OFTEC (Oil Firing Technical Association) is advising installers and consumers to only buy oil storage tanks that are CE marked following new legislation which took effect from 1 July.
Under the new Construction Products Regulation (CPR), any oil products produced to a Harmonised European Standard covered by the CPR must be CE marked in order to be legally sold in a European member state. Oil products currently listed on the Harmonised Standards Database include plastic oil tanks to EN 13341, steel tanks to EN 12285-2, vaporising oil stoves to EN 1, and oil tank overfill prevention devices to EN 13616.

Any oil tanks manufactured prior to the deadline can still be installed without a CE mark providing it was in stock with a merchant before 1 July or had been bought by the installer or customer before that date. However, this needs to be verified by the retailer or merchant in writing.

Commenting on the new requirements, OFTEC's technical director Paul Rose said: 'From now on if you're installing a new oil storage tank it makes sense to check that it's CE marked. If there is any doubt about whether it was manufactured before or after the 1 July deadline, reputable manufacturers should be able to provide supporting evidence.'