West Hartford, CT Swimming Pools & Spas: Fencing & Safety Requirements (2026)

Section 159-10 requires that all permanent outdoor swimming pools, temporary pools under four feet in height, and temporary pools over four feet with climbable walls be completely enclosed by a fence or equivalent at least four feet high and dense enough to prevent unauthorized or inadvertent access. Every opening, barrier, or point of entry into the pool area must carry a gate fitted with a self-closing or self-latching device placed at the top of the gate, not partway down. Temporary pools taller than four feet with nonclimbable walls are excused from the full enclosure rule, but their means of ingress and egress must still be removed, or guarded by self-closing, self-latching gates at the top, whenever the pool is not in use.

A grandfather clause protects pools that already existed on May 10, 1966, the article's adoption date: those pools are excused from the four-foot height requirement if the barrier surrounding them on that date was already more than two feet high. Because compliance with Chapter 159 is a precondition for any pool permit under Section 159-4, and Section 159-1 makes noncompliant pools unlawful, an unfenced or improperly gated pool exposes the owner to the Building Inspector's enforcement of the underlying construction-standards article, separate from any drowning-prevention concern the barrier is meant to address.