Cherokee County, GA Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

Sec. 14-63 sits in Division 2, Property Maintenance Standards, of the Building and Building Regulations chapter and applies to every property in the unincorporated county. It states plainly that stagnant water in swimming pools conducive to breeding or harboring mosquitoes or other insects is not permitted, and requires all swimming pools to carry a five-foot continuous barrier around the pool consistent with Appendix G of the International Residential Code, as adopted by Cherokee County Resolution 2005-R-069 on July 5, 2005, for single-family residential pools. Community and commercial pools instead follow the Cherokee County Board of Health Swimming Pool Regulations, both instruments applying as amended from time to time.

Enforcement runs through the Property Maintenance Ordinance's general penalty scheme at Sec. 00, with each day of noncompliance charged as a separate offense. The county can also pursue civil remedies such as an injunction or abatement action independent of the criminal citation track. Because Sec. 14-63 is part of Article II's minimum property-maintenance standards rather than the building permit chapter, it applies to existing pools continuously, not only at the time of construction, meaning a barrier that later falls into disrepair or is removed puts the property back into violation regardless of when the pool was originally built.