If you store petrol at home, or at a club/association or similar premises

You can store up to 30 litres of petrol at home or at non-workplace premises without informing your local Petroleum Enforcement Authority (PEA).

You can store it in:

For these purposes 'premises' are as defined in the Health and Safety Work Act, etc. 1974 and includes, for example, motor vehicles, boats and aircraft.

If you wish to store more than 30 litres of petrol and up to a maximum of 275 litres of petrol at your home or premises you need to follow the legal requirements for doing this, which are:

If you are storing up to 275 litres of petrol at any of these premises then you should be aware of the common storage requirements for these amounts, which are as follows:

Where petrol is stored in a place attached to a building, eg an integral garage, if the fire resistance requirements in the previous legislation were met then these would be considered acceptable under the new regulations and storage can continue. For example, an older house with an integral garage (that has a room above it) that met the requirement for the ceiling to be 'constructed of material not readily flammable' would be considered as acceptable and would not have to meet the requirement in the new regulations that the ceiling of such a garage is fitted with 'fire-resistant internal linings'.

Yes. If you already hold a licence to store more than 275 litres of petrol at non workplace premises on 1 October 2014 your licence remains valid until it reaches its expiry date. Your local PEA will issue you with a new licence at that date as long as the storage conditions have not changed.

If you are storing more than 275 litres at non workplace premises and you don't have a licence you should apply to your local PEA to obtain a licence. This is not a new requirement but carries forward long standing requirements of the previous legislation.

The licence will specify your name and where the petrol is to be kept; it can be granted for up to 3 years and is not transferrable. Your local PEA may attach conditions to your licence with regards to how the petrol is stored.

The legislation allows you to store petrol in the following containers:

Suitable portable containers are defined in Schedule 2 (para 6) and Schedule 3 of the regulations. UN approved containers are an example of such containers.

More detailed information on portable petrol storage containers is available.

No – the petrol in the fuel tank of your vehicle, including boats and aircraft, does not count when you are calculating the total amount you are storing.

You can store up to 30 litres of petrol in a maximum of 2 suitable containers in your vehicle. For the purpose of these Regulations a 'vehicle' is interpreted as any type of vehicle so includes boats, aircraft and hovercraft. This type of storage counts towards the total you can store at non workplace premises. Carriage of petrol is covered by the Carriage of Dangerous Goods (CDG) and the European agreement (ADR).

Yes, provided you have a licence to store petrol at your premises issued by your local Petroleum Enforcing Authority (PEA). Your local PEA can issue you with a licence if you are storing more than 275 litres of petrol, and the licence can include conditions relating to your storage and dispensing arrangements.

If you do not have a licence to store petrol, you should not dispense petrol into the tank of vehicle with an internal combustion engine, either by manual or electrical means.

If you have any questions regarding dispensing of petrol at your home, club or association you should discuss these with your local PEA. You will find a list of PEAs on the Association of Petroleum and Explosives Administration (APEA) website.

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