Should I choose a metal pool fence or a glass one?

When people are trying to make their pool and spa barriers compliant with the standards, they often ask us for recommendations for pool fence materials. There are many options, but the most common ones are metal and glass pool fences, and they each have advantages and disadvantages.

Metal pool fences are cheaper, and that’s a huge advantage.  Make sure that if you’re buying a metal pool fence you get one that is compliant with AS 1926.1.  Some large and well-known hardware chains sell fences that look like pool fences, but they’re actually garden fences and they are not compliant with AS 1926.1 (the pool barrier standard).  If you buy one of these, you’re wasting your money.

Glass pool fences have a couple of advantages over metal pool fences.  A glass fence doesn’t provide the “step through” risk that metal fences provide – the risk that a child will put their leg through a fence (between the bars) to climb on something climbable inside the fence.  This is why the regulations say there’s a NCZ on the inside of fences that have more than 10mm of space between verticals (i.e. 99% of metal fences) – there’s a 300mm deep space that has to be clear of climbable objects.

Because many glass fences have no gaps between verticals there’s no issue with climbable objects on the inside.

Similar comments can be made about shielding around a latch.  When a latch is on the inside of a gate, the pool barrier regulations say it has to be shielded, and you commonly see large quarter-circles of Perspex or metal acting as shields on metal fences and gates.  This is not required on a well-designed and installed glass fence/gate.

Similar comments apply (again!) to the regulations about the horizontal parts of gate and fences.  The rules that apply to these things are just much simpler for glass gates and fences.

That said, glass fences are generally more expensive, and many people say they are harder to keep clean.

Some of the pros and cons are more subjective: many people say they look more modern.  Others like the fact that you can see through them.  But still others say they’re conspicuous because they’re reflective – that a black metal pool fence will disappear against a background of trees and shrubs whereas a glass fence will stand out because of the reflection.

So as you can tell, it’s not a simple thing.  A lot comes down to taste.  It is clear, though, that it’s easier to make a glass fence compliant, and you’ll pay more for it.