Non Compliant Fuel Oil Tank!

[Gogs33]

Hello all. I'm looking at buying a property but the oil tank seems non compliant with current regs. Too close to building and not survivor ty bunded for nearby stream. Also base may not be rigid enough. The present owner swapped the tank about 3 or 4 years ago but didn't seem to realise he needed to rectify the situation (trained as a builder ?). Am I obliged to put this right immediately or can it wait until it needs replacing?

Looks to cost at least 2k to sort?

Regards Chris

 

[Agile]

Are you sure the tank does not have an inbuilt bund as some plastic ones do?

Unless anyone is hassling you then I would say that you dont need to do anything about it.

But be aware that it could prejudice you building insurance!

Also there are severe fines for contaminating a water course!

An air to air heat pump would be worth considering and perhaps keeping the oil system as a backup with lower oil levels.

My mother had a neighbour whose tank split or caught fire and burning oil ran about 200m down the drive towards my mother's house.

The fire brigade did not have any facilities to deal with the burning oil but simply used a spade to divert it off the drive into the field.

You should be able to negotiate a good discount off the price with those deficiencies.

Tony

 

[Gogs33]

Thanks for thAt Tony. I have checked and it is definately only single skinned.
Cheers. Chris

 

[Tipper]

An air to air heat pump would be worth considering and perhaps keeping the oil system as a backup with lower oil levels.

I think you mean air to water heat pump?

As regards the oil tank it can be as near to the house as you like as long as there are no building openings within a certain distance or a 'fire wall' (to protect the tank from a building or external fire) is between the tank and the opening. Adjacent to a wooden fence is also not acceptable and bushes too close and trellis around it making it pretty, etc. Oh and a bunded tank is required close to an open drain or non-sealed inspection cover as well as a ditch or stream.

See the 'OFTEC' web site for more details.