# QLD Form 26 (https://dev.tradieforms.com.au/docs/form-guides/building/qld/qld-pool-form-26-nonconformity-notice)

Form 26 is the pool safety nonconformity notice a licensed pool safety inspector gives the owner when a regulated pool does not meet the pool safety standard. You complete it after the inspection, with the non-compliance and the action the owner must take written plainly enough to fix and reinspect. [QBCC guidance](https://qbcc.qld.gov.au/home-owner-hub/swimming-pools/inspect-certify-pool) requires the notice to reach the owner within 2 business days of the inspection under section 246AB of the Building Act 1975.

This is the current QBCC Form 26. Tradie Forms follows the official section order and maps your answers onto the official PDF layout.

Recording that no pool safety certificate is in effect for a sale or shared-pool lease, rather than nonconformities after an inspection? Use [QLD Form 36](https://dev.tradieforms.com.au/docs/form-guides/building/qld/qld-pool-form-36-no-pool-safety-certificate)

> **Warning**
>
> The owner must ask the same pool safety inspector for reinspection within three months of the notice. A Form 26 does not extend another deadline for obtaining a pool safety certificate, and another inspector cannot certify the pool during that period.

## Before you start [#before-you-start]

Almost every weak Form 26 comes from writing it later from memory. Have these in front of you at the barrier.

- **Your pool safety inspector licence** - Only a licensed pool safety inspector can issue this notice. A general building or plumbing licence does not authorise it.
- **The pool owner on record** - Full name of the owner or owners, or the body corporate for a shared pool. Match the person who carries the fix obligation, not only the person who opened the gate.
- **Property and land details** - Street address, lot and plan, and local government area from the title, rates notice, or engagement paperwork.
- **Photos and measurements** - Each nonconformity close enough to read, a wider shot showing where it sits on the barrier, and any measurement you relied on with the gauge in frame.
- **A complete fault list** - Walk the barrier once and list every fault before you open the form. A notice that only records the first item fails reinspection later.

Seven fields gate the download: owner's full name, how the pool does not comply, action required, date of inspection, inspector name, pool safety inspector licence number, and statement date.

## Owner [#owner]

Identifies who the notice is given to and who must arrange the fix.

- **Owner's Full Name (Text, Required)** - The pool owner or owners' full name as on the title or body corporate record. For a shared pool this is usually the body corporate, not the resident who met you on site. If only a tenant or agent is present, confirm the legal owner before you leave rather than guessing from the mailbox.

**Saved detail: Owner** - save this section to prefill it on your next Form 26 for the same pool owner.

## Property [#property]

Locates the pool so the notice, the reinspection, and any later council follow-up all point at the same parcel.

- **Street Address (Address, Optional)** - The street address of the property where the pool sits. Address search is limited to Queensland and fills the street line, suburb and postcode. Check the result against the engagement paperwork, especially on multi-unit sites where the street number alone does not identify the dwelling.
- **Lot Details (Text, Optional)** - The lot number from the title or rates notice, such as `15`. On multi-unit sites this is what stops the notice being filed against the wrong unit. The PDF allows a short value, so enter the lot only rather than a full description.
- **Plan Details (Text, Optional)** - The plan reference from the same source, such as `RP812345`. Together with lot details this is the legal land description when the postal address is shared or has been renumbered.
- **Local Government Area (Text, Optional)** - The council area. Address search may fill this. Confirm it near a boundary, because if the owner lets the three-month reinspection period lapse you must notify this local government.

Fill lot, plan and LGA whenever you have them. They are optional in the form, but a street address alone is a weak match for the parcel when the notice is checked later.

## Pool Type [#poolType]

Records whether the pool serves one dwelling or more than one.

- **Pool type (Choice, Optional)** - **Starts on non-shared pool**, so leaving this alone records a private pool on a house or unit. Switch to **shared pool** when the pool serves more than one dwelling or premises, such as a body corporate, resort, caravan park or hotel. The choice changes who carries the safety management obligations, so do not leave the default if you are on a common property pool.

## Non-compliance [#nonCompliance]

States how the pool fails the pool safety standard. This is the heart of the notice under section 246AB, and vague wording here is what causes disputes and wasted reinspections.

- **How the Pool Does Not Comply (Text, Required)** - List every fault you found against the pool safety standard in Queensland Development Code MP 3.4. For each item give a findable location, what is wrong, and the measurement where one decides the outcome. Name the barrier part (gate, panel, latch, non-climbable zone, window or door) rather than a general impression. Long text continues on the PDF; keep the wording tight enough that an owner or a second inspector can find each item without you there.
  
  - **Useful** - Gate does not self-close and latch from half open. Climb zone includes a pot plant stand within 900 mm of the north barrier.
  - **Too vague** - Fence needs work

Common findings include gates that do not self-close or self-latch from all positions, latches below the required height, gaps under or between barrier panels, climbable objects inside the non-climbable zone, and barrier sections that are short or have lost rigidity. Photograph each item at the barrier before you leave.

## Required Action [#requiredAction]

Gives the owner a to-do list that you can measure against at reinspection.

- **Action Required (Text, Required)** - State what must be done so the pool complies. Pair each action to a non-compliance already listed. You are not quoting the repair or designing the fix; you are stating the finished standard the barrier has to meet. Leave room for a fencing contractor or minor owner work, but make "done" checkable.
  
  - **Useful** - Adjust gate hinges and latch so the gate self-closes and latches from any open position. Remove climbable objects from the NCZ. Request reinspection within three months.
  - **Too vague** - Fix gate and fence

## Inspection [#inspection]

Records when you inspected the pool. Timeframes on the notice run from this date.

- **Date of Inspection (Date, Required)** - The date the inspection actually happened. Today and Yesterday shortcuts are there because this is usually filled on site. The 2 business day window to give the owner the notice and the 3 month reinspection period are measured from this date, so do not use the day you typed the form up in the office if that is later.

## Statement [#statement]

Your declaration that you inspected the swimming pool and are not satisfied it is a complying pool for the reasons stated above. Complete non-compliance and required action first; the statement is what makes the document a formal notice.

- **Name (Text, Required)** - Your name as the licensed pool safety inspector who carried out the inspection. This is you standing behind the finding, not the company name or an office contact.
- **Pool Safety Inspector Licence Number (Text, Required)** - Your QBCC pool safety inspector licence number. Licence check against the QBCC register can fill your name from the number. Confirm the result matches the licence you inspected under.
- **Signature (Signature, Optional)** - Sign once the non-compliance and required action are complete and correct. The signature lands on the statement page of the PDF. Draw, upload, or use a saved signature. Nothing stops the download without it, but an unsigned notice is not ready to give the owner.
- **Date (Date, Required)** - The date you sign the notice. Often the same day as the inspection when you complete it on site. It is a different event from the inspection if you finalise the notice later within the 2 business day window.

**Saved detail: Inspector** - save this section to prefill it on your next Form 26 you issue as the same pool safety inspector.

## Common mistakes [#common-mistakes]

- **Writing non-compliance as a general impression.** - `Fence needs work` cannot be fixed or re-checked. Name the barrier part, the location, and the measurement where one decides the outcome.
- **Recording only the first fault.** - An owner who fixes the one item you wrote, then fails reinspection on a second fault you saw but did not record, is right to be filthy. List every nonconformity from the walk.
- **Leaving action untied to the fault.** - `Fix gate` does not tell the owner what done looks like. Pair each action to a listed non-compliance so reinspection has a benchmark.
- **Using the body corporate manager's name as owner on a shared pool.** - The notice goes to the legal owner, usually the body corporate. The manager may receive a copy, but the owner field is not a contact name.
- **Leaving Pool type on non-shared when the pool is common property.** - The form starts on non-shared. A body corporate, resort or multi-dwelling pool is shared, and the responsibilities sit differently.
- **Dating the inspection from the day you typed the form.** - The 2 business day issue window and the 3 month reinspection period run from the inspection date. Use the day you were at the pool.
- **Leaving site without photos of each item.** - A measurement dispute turns on whether the gauge was in the frame. Photograph the fault close-up and the location on the barrier before you go.

## Before download [#before-download]

- Owner name matches the legal owner or body corporate, not only the person on site
- Property address, lot and plan, and local government area identify the right parcel
- Pool type is shared when the pool serves more than one dwelling
- Every non-compliance has a location, a clear fault, and a measurement where one matters
- Each required action pairs to a listed non-compliance and is checkable at reinspection
- Inspection date is the day at the pool; inspector name, licence, signature and statement date are complete
- The PDF preview says exactly what you found and what the owner must fix

## After download [#after-download]

Give the notice to the pool owner within 2 business days of the inspection and keep evidence of when it was issued. The owner has three months from the day the notice is given to ask you, the same inspector, for reinspection. If they ask during that period, reinspect within 5 business days, or later if you both agree. If they do not ask within three months, [QBCC guidance](https://qbcc.qld.gov.au/home-owner-hub/swimming-pools/inspect-certify-pool) says you must notify the local government.

- **Name the file so the property is obvious.** Use something like `Form 26 - 14 Jacaranda Dr - 2026-06-18.pdf` so the notice is not mixed with certificates for the same address.
- **File the notice with your photos and measurements.** The PDF alone does not show the gauge reading. Keep the pack under one job reference for the return visit.
- **Explain the three-month window to the owner.** Another inspector cannot certify the pool during that period, and an appeal to the Development Tribunal must be made within 20 business days of the notice being given.
- **Track the reinspection.** Note the request date and outcome against the job so a lapsed period does not slip past without the local government notice.

Check the current QBCC requirements for your job. Retention and notification expectations sit with the pool safety inspector licence conditions and the local government.

## Related guides [#related-guides]

- **[Form 26 walkthrough](https://dev.tradieforms.com.au/resources/qld-form-26-pool-safety-nonconformity-notice-guide)** - When Form 26 is required, the timeframes, and what the notice must say.
- **[Form 36 no pool safety certificate](https://dev.tradieforms.com.au/docs/form-guides/building/qld/qld-pool-form-36-no-pool-safety-certificate)** - Notice used for sale or shared-pool lease when no pool safety certificate is in effect.