Bloomington, IN Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- BMC § 14.36.160
- Who is covered
- Anyone possessing land with a residential pool
- Barrier standard used
- Indiana Administrative Code requirements
- Penalty clause
- General penalty, BMC § 1.01.130
- Max fine
- $2,500 per violation
- Original adoption
- Ord. 73-36 (1973); renumbered Ord. 17-19 (2017)
Summary
In the City of Bloomington, anyone who owns land with a residential swimming pool must restrict access to it under the requirements of the Indiana Administrative Code. Bloomington Municipal Code Section 14.36.160 backs that duty with the city's general penalty clause rather than spelling out its own fence dimensions.
Every person in possession of land upon which is situated a residential swimming pool who fails to restrict access to such swimming pool in accordance with the requirements of the Indiana Administrative Code shall be subject to the general penalty provisions set forth in Section 1.01.130 of this Municipal Code.
Full Breakdown
160 of the Bloomington Municipal Code, traced back to Ordinance 73-36 in 1973 and carried forward through Ordinance 81-5 and a 2017 renumbering under Ordinance No. 17-19, puts the fencing duty directly on the landowner: every person in possession of land upon which is situated a residential swimming pool who fails to restrict access to such swimming pool in accordance with the requirements of the Indiana Administrative Code is in violation. Rather than writing its own gate-latch height or fence-height numbers into Title 14, the Common Council incorporated the barrier standard already set by the state's Administrative Code and attached the city's own enforcement mechanism to it.
That means a Bloomington homeowner who installs a residential pool has to meet the state pool-barrier standard, and the City of Bloomington enforces that standard as a municipal code violation rather than leaving it purely to state inspectors. 36 is issued, through the Bloomington Police Department or code enforcement staff acting on a complaint or inspection.
Violations & Fines
Section 14.36.160 has no fine written into the chapter, so it expressly channels enforcement into Section 1.01.130, the Municipal Code's general penalty clause: a fine of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per violation for a Code provision that does not set its own fine. Each day a fence or gate remains out of compliance can count as a separate violation under that same clause, and the city may also enter the property to bring it into compliance and lien the cost, or bring a civil action to enjoin the violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Bloomington require a fence around a residential pool?
Does the city set its own fence height for pools?
What happens if my pool fence is not compliant?
Who enforces the residential pool fencing rule in Bloomington?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bloomington
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