Electrics and gas
A bulk LPG tank sits in the side garden and the surveyor did not measure its distance from the house. What gas-safety inspection has not been done?
A gas-safety inspection of the bulk LPG tank has not been done. The tank sits in the side garden, which the survey could see, and the surveyor did not measure its distance from the house. There is no separation figure in the report, and none is invented here. The inspection has not checked the tank, the regulators or the pipe for gas safety. Seeing a tank on a plinth is not that inspection. The missing job is the gas-safety inspection, including the measurement the visit did not take.
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?
Bulk LPG is a stored-gas installation, not a detail of the brickwork. Distance from openings and from the house is the sort of thing a gas-safety inspection measures and compares with the rules that apply to that tank. The home survey did not measure, so it cannot say the tank is too close or far enough. The report should stay with the fact: a bulk tank was there, and it was not gas-safety inspected. Any later figure belongs to the person who measures.
Ask a Gas Safe engineer to inspect the bulk LPG installation, and to measure the separation the survey left unmeasured. Tell the solicitor the home survey has not done that inspection. Do not describe the tank as compliant or as unsafe on distance. The survey has no distance. Keep the garden note as a location, and keep gas safety as the inspection still to come.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you see the bulk tank without measuring its distance from the house?
- Was a gas-safety inspection of that tank outside this visit?
- Have you left any separation figure out of the report?
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not invent a distance the surveyor did not measure.
- Ask a Gas Safe engineer to inspect the bulk LPG tank.
- Keep the survey note as a location, not a gas certificate.
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 the tank looks far from the wall, is the distance acceptable?
Looking far is not a measurement, and the surveyor did not take one. A gas-safety inspection has not been done. The eye is a poor tape. Until someone measures, the report has no figure and no compliance sentence about separation.
Does a recent delivery ticket replace the gas-safety inspection?
No. A delivery ticket shows that gas was brought. It does not measure distance from the house and it is not a gas-safety inspection. The survey has not done that inspection either. The ticket can sit in the pack. It does not close the gap.