
Useful
Gate does not self-close and latch from half open. Climb zone includes a pot plant stand within 900 mm of the north barrier.
Too vague
Fence needs work
Common findings include gates that do not self-close or self-latch from all positions, latches below the required height, gaps under or between barrier panels, climbable objects inside the non-climbable zone, and barrier sections that are short or have lost rigidity. Photograph each item at the barrier before you leave.
Gives the owner a to-do list that you can measure against at reinspection.
Action RequiredTextRequired
State what must be done so the pool complies. Pair each action to a non-compliance already listed. You are not quoting the repair or designing the fix; you are stating the finished standard the barrier has to meet. Leave room for a fencing contractor or minor owner work, but make "done" checkable.
Useful
Adjust gate hinges and latch so the gate self-closes and latches from any open position. Remove climbable objects from the NCZ. Request reinspection within three months.
Records when you inspected the pool. Timeframes on the notice run from this date.
Date of InspectionDateRequired
The date the inspection actually happened. Today and Yesterday shortcuts are there because this is usually filled on site. The 2 business day window to give the owner the notice and the 3 month reinspection period are measured from this date, so do not use the day you typed the form up in the office if that is later.
Your declaration that you inspected the swimming pool and are not satisfied it is a complying pool for the reasons stated above. Complete non-compliance and required action first; the statement is what makes the document a formal notice.
NameTextRequired
Your name as the licensed pool safety inspector who carried out the inspection. This is you standing behind the finding, not the company name or an office contact.
Pool Safety Inspector Licence NumberTextRequired
Your QBCC pool safety inspector licence number. Licence check against the QBCC register can fill your name from the number. Confirm the result matches the licence you inspected under.
SignatureSignatureOptional
Sign once the non-compliance and required action are complete and correct. The signature lands on the statement page of the PDF. Draw, upload, or use a saved signature. Nothing stops the download without it, but an unsigned notice is not ready to give the owner.
DateDateRequired
The date you sign the notice. Often the same day as the inspection when you complete it on site. It is a different event from the inspection if you finalise the notice later within the 2 business day window.
Save this section as Inspector to prefill it on your next Form 26 you issue as the same pool safety inspector.
Fence needs work cannot be fixed or re-checked. Name the barrier part, the location, and the measurement where one decides the outcome.
Recording only the first fault.
An owner who fixes the one item you wrote, then fails reinspection on a second fault you saw but did not record, is right to be filthy. List every nonconformity from the walk.
Leaving action untied to the fault.
Fix gate does not tell the owner what done looks like. Pair each action to a listed non-compliance so reinspection has a benchmark.
Using the body corporate manager's name as owner on a shared pool.
The notice goes to the legal owner, usually the body corporate. The manager may receive a copy, but the owner field is not a contact name.
Leaving Pool type on non-shared when the pool is common property.
The form starts on non-shared. A body corporate, resort or multi-dwelling pool is shared, and the responsibilities sit differently.
Dating the inspection from the day you typed the form.
The 2 business day issue window and the 3 month reinspection period run from the inspection date. Use the day you were at the pool.
Leaving site without photos of each item.
A measurement dispute turns on whether the gauge was in the frame. Photograph the fault close-up and the location on the barrier before you go.
Give the notice to the pool owner within 2 business days of the inspection and keep evidence of when it was issued. The owner has three months from the day the notice is given to ask you, the same inspector, for reinspection. If they ask during that period, reinspect within 5 business days, or later if you both agree. If they do not ask within three months, QBCC guidance says you must notify the local government.
Name the file so the property is obvious. Use something like Form 26 - 14 Jacaranda Dr - 2026-06-18.pdf so the notice is not mixed with certificates for the same address.
File the notice with your photos and measurements. The PDF alone does not show the gauge reading. Keep the pack under one job reference for the return visit.
Explain the three-month window to the owner. Another inspector cannot certify the pool during that period, and an appeal to the Development Tribunal must be made within 20 business days of the notice being given.
Track the reinspection. Note the request date and outcome against the job so a lapsed period does not slip past without the local government notice.
Check the current QBCC requirements for your job. Retention and notification expectations sit with the pool safety inspector licence conditions and the local government.
