Pool Permits

1. Set up a DASH account
2. Upload supporting documentation:  
   1. Elevation drawings of the proposed and existing fence enclosures. 
   2. A completed utility locates form (call Ontario One Call at 1-800-400-2255 before digging). 
   3. A plot plan with: 
      • Measurements from property lines to the pool's water edge (minimum 1.5 m). 
      • Minimum 0.6 m distance from pool decking to property line. 
      • Minimum 1.2 m from the pool enclosure to the pool's water's edge. 
      • Minimum 1.2 m from buildings, decks, and access doors to the pool's edge. 
      • Location of existing and proposed fences. 
      • Location of self-closing and self-latching gates. 
      • Measurements to mechanical pool equipment (1.2 m to lot lines for enclosed pool equipment,3 m for unenclosed pool equipment). 
      • Indicate climbable objects within 1.2 m outside of the pool enclosure. 
      • Location of right of way, easements, and retaining walls. 
      • Location of septic beds and tanks where applicable. 
3. Submit your permit application online. 
4. Pay your pool permit fee. 
5. Apply for a deck permit if a deck or an accessory structure greater than 10 square metres is proposed as part of your application. 
6. Apply for a residential or commercial entranceway application if you are accessing your property over the City boulevard or sidewalk to install the pool, prior to any work being done.   
7. If you are accessing your property through City owned land, a park access permit is required. Please email your park access permits and entrance permit applications to engineering@cityofkingston.ca 
8. Schedule building inspections at different construction stages for temporary pools and after completing permanent pool enclosures. Have your permit plans and specifications on-site for the Building Inspector. Give at least 24-hour notice to book an inspection. 

Make sure the enclosures keep people out. They should be at least 1.2 m tall and follow these Fence Bylaw rules: 

• No spaces that let a 100 mm wide ball through or a 50 mm wide ball underneath. 
• Horizontal rails should be at least 1.2 m apart, unless the vertical slats are closer than 38 mm. 
• If you use chain link, the links can't be bigger than 38mm. 
• Put the posts in concrete that's at least 1.2 m deep. Space them within 2.4 m for wood or three metres for steel. 

All enclosure gates should: 

• Match the fence's height. 
• Have self-close hinges. 
• Be self-latching and lockable, with the latch on the pool side at the highest point. 

If an accessory building or garage wall is part of the enclosure, any doors leading outside the pool area must also have self-closing, self-latching and locking devices. 

The vertical walls of an above-ground pool can be part of the pool enclosure if: 

• They are at least 1.5 m tall and do not have any horizontal parts that make it easy to climb. 
• The area with the ladder or deck, used to get into the above-ground pool, is enclosed by a fence and a gate that follows the Bylaw rules. 

You cannot use removable or swing-type ladders as part of the needed enclosure. 

• You can put pools, hot tubs and wading pools in your rear or interior side yard. 
• Make sure the water is at least 1.5 m from your property line and 7.5 m from the street. 
• If the equipment used to run the pool, hot tub or wading pool isn't enclosed, it should be three metres from your property line. If it's enclosed, it can be 1.2 m from the property line. 

The Ontario Electrical Safety Code mandates that overhead power lines must be at least 5 m above any pool equipment if they are within 5 m of the pool's edge.