5 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Lancaster County, Nebraska.
Verified from official government sources
In Lincoln, a building permit from Building & Safety is required to install an in-ground or above-ground swimming pool or spa, and the review confirms the code-required safety enclosure. Unincorporated Lancaster County pools permit through the joint City-County planning and building process.
Every family swimming pool in Lincoln holding eighteen inches or more of water must be completely surrounded by a fence or wall at least four feet high, with no openings, holes, or gaps larger than four inches.
Lincoln Municipal Code 8.36.020
Every family swimming pool having a depth of eighteen inches or more shall be completely surrounded by a fence or wall not less than four feet in height, which shall be so constructed as not to have openings, holes, or gaps larger than four inches in any dimension except for doors and gates.
All gates and doors through a Lincoln pool enclosure must have a self-closing and self-latching device keeping them closed whenever the pool is not in use. Only a dwelling door forming part of the enclosure is exempt.
Lincoln Municipal Code 8.36.020
All gates or doors opening through such enclosure shall be equipped with a self-closing and self-latching device for keeping the gate or door securely closed at all times when not in actual use, except that the door of any dwelling which forms a part of the enclosure need not be so equipped.
For above-ground pools where the pool wall is the enclosure, the entrance must be either fenced with a compliant gate or reached by a limited-access ladder that can be made inaccessible when the pool is not in use.
Lincoln Municipal Code 8.36.020
On above-ground pools where the pool wall makes up the pool enclosure, the entrance into the pool must either be enclosed in a fence with gate... or the entrance to the pool must be by use of a limited access ladder which has provisions for making entry to the pool inaccessible when the pool is not in use.
Lincoln's pool-enclosure rule triggers at eighteen inches of water, so a residential hot tub or spa holding that depth must be surrounded by the same four-foot barrier. Public spas are regulated as public pools under Nebraska DHHS Title 178.
Lincoln Municipal Code 8.36.020
Every family swimming pool having a depth of eighteen inches or more shall be completely surrounded by a fence or wall not less than four feet in height...
1 cities in Lancaster County have their own swimming pools & spas rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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