Berkeley, CA Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

California's Swimming Pool Safety Act, Health and Safety Code Sections 115920 through 115929, governs barriers for new or remodeled pools and spas at single-family homes. Section 115921 defines a covered swimming pool broadly, any structure for swimming or recreational bathing holding water more than eighteen inches deep, including in-ground and above-ground pools, hot tubs and portable spas. Section 115922 requires the permit holder to install at least one of seven listed safety features before final building inspection, among them an enclosure isolating the pool from the house, exit alarms on doors leading to the pool, a self-closing and self-latching device on those doors set no lower than fifty-four inches, or a pool alarm certified to the ASTM F2208 standard. If the owner chooses the enclosure option, Section 115923 sets the specifications: gates must swing away from the pool and be self-closing with a self-latching device at least sixty inches above the ground, the enclosure itself must stand at least sixty inches tall with no more than a two-inch gap to the ground, and no gap in the barrier may pass a four-inch sphere or offer a foothold that would let a child under five climb over. Section 115925 exempts public swimming pools, apartment complexes and other multifamily settings, and spas with a locking safety cover meeting the ASTM F1346 standard.

Those state exemptions matter in Berkeley because the City has its own separate fence rule for the public and commercial pools the state law excludes. Municipal Code Section 11.20.060 requires any pool open to the public, from a fee-charging resort to a shared apartment or club pool, to sit inside a fence between four feet six inches and six feet tall with no opening larger than sixteen square inches, a self-closing and self-latching gate with its latch at least four feet six inches up, and four feet of clear space between the fence and the pool's edge. The City's chief of environmental health reviews and approves pool construction plans under Section 11.20.050 before any building or plumbing permit can issue.