Environment Agency
You must follow the rules on storing oil if youve got an oil storage container with a capacity of 201 litres or more at a:
- business, including marinas
- public sector building like a school, hospital or leisure centre
You must also follow these rules if youve got an oil storage container with a capacity of 3,501 litres or more at a home, including barges and houseboats.
Storage containers include:
- oil drums and fixed tanks
- intermediate bulk containers (IBCs)
- mobile bowsers containers designed to store and dispense oil that can be moved between locations but not under their own power
- some types of generators
You could be fined or prosecuted if you do not follow the requirements in this guide. The Environment Agency can also serve an anti-pollution works notice to make you bring your oil store up to legal standards.
Storing oil on farms
There are separate requirements for storing agricultural fuel oil on a farm in England or Wales for agricultural purposes, for example as fuel for a tractor or to power a grain dryer.
But you must follow the rules for businesses in this guide if you store oil on a farm for non-agricultural business purposes, for example to fuel lorries or trucks.
Oil types
You must follow the rules in this guide if you store any of the following types of oil:
- petrol
- diesel
- biofuels
- kerosene
- vegetable oils, including any oil derived from a plant such as sunflower oil or plant-based oils used in aromatherapy
- hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO)
- synthetic oils normally lubricating oils like motor oil
- oils used as solvents
- biodegradable oils usually lubricating or hydraulic oils
- liquid bitumen-based products, for example waterproofing or damp proofing products, or coatings for a road surface
- cutting fluids, for example lubricants designed specifically for metalworking processes, that are made from or contain oil as oil-water emulsions
- insulating oils, used as electrical insulator and coolant
Grease is a mixture of oil and other substances, usually soap, and is viscous unless heated. We may ask for grease to be stored on a drip tray, but we expect that containers are either below 200 litres or stored indoors.
You do not need to follow the rules if you store any of the following substances, which are not classed as oil or are impractical to provide secondary containment for:
- liquid petroleum gas (LPG)
- hydrocarbon products that are solid unless they are heated, such as bitumen
- solvents that are not oil based such as trichloroethylene
- aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene and toluene
Waste oil
You must follow the rules in this guide if you store waste vegetable oil, waste cooking oil or waste synthetic oil.
You do not need to follow them if you store any of the following types of waste oil but you should check if you need an environmental permit:
- mixtures of diesel and petrol which can no longer be used as vehicle fuel, for example fuel drained from a diesel car thats been accidentally filled with petrol, creating a mixture
- any other oil drained from vehicle engines
- gearbox oil
- oil for turbines and hydraulic oil
Exempt oil storage containers
You do not need to follow these rules if your storage containers are:
- underground
- at a refinery
- at a premises for onward distribution of oil, rather than a premises which sells oil directly to end users
- stored in a building a permanent or temporary structure with walls and a roof that would capture oil leaking from the container
If you store oil in a building, you may need to meet additional fire safety measures under the Building Regulations contact your local council to discuss whether this is the case for your store.
If the building is on a farm in England or Wales, you must meet the requirements for storing agricultural fuel oil.
Oil depots at airports owned by oil companies are considered premises for onward distribution. These rules do not apply to them, but they do apply to oil depots at airports owned by airlines.
Marina service boats are not considered premises for onward distribution, if they sell oil directly to boat owners. These rules apply to service boats.
Generators
These rules apply to any of the following generators that have a connected oil supply tank with a capacity of 201 litres or more:
- generators in daily use with a tank that supplies the generator where all of the oil from the tank is not used in 1 day
- stand-by generators, which are generators kept for emergency use
Design standards for containers
Your container must be strong enough not to burst or leak in ordinary use.
Fixed tanks
Fixed tanks that meet the design standard are any made to British Standard 5410, or:
- Oil Firing Technical Association (OFTEC) standard OST T100, if your container is plastic
- OFTEC standard OFS T200 or British Standard 799-5, if your container is metal
OFTEC is a trade association for the oil heating and cooking industry.
Drums and IBCs
If you get a drum or IBC marked with the letters UN for United Nations it will meet the design standard.
Check with the Environment Agency
Contact the Environment Agency if your container does not meet one of these standards or have a UN marking, and you want to discuss whether its strong enough and has enough structural integrity.
Where to position your container
You must position your container somewhere that minimises the risk of it being damaged by impact, for example away from driveways, tanker turning circles and fork lift truck routes.
Or you must make sure that any impact will not damage the container, for example by placing barriers or bollards around the tank.
Remote filling
If you fill your container via a remote fill pipe you must use a drip tray to catch any oil that may be spilled during the delivery.
A remote fill is when you fill your container at a fill point thats outside the secondary containment (the bund or drip tray designed to capture leaks from the container). During a remote fill, the tank might not be visible from the fill point.
Secondary containment
You must install secondary containment around your container to catch any oil that leaks.
Secondary containment is usually either:
- a drip tray beneath the container
- a bund an outer case which holds the container
Fixed tanks must be bunded. Other containers can be bunded or use drip trays.
Secondary containment does not include:
- double-skinned or twin-walled tanks, where the tank is surrounded by a second outer skin for extra strength
- oil separators
If you use a bund, it must hold 110% of the capacity of the container. If you do not have a bund, check your secondary containment has the required capacity, depending on what kind of container its holding.
Storage drums: secondary containment capacity
The secondary containment for a drum (usually a drip tray) must have a capacity equal to or more than one quarter of the drum its holding.
If the drip tray can hold more than one drum, it must be able to hold one quarter of the combined capacity of the drums it can hold. This applies even if you only use the tray to hold a single drum. For example, a drip tray which can hold 4 separate 205-litre drums must have a capacity of 205 litres, even if youre only using it to hold a single 205 litre drum.
Single containers: secondary containment
For fixed tanks, mobile bowsers, IBCs and other single containers, the secondary containment must have capacity to hold 110% of the capacity of the container.
For example if your container has a capacity of 2,500 litres, your secondary containment must have capacity for 2,750 litres.