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The storage of fuel oil also gives rise to some concern and
in most cases it is possible with the co-operation of the persons concerned,
for the requirements of the British Standards Specification
regarding the storage and use of fuel oil to be complied with. This
standard specification is not legally enforceable and therefore persuasion
and co-operation are needed for it to be implemented.
8. PETROLEUM (CONSOLIDATION) ACT, 1928 —
REVISION OF LICENSING REQUIREMENTS RELATING
TO THE STORAGE OF PETROLEUM SPIRIT AND MIXTURES.
During the year the Home Office issued as a guide for
Local Authorities and to assist them in carrying out their licensing
responsibilities under Section 3 of the Act, a Model Code of
Principles of Construction and Licensing Conditions in respect of
premises where Petroleum Spirit is stored.
On this basis and having due regard to the Petroleum Regulations
then in force in the Borough, a new Code of Principles and
Conditions of Licence was adopted by the Council. The new Code
groups premises into three categories according to the mode of
storage, namely, those where the storage is of cans, drums or similar
receptacles, those which arc petrol filling stations, and those comprising
basement or sub-basement garages and underground car parks.
The new requirements include items which were lacking in the
previous licensing conditions and two of the most important items
included in the new Code are the testing of underground tanks which
are 20 or more years old, and the requirement that electrically
operated meter pumps, both new and existing, should comply with
the special conditions relating thereto.
With the increasing use of mobile filling units in which a supply
of a mixture of Petroleum spirit and lubricating oil is stored, it was
necessary to include conditions of licence which applied particularly
to this type of storage and during the year mobile filling units were
subject to these conditions and approved for licensing.
Consequent upon the adoption of the new principles of construction
and Conditions of Licence, it became necessary to formulate a
satisfactory test which could be applied to old existing tanks and
after consultation with the Petroleum Companies and the Pump
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