Bylaws & Safety
Most municipalities have bylaws regarding ponds. Please make sure that you contact your local Zoning Department in order to make sure that your pond conforms to the local bylaws concerning water depth, fencing or eventual building permits. If you don’t know how to reach your local Zoning Department, we suggest that you call City Hall.
We suggest that you draw a plan/sketch of your property and that you get it approved in writing by the appropriate person(s) at the Zoning Department. You will then be able to build your pond with confidence knowing that there won’t be any problem at a later date.
If your municipality has no bylaws regarding ponds, we suggest that you use common sense so your pond doesn’t present any danger to the people and other living creatures that may find themselves on your property at some point.
It is also probably a good idea to notify your insurance company. Typically, they like to know what is going on around your property.
Before you dig, please call the utility companies as well as the city to make sure that you won’t break any underground services, which would not only be very inconvenient, it might also be very dangerous. Please call before you dig.
Use the services of an electrician to bring power to the pond and to make sure that the pond electrical system is compliant with the local electrical code.
The above-mentioned recommendations are not necessarily exhaustive and we suggest that you use common sense when building a pond in order to minimize safety hazards and maximize your pond enjoyment.