Upper Darby, PA Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

Pool fencing in Upper Darby is folded into the township's general fence ordinance rather than treated as a stand-alone code section. Section 550-39B(5), part of Article XI's Placement of Fences rules, states that swimming pools, both public and private, shall be surrounded by a fence as regulated by the currently adopted version of the International Property Maintenance Code. Upper Darby adopted the 2015 IPMC, with local amendments, as the township's property maintenance code, meaning a pool's barrier has to meet that code's swimming pool enclosure requirements rather than a separate, locally written height or gate specification.

Because the IPMC sets the actual barrier standard, a homeowner installing an above-ground or in-ground pool needs to check both § 550-39, which triggers the requirement and is enforced by the Zoning Officer, and the property maintenance code itself, enforced by the Department of Licenses & Inspections, for the barrier height, gate latching and opening-size specifications. The pool-fence mandate applies regardless of zoning district and is not limited to the front-yard placement restrictions that apply to ordinary residential fences elsewhere in § 550-39B, since a pool barrier is a safety requirement rather than a screening or aesthetic one.

A pool installed without a code-compliant barrier can be flagged during the same inspection process used for a rental dwelling license or a certificate of occupancy.