Electrics and gas
A bulk LPG tank stands behind the garage. Can the surveyor certify its distance from the house, or only record that a tank is there?
Only record that a bulk LPG tank is there. The surveyor cannot certify its distance from the house. The survey can note the tank behind the garage and describe the position in ordinary words. It does not measure a legal clearance, sign the installation off, or inspect the regulator and the buried pipe as a gas-safety check. Gas work belongs with a Gas Safe engineer. Ask that engineer to look at the tank and its position. Do not treat a paced gap in the report as a certified distance.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Certifying a distance would mean measuring against a rule and signing that the tank complies. A home survey does not do that. It records what stood behind the garage: a bulk tank, roughly where it sat relative to walls the surveyor could see. Pacing or estimating is not a certified dimension, and it does not cover the pipe into the house, the compound, or the way the tank is protected. The survey sentence is a sighting, not that certification.
Ask a Gas Safe engineer who deals with bulk LPG to inspect the tank, the position and the visible pipework, and to say what they measured and what they did not. Do not move the tank or dig the pipe up on a viewing. Give them the survey words so they start from a sighting rather than from a supposed clearance. If the seller has installation papers, the solicitor can ask for them. Those papers are still not the surveyor certifying the distance.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What did you actually see of the tank: the vessel, a cage, fencing, or all of those?
- Did you record a measured distance, or only that the tank stands behind the garage?
- Was any regulator, pipe entry or compound gate visible?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the report as a record that a bulk LPG tank is there.
- Ask a Gas Safe engineer to inspect the tank and its position.
- Do not treat the survey wording as a certified distance from the house.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If you can walk between the tank and the house, is the distance certified?
No. Being able to walk the gap is not a certified measurement. The surveyor can record the tank. An engineer has to assess the installation.
Does the survey include a gas-safety certificate for the bulk tank?
No. A home survey is not that certificate. Gas work on the bulk LPG tank behind the garage is for a Gas Safe engineer, not for the surveyor.