Swimming Pools & Spas in Virginia (2026)

Albemarle County requires a building permit before installing a residential in-ground or above-ground swimming pool…

Above-ground pools need the same permits as in-ground pools once over the size threshold. The pool wall may serve as…

Licensed Fairfax County home child care facilities must lock or store the ladder on any above-ground pool so children…

Because Henrico County governs its entire territory (no towns), any residential swimming pool, spa, or hot tub built…

A Lynchburg homeowner needs a building permit before installing a pool under Sec. 35.2-6.1(b), the Zoning Ordinance's…

Before building, remodeling, or majorly altering any swimming pool, residential or public, Newport News requires a…

Norfolk requires a building permit to install a residential swimming pool under the fee schedule in Code of Ordinances…

Portsmouth routes residential pools through the building code rather than a separate pool ordinance. Chapter 34…

Above-ground pools follow the same thresholds as in-ground pools: a building permit is required once the pool exceeds…

Roanoke treats a swimming pool as development that needs a zoning permit from the Zoning Administrator, unless the pool…

Stafford County incorporated swimming pools, spas and hot tubs into its building code by adopting Section 303 of the…

Above-ground pools in Suffolk need a permit and a compliant barrier. A pool wall at least 48 inches high can serve as…

Virginia Beach treats above-ground pools as "type 1" pools under its swimming pool ordinance, requiring a building…

The Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code requires a 48-inch barrier around residential swimming pools and spas…

City of Fairfax Code §10-621(b) requires a six-foot-high fence to surround all residential swimming pools. Outdoor…

Suffolk pools require equipotential bonding with 8 AWG copper, GFCI protection on receptacles within 20 feet…

Alexandria requires every outdoor 'aquatic facility' regulated under City Code Chapter 11, meaning public, hotel…

Pool access gates must be self-closing, self-latching, and open outward away from the pool. Latches under 54 inches…

Fairfax County requires every outdoor public pool to sit inside a fully enclosed, non-climbable six-foot perimeter…

Outdoor swimming pools in unincorporated Frederick County must be completely enclosed by a fence at least four feet…

Hampton requires every public swimming pool, spa or hot tub not raised at least four feet off the ground to be enclosed…

An open, unenclosed swimming pool in a Hanover County rear yard must keep its water's edge at least six feet from the…

Loudoun County Code Chapter 838 requires every public swimming pool to carry anti-entrapment main drain covers and a…

Lynchburg requires fencing capable of restricting access at outdoor swimming pools operated as recreation facilities…

Every outdoor public swimming pool in Norfolk has to sit completely inside a fence at least 48 inches tall under…

Portsmouth requires every fence or wall used as a swimming pool barrier to meet all applicable state and local…

Pool access gates must open outward, be self-closing, and self-latching. If the latch release is under 54 inches from…

Roanoke's pool-fencing mandate applies to public swimming pools, defined as pools used by more than one person for a…

Outdoor hot tubs and spas over 24 inches deep must be enclosed by a code-compliant fence under Virginia Beach's…

Newport News adopts, by reference, the federal CDC's 1981 health and safety guidelines for public spas and hot tubs…

Roanoke County does not set a fence height or self-closing-gate spec for backyard pools. Instead, County Code § 4-11…