Bell County does NOT regulate fencing for single-family residential pools in unincorporated areas. Texas Local Government Code Chapter 233 limits county building authority to commercial, multi-family, and public-accessible structures. The state-level Texas Pool Yard Enclosure Act (Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 757) imposes a 48-inch enclosure rule, but Section 757.002 limits its application to multiunit rental complexes and HOA-owned/maintained pools β not detached single-family homes. Inside Killeen, Belton, Temple, or Harker Heights city limits, that city's adopted IRC pool-barrier rules apply.
Texas counties lack general residential building-code authority outside specific exceptions in Texas Local Government Code Chapter 233. Bell County therefore does not require or enforce a pool barrier on a single-family home in unincorporated territory. The state Pool Yard Enclosure Act (Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 757) requires a pool yard enclosure of at least 48 inches in height measured from the ground on the side away from the pool (Β§757.003), with openings small enough that a 4-inch sphere cannot pass under the enclosure, and limits where a building wall may form part of the enclosure for buildings constructed on or after January 1, 1994 (Β§757.003(d)β(e)). However, Β§757.002 expressly limits these requirements to owners of multiunit rental complexes with a pool, condominium/townhome rental dwellings with a pool, and property-owners associations that own, control, or maintain a pool. Single-family detached homes are outside the Act's scope. Inside city limits β Killeen, Belton, Temple, and Harker Heights all have adopted versions of the International Residential Code β the IRC's standard 48-inch pool-barrier rule with self-closing/self-latching gates applies for any pool deeper than 24 inches.
Single-family residence in unincorporated Bell County: no county-level penalty. Multiunit/HOA violations of Chapter 757: civil enforcement under Texas H&S Code Β§757.012 (injunctive relief), tenant repair-request remedies under Property Code Chapter 92, and potential negligence-per-se exposure in any drowning or near-drowning litigation. City-limit violations: enforced by the city's building or code-enforcement division.
Bell County, TX
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