A building and pest inspection will tell you about the house. It will not tell you much about the pool. Most building inspectors glance at the pool area, note that it exists, and move on. They do not check whether the safety barriers meet Australian Standard AS 1926.1, whether the pool fence gate has a compliant latching device, or whether the chlorinator is three years past its lifespan. That is where a dedicated pre purchase inspection comes in.

We had a buyer in Canning Vale who was two days from settlement on a property with a fibreglass pool and spa. The real estate listing described the pool as being in good condition. She was excited about the house. Then Adrian inspected it. The boundary barrier had a 120mm gap under the fence line where the finished ground level had shifted. The pool pump seal was leaking. The salt cell was completely calcified from years on bore water. Nobody had touched it. The cost to fix everything came to over $4,000. She went from dreaming about summer weekends by the pool to staring at a repair bill before she had even moved in. The report gave her leverage to renegotiate the contract price before signing. Without that inspection, those problems would have landed in her lap on day one of owning her new home.

That is what a pre purchase pool inspection does. It gives you a clear understanding of what you are actually buying. Not a vague assurance from the seller. A detail by detail breakdown of the pool equipment, the barrier compliance, the structural condition. The kind of information that helps you make an informed decision before anyone signs anything.

Adrian does not use a generic checklist. He built the 1 Pool Care process around what actually fails in Perth pools, and from the initial inspection walkthrough to the final report every step of our services reflects that. Perth’s bore water carries high calcium and mineral loads that chew through salt cells and heat exchangers faster than most people expect. Coastal properties near Iluka Foreshore and along the Scarborough strip deal with salt spray eating into equipment housings. Inland, around Ellenbrook and Wanneroo, bore water staining turns up on pool surfaces that looked fine six months ago. Adrian knows what to look for because he has been servicing these exact conditions for over twenty years. Every swimming pool safety inspection we conduct covers the following.

Pool equipment including the pump, filter, chlorinator or chemical feeder, pool cleaner, lights and heating system. Adrian tests each component under load, not just visually. A pump that looks fine sitting idle can reveal a bearing noise or seal leak the moment it kicks on. You would never know from a photo. We also carry out electronic leak detection on the plumbing if Adrian suspects a pressure loss, which is common in older pools where PVC joints have dried out.

Safety barriers are where most pools fail. Adrian measures the pool fence height from the finished ground level on both sides, checks for climbable objects within the non climbable zone, inspects vertical members for gaps wider than 100mm, tests the gate self closing mechanism and latching device, and checks retaining walls and dividing fences that form part of the barrier. He also checks doors and windows opening onto the pool area for compliant self closing hardware. Under the WA Building Act, every regulated pool requires an approved safety barrier, and the rules differ depending on whether the property has shared pools or non shared pools. Adrian will explain what applies to your property.

Pool surface condition, water chemical balance, tiling, coping and surrounds. Cracks in a fibreglass shell or delaminating pebblecrete are not always visible from the pool edge. Adrian gets in close and checks the detail that matters.