Old fittings in oil heating installations are a significant safety risk and if you still have old fittings in your installations, you need to replace them now. The legislation on oil heating installations requires that the condition and safety of oil installations must be maintained. In the case of connectors, this means using the more reliable cams as tank filling connectors. If the connectors are not compliant, the oil supply cannot be delivered after June 2018.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry's decision on oil heating installations (314/1985), which also applies to private persons, specifies that tanks must have a filling connection in the form of a cam-operated bulb, an air pipe and an overfill prevention device.
In practice, all filling connectors with barbed fittings are more than 40 years old, so their tightness is not reliable. For some time now, it has been the practice that when old fittings are noticed, the tanker driver leaves a note for the customer informing him that the tank's sac connector must be replaced with a cam-type connector for safety reasons.
The replacement price of an old connector is not mind-blowing
Replacement of the sac connector with an appropriate bulb connector. If there is still sufficient heating oil left in the oil tank, it is advisable to combine the replacement of the filling connector with the normal maintenance and inspection of the oil heating system. Replacement of the filling connector may only be carried out by a service company authorised by the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes). A list of approved workshops can be found on the Tukes website www.tukes.fi
The legislation on oil heating installations, i.e. tanks, piping and equipment, requires property owners and managers to ensure that their installations are properly maintained.
Transport companies and drivers will be required not to deliver oil if there is a filling connection on the property where there is no clear certainty of leakage. This procedure is intended to prevent damage to persons, the environment and property. Environmental and property pollution and personal injury resulting from negligence can also lead to criminal sanctions.
