A pool safety inspector may be engaged to consult or provide general advice to a pool owner about their pool’s compliance with the pool safety standard, as opposed to being engaged to give a pool safety certificate or a nonconformity notice. For example, a pool owner may not be selling or leasing the property but wants to know if the pool complies with the current standard.
A pool safety inspector who is only engaged to provide advice should consider their duty to act in the public interest. This may involve notifying the local government of a noncompliant pool where the circumstances pose a serious safety risk.
A pool safety inspector should take care to ensure the scope of their engagement is always clearly documented. It is not appropriate for a pool safety inspector to agree to provide an advisory or consulting service (a ‘pre-inspection inspection’) and subsequently agree to give either a pool safety certificate or a nonconformity notice for the same pool.
They should advise the pool owner that another pool safety inspector ought to be engaged to complete this function. By following this practice, the pool safety inspector will avoid any allegation that they were engaged to carry out a pool safety inspection function and failed to give a pool safety certificate or a nonconformity notice within the required time after the inspection, which would leave them at risk of disciplinary action.