Oneida, NY Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

Section 159-4 of the City of Oneida Code sets out detailed fencing specifications for outdoor pools. Subsection A requires a rigid-wall pool or the yard around it to be completely enclosed by a forty-eight-inch fence, unless the pool wall itself rises at least 48 inches above the surrounding grade and its ladder or steps can be locked, secured or removed, or unless a forty-eight-inch barrier is placed at the bottom of the access point and kept locked when the pool is idle. Where mesh screening is used between vertical supports, it must be one-and-three-fourths-inch, No.

9 gauge wire mesh or an equivalent material. Subsection B gets specific about chain-link construction: fencing and gates must stand at least four feet and no more than six feet above grade, built from No. 9 gauge helically wound wire forming two-inch mesh, with a twisted-and-barbed bottom edge and a knuckled top edge. 27 pounds per foot, spaced roughly 10 feet apart, with a top rail of one-and-three-eighths-inch pipe. Gates require a welded frame matching the fence fabric and a latch that automatically engages a pin welded to the gate frame, built to accept a padlock that must stay locked whenever the pool is not in use.

Subsection C allows wood fencing of the same height instead of chain-link, built tightly enough to block ingress and egress except through a lockable gate. Under Subsection D, a house, garage or shed wall can serve as part of the enclosure, but any door from that structure into the pool area must carry a self-closing device and passage alarm meeting the state code standards referenced in Chapter 33, Building Code Administration and Enforcement.