So, after two years of delivering us Gas bottles, which included an initial inspection for the first delivery, our gas bottle company has refused to deliver bottles to us, till we meet regulations around distance between the bottles and our rear door, and also bottles and ignition sources.

Despite me asking them to clarify when these regulations were introduced (we have been in this house, which was new, 15+ years), they won't tell us. We had a heat pump installed in 2014 which would have needed a code of compliance by the installer for the electrical work.

If regulations have changed in the relatively recent times, then surely they don't retroactively apply?

• The issue is, we don't have another suitable location for the bottles, that would comply anyway, so it would require us to move the heatpump external unit a few meters away, and the cost of that is not insignificant. If the law changed before 2014, then our installer may be liable, though how we would force them to come back and move it gratis is a different issue.

The two regulations we are apparently in breach of is no Gas bottles within 1 meter of a dwelling entry (We have 700mm) such as door or Window, and 1.5M from the Gas Bottles to Ignition sources (we have 1M)

I can't see how practically we can move it as there are drains in the ground, downpipes in the way of moving the heat pump condenser, and no where else the unit could go (except on the roof).

How would the house have got a code of compliance at the start with placement as it is right now?

We want to be safe, but also, don't want to end up having to rejig our entire rear of the house and get into disputes unncessarily. The cost of all of this isn't going to be insignificant.

Cheers