Does a swimming pond need planning permission?

Within a built-up area, a swimming pool in Bavaria generally needs no planning permission: the Bavarian Building Code exempts swimming pools from the permit procedure regardless of their size – except in open countryside. But exempt from the procedure does not mean free of rules, and in the Bavarian Oberland there are two stumbling blocks that can derail projects: open countryside and landscape protection areas.

What the Building Code says

The relevant provision is Art. 57 para. 1 no. 10 a of the Bavarian Building Code. It exempts “swimming pools, including associated temporary air-supported covers, except in open countryside” from the permit procedure. There is no longer a size limit. Many guides online still quote the former limit of 100 cubic metres – it was abolished by the First Modernisation Act for Bavaria and has no longer applied since 1 January 2025.

The law speaks of swimming pools. Whether a swimming pond with a planted zone is treated in exactly the same way under building law in every case is not expressly settled officially. If in doubt, we clarify this beforehand with the district office.

Exempt from the procedure does not mean free of rules

Even without a planning application, all other regulations continue to apply (Art. 55 para. 2 BayBO): the provisions of a development plan, neighbour law, nature conservation law and water law. If you are building within a village, you should therefore check the development plan first.

Stumbling block 1: open countryside

If the pond lies in open countryside – for example on the meadow beyond the edge of the village – the exemption no longer applies. It then needs planning permission and usually cannot be approved.

A case from the district of Miesbach shows how strictly this is viewed: the district office had approved a swimming pond in a large garden, the municipality sued – and won. In 2023 the Bavarian Higher Administrative Court confirmed that the approval was unlawful. According to the ruling, the boundary of open countryside generally runs along the outer edges of the main buildings, and a swimming pond is not automatically part of residential use (BayVGH, decision of 14.03.2023, ref. 2 ZB 22.1948). A large garden is therefore not automatically within the built-up area.

By then the pond was already in place. The municipality subsequently demanded that it be removed; the district office must now decide the matter afresh (VG München, judgment of 04.06.2025, ref. M 9 K 23.3716). Anyone building in open countryside without clarifying this beforehand therefore risks having to remove the pond.

Stumbling block 2: the landscape protection area

Around Lenggries, in the Isar valley and by the lakes, there are many landscape protection areas. There, creating new bodies of water generally requires a permit – even if the pond would be exempt from the permit procedure under building law. The ordinance for the “Sylvensteinsee und oberes Isartal” landscape protection area, for example, requires written permission from the lower nature conservation authority in order to “create new bodies of water”, and for structures expressly even where they would otherwise need no permit. The “Isarauen” ordinance makes similar provisions.

The district office is the responsible authority. The protected area ordinances for the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen can be found on the lower nature conservation authority’s page and collected in the overview of protected area ordinances.

And the water?

If you want to fill the pond from your own well, you generally need a water-law permit from the district office – filling a pool does not count as use of groundwater that is exempt from permission. Even drilling a garden well must be notified in advance (information sheet from the Weilheim Water Management Office).

If the plot lies in a designated flood zone, for example along the Isar, building there is generally prohibited; exceptions are made only in individual cases (Section 78 of the Water Resources Act). And if the pool ever needs to be drained: ask the municipality or district office beforehand where the water may go.

Who takes care of it?

We clarify these questions as part of the design process – directly with the district office if needed. And if a planning application is needed after all, you do not have to hire anyone else: Ludwig Fuchs is a registered architect authorised to submit building plans, and we prepare and submit the application drawings ourselves.

What a swimming pond looks like in the end is shown on our pages on the swimming pond and the Living Pool, as well as in projects such as the swimming pond in Rottach-Egern.