Pool Builder is built for New Zealand pool installers and the engineers who sign their work. It sites the pool on the real property boundary, checks it against the underground services and the pool barrier rules, then hands the job to a Chartered Professional Engineer for a PS1.
We reviewed 20 comparable tools in July 2026. These four points are where Pool Builder stands alone.
The boundary comes from the LINZ Primary Parcels dataset, and the house footprint from LINZ Building Outlines. The pool turns red the moment it crosses the boundary, and the coastline layer is Mean High Water Springs from LINZ.
Water, wastewater and stormwater lines are drawn from the Watercare network. Move the pool over a main and it turns orange, and the printed site plan records a services encroachment. No rival we found does this.
Pool Builder proposes a compliant barrier line around the pool, then checks it. The rules come from NZBC clause F9 and F9/AS1, which references NZS 8500:2006. Gate positions and climbable-zone clearances are part of the check.
A job can be handed from the installer to an engineer inside the app. The engineer produces the retaining wall design, the drawings and a PS1 producer statement under their own CPEng registration. Not one of the 20 tools we reviewed issues a PS1.
All prices in New Zealand dollars per month, excluding GST.
Everything listed here is live. Nothing on this page describes a feature that is still being built.
Built and tested, held back for a later release. Listed separately so the section above stays true about what you can use today.
Being straight about coverage matters more than sounding national.