Glendale, AZ Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

Section 32-1 of the Glendale Code of Ordinances requires that all plans submitted to the city for swimming pools to be constructed show compliance with Chapter 32, and the city withholds final inspection and approval of any pool built after that until every requirement of the chapter has been satisfied. Section 32-2 explains the reasoning: the city has found that private pools, spas and hot tubs without precautionary measures are a severe hazard to residents, particularly children. Section 32-3 sets the actual construction standard tied to that plan approval: a five-foot wall, fence or barrier around the pool, no openings a four-inch sphere can pass through, self-closing and self-latching gates with the latch at least fifty-four inches above ground and opening outward from the pool, and a barrier set at least twenty inches back from the water's edge.

Section 32-3(f) requires anyone who contracts to build a pool, or who sells a home with one, to give the buyer a notice on pool-ownership safety responsibilities approved by the department of health services, along with a copy of Chapter 32. Section 32-4 adds a second layer of protection, such as an alarmed door or a motorized safety cover, for pools built or altered after a home with a child under six moves in, or when a pool home is sold.