Central heating oil tank in garage

bart man

bart man

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we have just had our oil boiler serviced and the chap carried out a risk assessment on the oil tank. it failed on everything- single skin steel tank in garage etc etc but he used a risk assessment form intended for new tank installations. the guy tells me it needs replacing as it doesnt conform to current regs.
a few questions please- is it a legal requirement for heating engineers to carry out an assessment on the tank? - ( he says it is) am I in breach of the legislation if the tank installation doesnt conform to current regs? its been like it is since we moved in 16 years ago. previous service engineers did not give us a risk assessment, neither did the company that installed the new boiler 4 years ago. thanks in advance
 
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Tell him to do one... If it is there and doesn't comply, then there is nothing that he can do, it only has to comply if you are having a new tank fitted. Though I would bow to the more experienced oil fitters here if this is not the case but it is my understanding
 
It it works and does its job who cares. My fuse box I'm sure won't comply with current regs. But I works perfectly fine.
 
I don't think there is anything that you HAVE to comply with now.

But be aware there might be Building Regulations which it infringes.

Then there is the question of your own buildings insurance! If they have not been advised about the tank there they might well invalidate your insurance!

Tony
 
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Guy telling you a load of ballcocks. He can "advise" you is is not safe / to standards but cannot force you to do anything. It is not a legal requirement like G ass afe. I fill out these forms too but it is a CYA procedure. You tell then what is wrong and walk away. It is up to them if they will sort. You have carried out your obligation and cannot be held responsible.
 
@martyn-s OFTEC engineers do not currently have any powers to compel you to do anything. The reason for writing a report is that it provides a paper trail so that in the event of a claim, the competent person can show that they advised the homeowner that their tank did not comply, thus removing any liability for the present installation from the engineer. Now that you have possession of such paperwork however, it is deemed that you are informed of the situation and as such if you were to suffer a loss as a result of the non-compliant installation it's quite likely that your insurance company would use the document against you and refuse to pay out. For example, if you suffered a small fire near the tank (maybe an electrical extension reel catches fire, or something like that...), which caused the tank to catch fire and burn your garage/house down, they'd argue that your house only burned down because of the non-compliant installation you were fully aware of, and the original small fire would not have caused that to happen. Result? You lose your house and everything in it, and unless you have considerable savings you have no way of recovering your loss. Whether you wish to carry that risk yourself or not is up to you

@lostinthelight is correct that some oil suppliers are getting more strict on tank installations now as they're worried about their own liability, so they're increasingly refusing to deliver to non-compliant installations where they feel there is a safety issue. Personally I think all tanker drivers should be required by law to fill out a tank risk assessment to leave with the homeowner, and to refuse to fill tanks which substantially fail that assessment
 
Our Tanker Driver refused to fill our Tank he spotted a small crack appearing on the top of the tank, as he said another driver would not have noticed it. ( A single Skin Plastic tank 10 years old) As he said had it split after he had filled it, the Insurance Company would have been after the supplier for not noticing it.

The problem is if splits and the oil leaks into the ground, under building footings and water table it becomes a very expensive job for the Insurance Company, they will be looking to why the supplier or heating engineer did not make the customer aware of the problem.
Ignore it at your peril
 
Years ago it was common practice to fabricate tanks in cellars of commercial buildings.
I do not recall any horror stories of fires attributed to this.
 
I had customer wanting to replace a very large tank in his underground garage for a smaller one.
He had paperwork from building control stating it was ok as the new tank created less hazard than the old one.
 
muggles said:
@martyn-s OFTEC engineers do not currently have any powers to compel you to do anything. The reason for writing a report is that it provides a paper trail so that in the event of a claim, the competent person can show that they advised the homeowner that their tank did not comply, thus removing any liability for the present installation from the engineer. Now that you have possession of such paperwork however, it is deemed that you are informed of the situation and as such if you were to suffer a loss as a result of the non-compliant installation it's quite likely that your insurance company would use the document against you and refuse to pay out. For example, if you suffered a small fire near the tank (maybe an electrical extension reel catches fire, or something like that...), which caused the tank to catch fire and burn your garage/house down, they'd argue that your house only burned down because of the non-compliant installation you were fully aware of, and the original small fire would not have caused that to happen. Result? You lose your house and everything in it, and unless you have considerable savings you have no way of recovering your loss. Whether you wish to carry that risk yourself or not is up to you

@lostinthelight is correct that some oil suppliers are getting more strict on tank installations now as they're worried about their own liability, so they're increasingly refusing to deliver to non-compliant installations where they feel there is a safety issue. Personally I think all tanker drivers should be required by law to fill out a tank risk assessment to leave with the homeowner, and to refuse to fill tanks which substantially fail that assessment
Click to expand...


Misleading info. It is unlikely the insurance company would refuse to pay. They just might. If there's space you could put 2hr firebreak round it.
 
Insurers would never get away with saying you should comply with non-retrospective regulations. They might try but it wouldn't work
 
The answers seem to be going off track a bit,

The problem is not necessarily the Fire Risk involved it is the Leakage problem,

OP states the tank ( single skin Steel tank) was in the property sixteen years ago, so must be in excess of 20 years old , these tanks are subject to rust, (Ten Year Insurance life span at most) so has basically reached the end of its life by Insurance Company Standards,

should it leak the Insurance Company would refuse compensation on the Grounds the Tank was not maintained properly.

http://inspectapedia.com/oiltanks/Oil_Storage_Tank_Life.php
 
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