Swimming Pool Register: Building Commission NSW

The Problem

The NSW Swimming Pool Act was enacted to enforce the registration (extranet), inspection, and certification of pools to ensure their safety. The NSW Fair Trading faced the challenge of implementing a pool registration system within a short timeframe, while ensuring cost-effectiveness and compliance with data protection laws.

The Solution To address the requirements, PretaGov conducted a Discovery phase to understand the complex user scenarios and legislation. NSW legislation required all 300,000 backyard pools across the state to be registered between 29 April and 29 October 2014 — leaving roughly two months for PretaGov to do the analysis, design, build and launch from contract award in February 2013. Through collaboration with stakeholders including the 182 Local Councils who would use the system, we mapped out a solution covering 30 individual forms, an inspector workflow, and an integration with the NSW Lands and Properties database for address disambiguation.

The first week of the system's launch witnessed an enthusiastic response, with over 50,000 pools registered. The system efficiently handled peak loads and resource-intensive backend processing and storage, while ensuring performance. The online Register replaced costly manual paper-based processes and also served 182 Local Councils and inspectors for over-the-counter registrations and mobile record updates.

Data Security and Compliance

Technical Complexity and Efficiency

The Outcomes

ConclusionNSW Swimming Pools Register.