Neighbour has an oil storage tank right next to the house and covered with vegetation. Fumes from burner are noticeable at our back door when the wind is blowing from one direction and also when I have to pass by on the path. I suspect no planning permission was requested and not approved by building regs so it seems that I should do my duty and call the Council to see if my adjoining house is at risk.
However it was the previous owners who installed it. Will they have a liability?
What has the "burner" got to do with the tank?
Might be worth working out if there is actually anything wrong with the installation before you do.
Planning permission and building regs are two separate and unrelated things. Fuel tanks are considered "permitted development" and hence PP is not required so long as certain criteria are met:
Building regs do apply, but enforcement of them is time limited (typically two years) and they are generally not backdated either (so if they change and a once compliant install becomes non compliant there is no requirement to being the old work up to modern standards.
Unlikely.
The oil from the tank goes inside to the central heating/hot water boiler. The fumes come out from the same wall as that which the tank is adjacent. That wall/tank is adjacent to a common use path for residents.
How would I know that?
Thanks - the properties are in a conservation area.
What if it was non-compliant when installed say 10yrs ago?
So previous owner gets mate to do install 10 yrs ago and new owner from 3 years ago might have the liability to do a compliant install?
Just because you feel the neighbour used the council to "get at" you recently, does not make it a good idea to find ways to "retaliate" using the council.
so its over 2 years old
that's life
at risk of what? how would the council know?
not likely.
NT
Is it time for mediation again?
Chris
We had an oil tank at our first house about 40 years ago. It was installed by the builder and was simply stood on some back fill behind the garage how things have changed.
Richard
Yes, so what?
Well if you don't know for a fact that there *is* anything wrong, what are you bleating about?
If enforcement is time-limited then that's that, I'd say.
What makes you think that?
If the structure has been there over 10 years then no enforcement action under planning permission or building regulations can be taken.
So far, so normal...
Nothing wrong with that - assuming we are talking oil and not Challenger!
Read the docs as they stand now and work out the current situation. If its ok now, chances are it was then. If its not ok now, you would need to work backwards through older versions.
Its long past the time any enforcement action could be taken under building or planning regs.
If new owner were to replace the tank, then they would need to do so in accordance with the rules now (i.e. double skinned tank etc, bunded and all the rest). You have not yet said anything that suggests there is much if anything wrong with the current install.
Reading between the lines I sense an agenda here - someone perhaps attempting to "stitch up" a neighbour?
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