Where Do You Keep the Diesel for Your Forklifts?

Every warehouse running diesel forklifts has a fuel question, and most have never asked it out loud. The trucks have to be refuelled, so somewhere on the premises there is a drum, a tank, or a row of jerry cans behind the racking. In Singapore diesel is not simply a consumable. It is a licensable material, and where you keep it is a matter for SCDF.

Diesel is licensable, and that surprises people

SCDF classifies petroleum by flash point:

SCDF's own wording: "Class 0, I & II petroleum are regulated by SCDF. For Class III petroleum, diesel is the only licensable product."

That is the trap. The general rule exempts materials with a flash point above 60°C from licensing. Diesel sits above 60°C — and is then specifically carved back in. So the reasoning that catches people out — "diesel is not petrol, it barely burns, it must be exempt" — is exactly half right, which is worse than being wrong.

The storage threshold: we could not find one for diesel, and that matters

SCDF publishes exemption quantities — the amount you may keep without a licence — and they are set by class and by where the material is kept:

Source: SCDF, "What are the exemption quantities if I am storing different kinds of Petroleum or Flammable Materials?" — ask.gov.sg/scdf, read 27 August 2026.

So the honest position is this. SCDF states plainly that diesel is the one licensable Class III product, but the published exemption table we can find covers Classes 0, I and II. We could not source a published exemption quantity for Class III diesel storage. If you keep diesel on site, ask SCDF what your figure is. Do not take 20, 200, 250 or 1,500 from a web page, including this one — every one of those belongs to a different class of petroleum.

There is one further rule worth knowing, because it catches mixed stores: where several petroleum or flammable materials are kept in separate containers on the same premises, the mixed storage is exempt only if the aggregate volume of liquids does not exceed 40 litres.

What applies whatever the quantity

• All storage of petroleum and flammable materials must be shown in the building plans submitted to SCDF for approval. This one catches people, because the drum arrived after the plans were approved.
• Secondary containment must hold the greater of 110% of the largest single container, or 10% of the total volume of all containers.
• The bund must be impermeable and drain-controlled.

What the penalty is

Under the Fire Safety Act, section 35 prohibits storing petroleum except on licensed premises and under a storage licence. Contravening it is an offence under section 37, and where no penalty is expressly provided, section 56 sets it:

Read the last part again. The first fine is not the cost. The clock is. A published enforcement example shows a $2,000 fine growing to $21,000 as non-compliance ran on for a further 210 days.

How diesel is actually stored, and where it fails

This is what we see on customer sites. None of it is unusual and none of it is done in bad faith:

The common thread: the diesel arrived because the forklifts needed it, not because anybody decided to become a fuel-storage operator.

Is it actually dangerous?

Honestly: less immediately dangerous than petrol, and dangerous in a different way.

• Diesel's flash point is above 60°C, so at warehouse temperature the liquid does not readily give off ignitable vapour. It will not flash from a spark the way petrol will. That is precisely why people are casual with it.
• But it burns hard once alight, and a warehouse supplies everything a fire needs — cardboard, pallets, shrink wrap, racking that fails in heat.
• Atomised or absorbed diesel ignites far more easily than the liquid in a drum. Spray from a damaged line, or diesel soaked into rags, cardboard or lagging, behaves nothing like a sealed container.
• A spill is an environmental problem before it is a fire problem. Unbunded fuel reaching a drain is its own offence and its own clean-up bill.

So the honest framing is not "your drum will explode". It is that diesel gets stored casually because it is hard to ignite, and the rules exist for the day when conditions are not casual.

The jerry can run — is it worth the time?

Mobile refuelling used to come to the warehouse. That service became expensive, so in a lot of yards somebody now takes jerry cans to a petrol station instead.

Buying it: what SCDF actually requires

Source: SCDF, "Must I obtain a licence when purchasing Petrol / Diesel from a Petrol Service Station (PSS)?" — ask.gov.sg/scdf, read 27 August 2026. Check it yourself before you rely on it. These figures cover buying at a station; what you may then STORE at your premises is a separate rule with a separate threshold.

So the jerry can run is not the offence. Nobody doing this is breaking the law at the pump. The licensing question is what accumulates back at the warehouse, and those are two separate rules that get confused constantly.

Now the arithmetic, and it is worse than the limit suggests

The 200 litre figure is a legal ceiling, not a practical one. Nobody fills ten jerry cans at a pump. In real yards it is two or three cans at a time, which means the trip happens far more often than the limit implies.

A diesel counterbalance in normal warehouse work burns roughly 2 to 3 litres an hour — it varies a lot with load, idling and the operator, so treat this as an order of magnitude rather than a promise.

That is the number worth arguing with your own operation about. It is not the fuel that costs you, it is somebody leaving the yard three times a week to fetch it — plus the vehicle, and the diesel burned going to buy diesel.

And none of it appears anywhere in the cost of running the forklift. It is absorbed into somebody's week and never counted.

What this means for the trucks themselves

Not a free switch. Lead-acid charging needs ventilation and a designated area, and lithium has its own handling rules — we compare the two in lithium or lead acid.

And diesel still wins outdoors, on rough ground, and above 5 tonnes. If that is your work, the answer is not to change the trucks. It is to get the fuel storage right.

What we can and cannot do

We can tell you whether your work can realistically be done on electric, and what that would take — capacity, charging, shifts, floor and power supply. We will also say plainly when diesel is the right answer and switching would be a mistake.

We cannot licence your fuel store, design your bunding, submit your plans, or tell you your exemption quantity as a matter of fact. That is SCDF and a fire safety professional, and anyone in our trade who tells you otherwise is guessing with your licence.

Common Questions

Do I need a licence to store diesel in Singapore?

Above SCDF's exemption quantity, yes. Diesel is Class III petroleum and, although materials with a flash point above 60 degrees C are generally exempt, SCDF states that for Class III petroleum diesel is the only licensable product. Published guidance does not agree on the exact exemption figure - consultancies give 1,500 litres while other sources circulate 200 and 250 litres that appear to relate to Class I and II - so confirm your number with SCDF or through the GoBusiness licensing portal rather than relying on a supplier.

What is the penalty for storing diesel without a licence?

Under the Fire Safety Act, storing petroleum other than under a storage licence is an offence, and where no penalty is expressly provided the general penalty applies: a fine not exceeding $10,000, or imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both, and for a continuing offence a further fine not exceeding $1,000 for every day the offence continues after conviction. A published enforcement example shows a $2,000 fine growing to $21,000 as non-compliance ran for a further 210 days.

Does diesel storage need to be on my building plans?

Yes. All storage of petroleum and flammable materials must be indicated in the building plans submitted to SCDF for approval. Storage that arrived after the plans were approved is a common gap, because nobody thinks of a drum as a building alteration.

Is it legal to buy diesel in jerry cans from a petrol station?

Yes, up to 200 litres per trip. At that level SCDF requires the petrol station to record the details, but no SCDF letter of approval, transport licence or driver permit is needed. Above 200 litres the station must check that the buyer holds a letter of approval from SCDF, that the vehicle holds a valid Petroleum and Flammable Materials Transport Licence, and that the driver holds a valid Hazardous Materials Transport Driver Permit. Source: SCDF ask.gov.sg, read 27 August 2026. Note that this covers BUYING at a station - what you may then store at your premises is a separate rule with a separate threshold.

Is storing diesel in a warehouse dangerous?

Less immediately dangerous than petrol, and dangerous in a different way. Diesel's flash point is above 60 degrees C, so at warehouse temperature it does not readily give off ignitable vapour, which is exactly why people are casual with it. But it burns hard once alight, atomised or absorbed diesel ignites far more easily than liquid in a drum, and an unbunded spill reaching a drain is an environmental problem before it is a fire problem.

Do electric forklifts avoid the fuel storage problem?

They avoid it entirely, because there is no fuel to store - no licence, no bunding, nothing on the building plans, and no weekly trip to a petrol station. They introduce a charging question instead: lead-acid charging needs a designated, ventilated area and lithium has its own handling requirements. For most indoor warehouse work that is a smaller set of obligations than storing a flammable liquid. Diesel still wins outdoors, on rough ground and above 5 tonnes.