Pontiac, MI Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

Section 86-255(a) defines "swimming pool" broadly for enclosure purposes: any manmade body of water at least one foot deep that is used, or meant to be used, for wading or swimming and is not supervised by city authorities, catching above-ground and inflatable pools along with in-ground ones. Subsection (b) puts the enclosure duty on every person in possession of the land the pool sits on, whether as owner, contract purchaser, lessee, tenant or licensee, requiring a fence or other solid structure not less than four feet high that completely encloses the premises or the pool itself, with no opening other than a door or gate larger than six inches square.

Every gate or door through that enclosure must stay securely closed whenever the pool is not in actual use, and each one must carry a self-closing and self-latching device capable of keeping it shut on its own. The section, carried from the 1985 Code at Section 16-41, sets no separate fine, so a violation runs through the Code's general penalty in Section 1-25: a fine not exceeding $500.00 or up to 90 days imprisonment, or both, at the court's discretion. Pontiac's Community Development staff, who also handle the building permit for the pool itself, can inspect the fence and the gate hardware together, and an unlatched or propped-open gate is the detail most likely to draw a citation after a neighbor's complaint.