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Check your legal storage limit and choose approved containers

Home fuel storage is capped by law in most places, and the cap is the hard ceiling on how much fuel autonomy you can hold. Look up your own limit before you buy anything.

How

  1. Find your local rule. Examples only, check your own code:
  2. UK (England, Scotland, Wales): HSE says up to 30 litres of petrol needs no notice; from 30 to 275 litres you must notify your Petroleum Enforcement Authority in writing; above 275 litres you need a licence. Containers: plastic up to 10 L each, metal up to 20 L, demountable tank up to 30 L. Never store petrol in living accommodation.
  3. UK heating oil and diesel tanks: GOV.UK says home rules apply under 3,501 litres, new tanks must meet building regulations, and a bund holding 110 percent of capacity is required above 2,500 litres or near water and drains.
  4. USA, workplace standard: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.106 defines a safety can as an approved container of not more than 5 gallons with a spring-closing lid and spout cover that relieves pressure in a fire.
  5. USA, homes: limits are set by the local fire code. One Utah fire department, citing the 2012 International Fire Code, recommends no more than 25 US gallons of petrol at a home, no more than 10 gallons in an attached garage, none in a basement, and counts empty containers as full.
  6. NFPA 30 is the US Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code that many fire codes draw on. A North Carolina Department of Labor notice reproduces its container table (2012 edition): metal or approved plastic containers and safety cans up to 5.3 US gal (20 L) for Class IB (petrol) and Class II (diesel) liquids, and glass up to 1 qt (1 L) for Class IB. Your fire marshal is the authority on how it applies to you.
  7. Use the fuel storage calculator below to check your planned volume against the limit you entered.
  8. Colour code and label every can. Maine Extension advises red for petrol and green for diesel, and never using food or drink containers.

Safety: Petrol vapour is heavier than air and ignites easily. Never store fuel inside the house.

Do these first

Sources

  1. If you store petrol at home, or at a club/association or similar premises. Health and Safety Executive (UK), accessed 2026-11
  2. Storing oil at your home or business: at home. GOV.UK, accessed 2026-11
  3. 29 CFR 1910.106 Flammable liquids. US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, accessed 2026-11
  4. Home fuel storage limits (based on the 2012 International Fire Code). Lehi City Fire Department, Utah, accessed 2026-11
  5. Bulletin 2290: Farm Fuel Safety. University of Maine Cooperative Extension, accessed 2026-11
  6. Standards Notice 18: Approved containers to store flammable liquids in general industry (NFPA 30 Table 9.4.3 and OSHA Table H-12). North Carolina Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Division (USA), accessed 2026-11

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