New law requires upgrade for homeowners who use oil for heating

The Brockton Enterprise offers this reminder --

New law requires upgrade for homeowners who use oil for heating
By Alice C. Elwell

Homeowners with oil heating systems that were installed before 1990 will have to pay up to $300 to comply with a new state law that will take effect in July.

The “Oil Heating System Upgrade and Insurance Law” requires either a sleeve around the pipe that feeds the burner or a safety valve to prevent leaks.

Once the upgrade is completed, a homeowner can apply for leak coverage on his insurance policy.

“This new law will definitely benefit all homeowners who use oil to heat their home,” said Wayne C. Perkins, an insurance agent and retired director of the state insurance Rating Bureau.

He said this type of insurance coverage was not available in Massachusetts in the past because policies carried a pollution exclusion.

The new law allows all homeowners to buy insurance coverage for the cleanup of a leak if their system is in compliance.

Diane Chaplin, branch manager of the Farrell Backlund Insurance Agency in Taunton, said the rates have not been set.

“First the industry has to write the coverage form, then the state has to approve the form and the rate filing,” she said.

Before 1990, most pipes from the tank to the burner were buried in concrete. The new law calls for homeowners to either dig up the concrete and line the pipe with a non-metallic sleeve, or simply install the safety valve on the oil tank.

While the safety value is a less expensive route, Tony Coletti, owner of Coletti Brothers Oil Co. in Middleboro, calls it a “Band-Aid” solution and recommends the more expensive option.

Coletti said the average cost to install the safety valve is about $160, compared to a complete oil line upgrade in the $150 to $300 range, depending on the length of the pipe.

“The oil safety valve is a Band-Aid, one I do not recommend. If the oil line is old, it should be replaced and brought up to code.”

Coletti said those who opt for the safety valve still have to contend with the old lines. He said concrete shortens the life expectancy of copper pipe, but surrounded by a nonmetallic sleeve, “There’s nothing to corrode it; it could last forever.”

Coletti said lines buried in concrete can leak without the homeowner noticing.

A simple leak can cost as much as $15,000 to clean up, while more extensive cleanup costs can top $250,000.

“I’m letting my customers know if they will need to do it,” Colletti said.

He has already upgraded “quite a few” oil systems, the majority with a sleeve on the line.

Fire Capt. Debra Burke, Middleboro’s code enforcement officer, said the state did not provide funding to enforce the upgrade law. With reduced manpower from budget cuts, Burke said, “We cannot go door-to-door to check out the lines.”

She said the Fire Department will issue a certificate of compliance if homeowners ask for an inspection. The law also allows licensed oil burner technicians to certify that the upgrade has been done.

Homeowners are exempt from the leak prevention law if the oil burner is located above the oil storage tank and the entire line is above the top of the tank.

For the complete text of the law and a diagram of the upgrade go to: http://www.mass.gov/dep/cleanup/laws/hhsl.htm