Swimming Pools & Spas in North Carolina (2026)

In-ground and above-ground residential pools over 24 inches deep require a building permit from Raleigh Development…

Apex's Unified Development Ordinance lets above-ground and in-ground pools sit no closer than 5 feet from a side or…

Asheville requires a building permit before any construction begins on a residential swimming pool. The chief building…

Building a residential pool in unincorporated Brunswick County, North Carolina requires a building permit before…

A backyard residential pool needs a building and electrical permit from Buncombe County Permits & Inspections; there is…

A residential pool in unincorporated Cabarrus County is reviewed as a Performance Based Standards use: it must sit…

Cary's LDO requires gates with self-closing, self-latching hardware at every access point into an above-ground swimming…

Private pools in Catawba County cannot go in the required front setback and must clear side and rear lot lines by at…

Concord allows private swimming pools as an accessory use in any residential district, but only outside the front yard…

Cumberland County treats above-ground pools like any private pool: a zoning permit, 10-foot setback, and enclosing…

Any Durham pool deeper than 24 inches with at least 100 square feet of surface area needs a building permit through…

Durham's joint City-County Inspections Department requires a building permit before installing any swimming pool. You…

Swimming pools are on the inspection department's miscellaneous permit list under Code of Ordinances § 7-62(f), so no…

State law, not a Forsyth County ordinance, actually forces the issue: G.S. 160D-1110(a) makes it unlawful to construct…

Gaston County's UDO classifies residential pools as accessory structures, so a zoning permit and a building permit for…

Greensboro doesn't run a separate swimming-pool building code, but installing a residential pool still triggers an…

An above-ground residential pool still needs a NC Residential Code barrier. The pool wall can serve as the barrier if…

Harnett County requires a building permit before constructing an inground residential pool. The Central Permitting Fee…

High Point requires a written building permit before constructing a swimming pool, and the pool itself must be built to…

Building a residential pool in unincorporated Iredell County skips the Land Development Code's site plan review…

In unincorporated Nash County, a residential swimming pool counts as a structure, so building it without a permit from…

Onslow County treats a residential swimming pool as a detached accessory structure under Section 8.3. Pools cannot go…

Wilmington requires a building permit before any residential swimming pool goes into the ground, because City Code…

Winston-Salem requires a building permit before constructing a residential swimming pool, plus a separate electrical…

Pitt County does not have a stand-alone swimming-pool permit ordinance; a pool only needs its own Floodplain…

Beyond barriers, Raleigh enforces NC Gen Stat Sec 130A-282 pool drain safety, requiring Virginia Graeme Baker compliant…

Every public swimming pool in Wake County, hotel, motel, apartment, condominium, HOA, country-club, fitness-club, water…

Apex, NC treats hot tubs and spas as single-family recreational accessory uses: they must meet the state building…

Every outdoor residential swimming pool built in Asheville since 1977 must be enclosed by a barrier at least four feet…

Outdoor swimming pools in unincorporated Brunswick County, North Carolina must be enclosed by a wire fence or…

Public pools in Buncombe County must have compliant, unexpired anti-entrapment drain covers, depth markings, and…

Cabarrus County's Development Ordinance requires every outdoor swimming pool to be enclosed by a barrier or fence at…

Cary requires a 4-foot fence or self-latching gate around below-ground pools, hot tubs, and spas 18 inches deep or…

In unincorporated Cleveland County, every outdoor swimming pool must be enclosed by a fence or equal barrier at least 4…

Any outdoor residential pool in Concord with 450 square feet or more of water surface, water at least 36 inches deep…

Cumberland County requires a fence at least four feet high to completely enclose the yard area holding a pool, with a…

Every outdoor swimming pool in Durham over 24 inches deep and 100 square feet must be fully enclosed by a fence at…

Fayetteville's Unified Development Ordinance doesn't set its own pool-fence height or gate rule. Instead Section…

In unincorporated Gaston County, every outdoor or indoor swimming pool, hot tub, and spa must be enclosed by a barrier…

Greensboro requires an electrical permit before hooking up a spa, hot tub, or hydromassage tub, charged at a flat…

A residential pool must be enclosed by a barrier at least 48 inches high with a self-closing, self-latching gate under…

Residential accessory pools in unincorporated Iredell County must be enclosed by a fence at least 4 feet tall with a…

Unincorporated Nash County requires every outdoor swimming pool on residential, office-institutional or commercial…

Pitt County's zoning ordinance requires an outdoor swimming pool at a country club or swim and tennis club to be fenced…

Rockingham County's health director can inspect any public swimming pool at any reasonable hour to check for hazards…

Wilmington City Code § 6-18 requires any permanent outdoor pool 18 inches deep or more to be completely surrounded by a…