Coeur d'Alene, ID Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

Chapter 8.20 of the Coeur d'Alene Municipal Code governs swimming pools, spas and hot tubs, and Ordinance 3758 of August 5, 2025 rewrote it. Section 8.20.010 is the barrier rule. It reaches public, semipublic and private installations alike, so a private backyard pool is covered the same way as a public one, as long as it can hold twenty-four inches or more of water. The area around the water must be surrounded by a fence six feet in height, and no such fence can be placed within five feet of the edge of the spa, hot tub or pool. Fences and any building used as a barrier must be designed in accordance with the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, which means the technical design details come from that model code rather than from the City's own text.

Gates get their own rule for public and semipublic pools in section 8.20.020. Those gates must be securely fastened shut with a self-latching device when the pool is not in use by authorized persons or supervised by a qualified attendant. Where the release mechanism is located less than fifty-four inches from grade, it must sit on the pool or spa side of the gate, not less than three inches below the top of the gate, and the gate and fence cannot have openings greater than one-half inch within eighteen inches of the release mechanism.

Section 8.20.040 offers an alternative to the fence. A spa or hot tub with a lockable safety cover complying with ASTM F1346 needs no fence, and a swimming pool with a powered safety cover complying with ASTM F1346 needs no fence either. Section 8.20.030 sends structures housing filter or heating equipment, and change houses, to the International Building Code, and section 8.20.060 applies the International Building Code and International Mechanical Code, as adopted by the City of Coeur d'Alene, to everything else about pools, spas and hot tubs. Section 8.20.050 allows swimming lessons at a private pool for not more than six pupils at a time, with no amplified sound and a six foot sight obstructing fence separating the pool area from adjoining properties.