Support and guidance for home heating oil suppliers

This guidance aims to assist home heating oil suppliers in Northern Ireland comply with Trading Standards legislation and help these businesses avoid consumer disputes.

How is home heating oil measured?

In Northern Ireland, home heating oil is mainly sold from bulk, measured by the litre using a bulk fuel road tanker equipped with a calibrated meter.

Delivering home heating oil from a road tanker

Home heating oil is pumped from a compartment on the road tanker through a meter. This meter has been tested for accuracy and sealed. It also has a ticket-printing mechanism that must be set to zero before each delivery.

There is often a minimum delivery associated with road tanker metering systems depending on the specific road tanker. You will find this information displayed on the data plate.

Fuel measurement metering systems are 'in use for trade' and controlled by weights and measures legislation that contains the limits of error within which they must measure fuels.

Conformity

All meter measuring systems used for trade purposes, including road tankers used for the delivery of home heating oil, require a Declaration of Conformity. This legal document confirms that production samples of the design meet all essential regulatory and technical requirements.

The conformity assessment of meter measuring systems is carried out by a recognised body. They are known as Approved Bodies in the UK and Notified Bodies in the EU.

These recognised bodies have a unique identification number. Once the body conducts a conformity assessment - their identification number is added to the data plate, alongside the other conformity and metrological markings. These details must be shown on the road tanker’s data plate.

The Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service’s Approved Body identification number is 0326.

In Northern Ireland, the assessment of road tankers can be carried out by a UK Approved Body or an EU Notified Body.

Road tankers assessed by a UK Approved Body will have a UKNI + CE marking affixed.

Road tankers assessed by an EU Notified Body will have a CE marking affixed.

Road tankers which only bear another marking are non-compliant in Northern Ireland. This non-compliance includes the display of the UKCA conformity marking.

Road tankers which have been assessed by an EU Notified Body, and bear a CE mark, can operate lawfully in Northern Ireland and Ireland.

A supplementary metrology marking (M) should also be affixed.

All markings must be affixed visibly, legibly, and indelibly to the road tanker’s data plate.

An incomplete marking (eg, where the number of the Approved or Notified Body is missing) is not compliant with regulatory requirements.

If you are placing a road tanker on the EU market, you must use the CE marking on its own, without the UKNI marking.

What to expect from a Trading Standards visit

It is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service to check weighing and measuring equipment to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

Occasionally Trading Standards Inspectors will visit your business to inspect your measuring equipment.

A visiting Trading Standards Inspector can check to ensure that your equipment is:

• approved for trade use
• makes an accurate delivery of oil
• compliant with all relevant legal and technical requirements

An Inspector may request a copy of the equipment’s Declaration of Conformity and check it matches the equipment and software.

The Inspector can check the correct operation of the complete meter measuring system and/or its constituent parts. To conduct testing the Inspector will require you to provide suitable liquid to facilitate testing, and the tests carried out may include:

• Pre-set test – this test checks if the equipment is delivering a predetermined quantity of oil accurately.
• Gas eliminator test – this test checks the equipment to ensure that air is not being measured through the meter.
• Hose dilation test (full hose systems only) – this test is performed to determine the effect of the increase in the internal volume of a hose under pressure on the accuracy of the quantity indication.
• Ticket printer test – this test checks the operation of the ticket printing system which should produce a ticket indicating an accurate measurement of the delivery.
• Blow-down test (empty hose systems only) – this test is performed to determine the effect of the repeatability of the complete emptying of the hose by using additional devices or by gravity on the accuracy of the quantity indication.

Before testing, all sealing arrangements described in the type approval or design examination certificate must be adhered to. Whilst a broken seal does not mean fraud has been committed, it does invalidate the metrological control of the equipment.

Download an example of a meter for a bulk fuel measuring system (PDF, 2.44MB).

All necessary conformity and metrology marking should be present and visible.

Equipment passes if it is within a maximum permissible error (MPE). A MPE is the legal limit of error when an instrument is in use for trade. The Table below sets out the MPE for different accuracy classes. “MMQ“ means minimum measured quantity.

Trading standards officers carry photographic identification that displays their name and related departmental details. Unlike other parts of the UK, the Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service is the only trading standards organisation operating in this region. If you have any concerns, you should call Tel: 0300 123 6262.

Calibration and verification services

The Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service provides a range of calibration and verification services for measuring instruments that businesses can request.

View the fees for this range of services.

Contact the Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service

If you have further questions about the supply of home heating oil not covered in this guidance or want to discuss another matter, you should contact Businessline at Tel: 0300 077 0323 or tssbusinesssupport@economy-ni.gov.uk.