Chapel Hill, NC Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

Section 5-39 makes it unlawful for "any person, firm, association, or club" to construct or begin constructing a public or private swimming pool in Chapel Hill without first getting a permit from the town's building inspector. Section 5-40 sets the application requirements: a complete, detailed set of plans and specifications, approved by both the building inspector and the county health department, and no permit issues unless the application shows the finished pool will meet the fencing standard in Section 5-42. Section 5-41 requires every application to carry a ten-dollar permit deposit.

Article III defines a "swimming pool" in Section 5-36 as any artificially built body of water for swimming or recreational bathing at least thirty inches deep at any point, including its buildings and equipment, but Section 5-37 exempts indoor pools, portable wading pools under thirty inches deep, and any pool already regulated by the State of North Carolina. Section 5-38 treats the pool and any accessory equipment building as an accessory structure that must meet the zoning ordinance and sit no closer than six feet to a side or rear lot line, house, building or residence. Article III sets no separate fine, so the Code's general penalty at Section 1-7 applies to unpermitted construction.