Regulations & safety
UK regulations overview
No licence to buy is not the same as no regulation. It means the regulation sits on you, as the person who receives and uses it.
- Purchase licence
- None required
- UN number
- UN 1230
- GB CLP
- Danger ×5
- Flash point
- ~11 °C
There is no licence to buy methanol in the UK. It is not a regulated poison under the Poisons Act 1972 and it is not a regulated explosives precursor. Buyers regularly find that reassuring and draw the wrong conclusion from it: the absence of a purchase control is not the absence of regulation, it is the regulation being placed somewhere else — on you, as the person who receives, stores and uses the material.
This page maps the regimes that apply and which duties sit with whom, so that you can work out what your own obligations actually are before a tanker turns up.
Key points
- No purchase licence. Methanol is not listed in Poisons Act 1972 Schedule 1A and is not a regulated explosives precursor.
- COSHH applies to use, DSEAR to storage and handling, and the carriage regulations to movement.
- Receiving bulk deliveries makes you an unloader, which can bring a DGSA requirement into scope.
- GB REACH Annex XVII entry 69 restricts methanol supply to the general public in screenwash and de-icing fluids at 0.6% or more by weight.
- Suppliers carry out their own due diligence on new industrial accounts. Expect to be asked what the material is for.
How methanol is classified
Every duty downstream flows from the classification. Under GB CLP methanol carries the signal word Danger and five hazard statements.
| Code | Hazard statement | Hazard class |
|---|---|---|
| H225 | Highly flammable liquid and vapour | Flam. Liq. 2 |
| H301 | Toxic if swallowed | Acute Tox. 3 (oral) |
| H311 | Toxic in contact with skin | Acute Tox. 3 (dermal) |
| H331 | Toxic if inhaled | Acute Tox. 3 (inhalation) |
| H370 | Causes damage to organs | STOT SE 1 |
Individually, none of these is unusual in an industrial setting. Together — highly flammable at room temperature, acutely toxic by three routes including skin absorption, and capable of organ damage from a single exposure — they justify treating methanol more carefully than its familiarity suggests.
The regimes and who they land on
| Regime | Covers | Duty sits with |
|---|---|---|
| GB CLP | Classification, labelling and packaging | Supplier, primarily |
| COSHH | Assessment and control of exposure in use | You, as employer |
| DSEAR | Flammable storage, hazardous-area classification, ignition control | You, as occupier |
| Carriage regulations / ADR | Movement by road | Consignor, carrier — and unloader |
| DGSA requirement | Appointment of a safety adviser | Any undertaking loading, unloading, packing, filling, carrying or consigning |
| GB REACH | Registration and restrictions, incl. Annex XVII entry 69 | Manufacturer, importer, downstream user |
| COMAH | Major accident hazards above threshold inventory | You, as operator — 500 t lower tier, 5,000 t upper |
| Site notification / marking | Presence of dangerous substances above 25 t in total | You, as occupier |
| Environmental permitting | Discharges, containment, waste | You, as operator |
The GB REACH screenwash restriction
Although there is no purchase licence, one genuine supply restriction exists. GB REACH Annex XVII entry 69 prohibits placing methanol on the market to the general public in windscreen washing or defrosting fluids at a concentration of 0.6% or more by weight.
This bites on consumer product formulators rather than on industrial users, but it catches people out precisely because screenwash is such an obvious methanol application. If your finished product is retail screenwash or de-icer, this is the first thing to check and it is not negotiable.
The detail
COSHH and exposure limits
The EH40 limits, the skin notation, and what a defensible methanol COSHH assessment contains.
DSEAR and flammable storage
Hazardous-area classification, ignition control, earthing and bonding, and the explosion protection document.
ADR transport and UN 1230
Classification for carriage, the 333-litre threshold, placarding and documentation.
Do you need a DGSA?
The duty that catches receivers: why unloading a tanker may put you in scope.
Reading a safety data sheet
What a GB-format SDS must contain, which sections matter most, and how to spot a stale one.
Quantity thresholds
The inventory levels that trigger COMAH, hazardous substances consent and site notification.
This page summarises the regulatory landscape so that you know which questions to ask and which duties to check. It is not safety, legal or engineering advice. Work from your supplier's current GB-format safety data sheet, HSE published guidance, and competent advice for your own site and processes.
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