If you own a pool in Queensland, you need a CPR sign. Not a suggestion, not a nice-to-have. It is written into the regulation, and the spec is more specific than most people realise.
Here is the whole thing, without the legalese.
The short answer
Every regulated pool in Queensland must display a resuscitation sign. It needs to be at least 300mm square, made of something that will survive a Queensland summer, visible to anyone standing near the water, and it has to show CPR instructions that match a specific published guideline.
That is it. Four things. Most pools fail on one of them.
What the regulation says
The rule lives in section 13 of the Building Regulation 2021, which sets the standard for section 231D of the Building Act 1975.
Worth knowing: this replaced the Building Regulation 2006. If you have read a pool signage article that cites the 2006 regulation, you have read something out of date.
Your sign must:
- Be at least 300mm x 300mm. That is the absolute minimum, not the target.
- Be made of durable, weatherproof material. A laminated printout is not a compliant sign. Neither is anything that will fade, warp or chalk after two or three summers.
- Be attached to your pool barrier or displayed near the pool, positioned so it is conspicuous and easily visible to anyone near the water.
- Carry a prominent emergency statement. The regulation gives its own example: "In an emergency phone 000 and ask for ambulance. Stay with injured person, call for help and resuscitate."
- Show CPR procedures that follow ANZCOR Guideline 8, as published by the Australian Resuscitation Council in January 2016.
Every statement and diagram on the sign has to be clear and legible, in that same durable weatherproof material.
Where to actually put it
The regulation says conspicuous and easily visible to anyone near the pool. In practice, think about where someone would be standing if they had just pulled someone out of the water.
That is usually near the steps or the shallow end, at adult eye level, on the inside of the barrier. Not on the back of the gate. Not behind the pool pump. Not somewhere the bougainvillea will swallow it by February.
What happens if you do not have one
Pool safety is enforced by the QBCC and your local council under the Building Act 1975. Non-compliance can attract on-the-spot fines and, in serious cases, court-imposed penalties. Amounts are tied to penalty units and change over time, so check the current figures with the QBCC rather than trusting a number in a blog post.
The more immediate cost is usually a failed pool safety inspection when you go to sell or lease.
Your wider Queensland pool checklist
The CPR sign is one item. Here is the rest of what a Queensland pool owner is on the hook for.
- Pool registered on the QBCC statewide pool register. Registration is free, and failing to register is an offence.
- Barrier at least 1200mm high, measured from ground level to the top.
- Gap under the barrier no more than 100mm.
- Vertical gaps no more than 100mm between members.
- Gate self-closing and self-latching, with the latch release at least 1500mm above the ground.
- Non-climbable zone kept clear, 900mm outside the barrier and 300mm inside. That includes pot plants, pool furniture, the pool cleaner box and anything else a four-year-old would read as a ladder.
- Compliant CPR sign displayed, to the spec above.
- Pool safety certificate if you are selling or leasing. Valid two years for a non-shared pool, one year for a shared pool.
The barrier rules sit in the Queensland Development Code Mandatory Part 3.4.
The part nobody enjoys
Compliance signage has a reputation, and it is deserved. Most of it looks like it was designed for a council carpark and then installed next to someone's travertine coping.
It does not have to be the thing you apologise for when people walk through the gate. A sign that meets every line of section 13 can also look like it belongs in your backyard. That is the entire reason Holidae Haus exists.
Shop CPR signs - every design meets the Queensland spec, and every other state's.
From our Haus to yours.
