Guide
Oil tank replacement: removal, new tank and the rules that apply
Updated
If a new tank is going in, the removal is part of a bigger job, and the decisions you make about the new one are what you will live with for the next twenty years.
Quote them together
Removal and replacement on the same visit is almost always cheaper than two separate jobs, because the disconnection, the emptying, the plant and the travel are shared. It also means one contractor owns the whole outcome, including the base, the pipework and making good, which removes the gap between two trades that causes most disputes.
Single skin or bunded
- Single skin
- One wall between the oil and the outside world. Cheaper to buy. Where a leak occurs there is nothing between the fuel and the ground, which is the whole argument against it.
- Bunded (integrally bunded)
- A tank within a tank, so that a failure of the inner tank is contained by the outer one. More expensive up front, and the option that answers the containment question rather than deferring it.
- Bunded chamber
- A separate constructed bund around a tank, sized to contain the tank's contents. More common on commercial sites and older installations.
Where the rules come in
In England, the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001 set requirements for oil storage, dealing separately with fixed tanks and mobile bowsers (legislation.gov.uk). They apply principally to storage at industrial, commercial and institutional premises, with domestic oil storage treated differently and only caught above a capacity threshold. The exact scope and threshold for your installation must be checked against the regulations and your regulator's current guidance rather than taken from a supplier's summary, including this one. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own oil storage regimes, so confirm the position for the country the tank is in.
Siting the new tank
- Separation from buildings, boundaries, openings and combustible material, which is a fire consideration as well as a practical one.
- Distance from drains, watercourses, boreholes and soakaways, because that is what containment exists to protect.
- A proper base, level, adequately sized and able to carry a full tank.
- Access for the delivery tanker, including hose reach from where the driver can actually stand.
- Security, since oil theft is real and a damaged tank is also a spill.
- Who signs it off: ask the installer which standards they are working to, whether any notification to building control is required, and what registration or competence they hold.
Ask for the old tank's disposal documentation as part of the replacement job. It is the evidence that the redundant tank was dealt with properly, and it is what a buyer's solicitor will eventually ask about.