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

Section 27-72(k) covers pool enclosures within the article on 'Open areas' maintenance. It requires that, for the protection of the general public, every permanently installed outdoor swimming pool be effectively fenced by an artificial enclosure not less than four feet in height, and any gate in that enclosure must be self-closing and self-latching, with the latch handle mounted inside the enclosure at least 40 inches above grade. Subsection (k)(1) lets a wall of the house or an accessory structure count as part of the enclosure if any windows in that wall latch at least 40 inches above the floor, a swinging door in the wall is self-closing and self-latching, and a sliding door carries a self-latching device.

Subsection (k)(2) extends the same result to above-ground pools that are self-enclosed by their own exterior walls, so long as the wall stands at least four feet above the average grade within four feet of the pool and any access opening has a self-latching gate positioned to exclude small children. The Division of Code Enforcement, the agency Section 27-111 designates to administer the Property Conservation Code, inspects pools under its general Section 27-113 inspection authority and treats a missing or broken latch as a Code violation subject to the notice procedure in Section 27-114.