Read our fuel storage regulations to ensure you're within the law.
Fuel is highly hazardous and combustible, so it’s important that you store and handle it carefully to avoid damage to the surrounding environment.
There are different fuel storage regulations in place depending on how much you are storing and where you are storing fuel. It’s imperative that you follow the relevant legislation to ensure safe storage and avoid huge fines or prosecution.
When storing fuel at home, you must follow England’s Building Regulations if you have a new or replacement tank installed for powering your central heating or stove.
Please note, Building Regulations differ in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Fuel storage containers must be designed to exclusively store fuel and must have a screw cap or closure to prevent leakage of liquid or vapour.
Storing less than 30 litres
If you own a home, motor vehicle, boat or aircraft, you can store up to 30 litres without informing anyone. However, the law requires different containers depending on the volume you’re storing:
Storing more than 30 litres but less than 275 litres
In this instance, you must inform the local Petroleum Enforcement Authority (PEA) in writing and include your name, address and location.
Storing more than 275 litres but less than 3500
You need a petroleum storage certificate and a licence which can be attained from your local PEA. This will last up to 3 years but is non-transferable.
Please note:
Storing more than 3500 litres
In this case, you must follow the regulations for businesses and apply for planning permission to install a fuel tank for this volume at home.
When storing more than 200 litres of fuel at your business premises, marine or public sector building such as hospitals, schools and leisure centres, you must follow the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001.
This legislation refers to:
There are some exemptions from this legislation:
When storing fuel on a farm in England or Wales for agricultural purposes, there are different regulations that you must follow: Storing Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil.
However, if when storing fuel on a farm for non-agricultural business purposes, such as to fuel lorries or trucks, you must follow the rules for businesses.
All storage tank installations must adhere to the Building Regulations and include:
All tanks must be installed by a professional and registered company who will determine whether your tank needs a bund (secondary containment) to protect from any spills and leaks.
You must store your fuel tank:
If you’re struggling to find a suitable location to store your fuel, give us a call on 0330 678 0880 and we can advise on the best practices.
It’s important to use the correct fuel tank connections and fittings to avoid pollution fines and penalties.
Commercial pipework installations are usually made from steel, providing added protection from damage. Please note, steel pipework must not be galvanised and must be painted to reduce corrosion.
Domestic pipework is usually made from plastic-coated soft copper tubing, allowing it to be easily manipulated.
You must ensure aboveground pipework is supported so it’s secure and unable to become loose. It must also be away from damage by impact and collision.
If your pipework is underground, it can be tricky to detect any leaks or damage, which increases the risk of pollution. Therefore, it’s best to install aboveground pipework where possible.
If your fixed fuel tank has a flexible pipe to dispense oil, it must have a drip tray and be located inside a secure cabinet that’s locked shut when out of use.
Alternatively, where the pipe leaves the tank, it must be stored inside the bund with a lockable valve. The tap or valve must be at the input end and automatically close when out of use. Unless it has an automatic cut off mechanism, it must not be able to be fixed open.
A pump is a potential source of ignition so there are various rules that surround its use.
It must:
A valve is essential to prevent the supply of oil in the event of a fire.
It must be:
Pipes must have shut-off valves which are fire-safe when tested to BS EN IS 10497 as they are a potential source of leakage.
If your fuel tank has vent pipes, taps or valves that are permanently attached and risk oil escaping, they must be inside the bund and positioned so that any escaped oil will go directly inside the bund.
Fuel tanks must have an automatic overfill prevention device if the tank and vent pipe are out of sight, such as a:
You have a legal duty to ensure that the screw fitting or fixed coupling does not erode and there is no debris inside.
A remote fill refers to if your tank is topped up at a fill point that’s outside of the bund or drip tray. When using a remote fill pipe, you must use a drip tray to catch and spills and prevent environmental damage.
Secondary containment ensures that oil will not escape into the surrounding environment in the event of a spill or leak. All tanks and ancillary products must be located in an oil-tight, secondary containment such as a bund or drip tray.
A bund is an outer case that holds the tank, constructed from concrete or masonry. Bulk fuel tanks are required by law to be bunded, meeting DSEAR regulation 6(4)(e) requirements.
A bunded fuel tank offers complete peace of mind that your stored fuel is safe and secure.
It must meet ISO 9000 regulations:
The 110% capacity is to cater for overfilling, loss of tank contents, sudden tank failure and rainwater ingress.
Please note: if you have more than one fuel tank, the secondary containment must be able to store 110% of the largest tank’s capacity or 25% of the total capacity.
A drip tray is needed to contain any spills. It must be attached and fitted under the tank.
If it can hold the same amount as the container, it should be able to hold ¼ of the drum its holding. However, this is only valid if you use the tray to hold a single drum.
So, a drip tray that can hold 4 separate 205-litre drums must have a capacity of 205-litres, even if you only use it to hold 1 single drum.
A sight gauge is a traditional method to measure the contents of a bottom outlet oil tank.
It must be:
You can also gauge a tank using drip rods made from non-sparking alloys that are earthed. Please note: you must only use the rod in the tank it’s designed to ensure accurate readings.
However, dipping can cause a potential source of ignition that produce frictional heating, static electricity and sparking.
At Nationwide Fuels, we offer a tank telemetry system to avoid manually dipping tanks. Through sensors that are fitted to your tank, it tells you how much fuel each of your sites have left and how many days this volume will supply.
