Will we get fined for oil tank?

[Beingseenisneedy]

Hi, we're in Scotland and builder has put our oil tank in a wrong place, not on a slab or concrete base and with no planning permission.

It's wedged too close to back lf neighbour's shed and our own wooden shed.

FTB, which isn't a defence but as all the neighbours have tanks, one actually a wrongly installed one too, we didn't realise it would be an issue.

He's an experienced builder recommended by a colleague and yet somehow left out all this important bit.

Have read than if not reported for 4 years, it will then not be an issue, but we're both worriers and would always be on edge, so not an option to ignore.

Builder yet to finish other jobs, which he's also botched and want him out ASAP and get someone else to rectify tank situation as relations already at a low.

Issue now is the costs as can't afford to move it and apply for planning.

Would the council fine us for not getting planning first?

YABU - Apply for retrospective planning now, move it later.

YANBU - Get it moved first and then apply for planning.

Surely if he has broken regulations for it, legally he is on very dodgy ground (excuse the pun!) and you could threaten to report him (after he's finished other work)?

Thank you all . We're definitely looking to move it, but funds are not available straightaway and would take a while to book it in anyway.

Concern was getting a fine in the meantime for it not being installed properly and now from PP, potential leaks, fires, neighbours, insurance etc.

I was worried before, but now even more so.

Yep, leak here was an insurance claim or about £25k (that was a plastic tank, ironically, after we'd removed the old rusty metal one).Get it moved and reinstalled safely.

Only realised recently that it needs moving. Oil delivery was in April.

Annoyingly, there's a slab of concrete where a green house used to be.
Don't know why he didn't do it properly as he came highly recommended.

We are going to move the tank. It's whether we apply for retrospective planning before moving it or after.

Thank you
@museumum , worried about a fine if it's found out before retrospective planning.

Thank you, sorry about the slabs, hopefully can be rectified.

We're in a conservation area, so it unfortunately does need planning 😫.

^
This

ok, so you didn't realise at the time the oil was delivered so fair enough. To be fair, this shouldn't impact you anyway. If the tank needs to be drained, then the cost of that is down to the builder, and he needs to get a proper firm in to remove the oil and replace it when done. He needs to cover the cost of making this right.

My heating was installed under a grant scheme 18 years ago now, but the tank was placed on a concrete slab then.

The boiler was placed on existing slabs, and has been replaced since then under another grant scheme, but recently the service engineer said it should have been placed on a firm surface not the slabs as there is not enough support underneath them.

The Council are unlikely to take enforcement action and any enforcement action will give you an opportunity to get planning permission before you start incurring any fines etc.

Did it have planning permission originally? Can it not go in that location? If not, the difficulty with a retrospective application is either that the application is not permitted, or that you just don't get round to doing it.

If the application isn't permitted, you will be left trying to find somewhere to put the oil tank which is acceptable and incurring those costs again. If you don't get round to sorting it, it will cause awful problems when you sell.

We had an oil tank leak (it was an old metal one, and the bottom fell out just after we'd filled it with 1,000 l of oil). 1,000 of litres of oil ... it went into our garden and poisoned the soil, AND it went into the sewage system. There had to be big environmental rectification works (?) on our soil and a large amount of water stuff that happened (sewage mixed with oil is especially bad). Fortunately we were covered by our insurance and didn't need to pay any of it ourselves, the the total cost of the claim was in the tens of thousands.

You would not be insured if the tank were not properly installed. (And I appreciate a plastic tank is a lot less likely to leak than those old metal ones, but still ...)

Trading Standards?

The legal requirements for oil tanks may be your friend

Thank you, unfortunately the relationship is hanging by a very thin thread. Would rather save up and pay for rectifying with a reputable company as don't trust him now and the sooner he's out of our lives, the better.

There was future work he'd agreed to, which we'll absolutely not be using him for anymore. So he's shot himself in the foot.

At this point, he stress of having no money is better than that of dealing with him further.

Edit: Hope yours gets sorted too. Frustrating when people take short cuts.

Thank you, it's promising if they'll give us time to rectify before fining us.

All our neighbours have tanks, so hoping that's an indication it won't be refused.

We absolutely want it sorted so will be applying and moving it. Just that funds don't allow for both at the same time.

We're both wooses and haven't been sleeping since we found out.

Feel sick to my stomach at the potential issues being brought up here that I hadn't even thought of.

Eek!! That sounds stressful and a lot of inconvenience. Glad it was sorted.

Have now called up a company who will come and assess.
They can only make it beginning of July though, so lots more stressing in the meantime.

Not sure if it's the same in Scotland as in England, but find out the cost of rectifying things, including the planning permission application and send a Letter before action giving him an opportunity to put things right. If he fails to put things right, sue him (possibly small claims procedure depending on the amount) for the costs of putting it right. Presumably he is insured and you have details of his liability insurance?

I fully understand the desire to get shot of him. We had a terrible experience with a tiler and had to get the worst of his work put right. Pains me every time I walk in the bathroom and see hundreds of pounds worth of tiles badly installed.