Warehousing and distribution capability covers a manufacturer's ability to store your finished product safely - particularly where it's a classified hazardous substance - and manage onward delivery to your customers or distribution network, rather than requiring you to arrange separate storage and logistics.
Key points
- Chemical warehousing of packaged dangerous substances is covered by specific HSE guidance (HSG71), alongside COSHH and DSEAR more generally.
- Good storage practice includes segregating incompatible substances, controlling ignition sources, effective ventilation, minimising quantities held, and robust secondary containment with protected drainage.
- Hazardous Substances Consent from the local planning authority may be required above certain substance thresholds, separate from HSE/environmental regulation.
- Storage volumes can also affect a site's COMAH tier status - see COMAH-site chemical manufacturing.
What This Capability Involves
A manufacturer offering warehousing and distribution capability has appropriately designed storage facilities for your specific product's hazard classification, safe segregation of incompatible substances, and either their own distribution network or established logistics partners for onward delivery.
When You Need This Capability
You need this capability if you don't have your own warehousing suited to your product's storage requirements, or want to simplify your supply chain by having the manufacturer handle storage and distribution directly rather than managing a separate logistics step yourself.
Regulatory Considerations
Chemical warehousing follows HSE guidance (HSG71) alongside COSHH and DSEAR, with good practice covering segregation of incompatible substances, ignition source control, ventilation, minimised storage quantities, and secondary containment. Hazardous Substances Consent from the local planning authority may also be required above certain thresholds, which is separate from workplace safety regulation. Confirm with a prospective manufacturer that their storage facility is appropriately designed and consented for your product's specific classification.
Storage Is Regulated Too
Storing chemical products is not simply a matter of available space. Incompatible materials must be segregated, quantity limits may apply, bunding is required to contain spillage, and fire protection has to suit the materials present. A manufacturer offering warehousing needs to be able to store your product compliantly as well as make it - and the two are worth confirming together rather than assuming one implies the other.
Temperature is the other consideration. Products with temperature-sensitive shelf life need storage conditions that match the basis on which that shelf life was established, and an unheated warehouse in winter or a hot one in summer can fall outside it.
Stock, Traceability and Despatch
Where a manufacturer holds finished stock, ask how it is rotated. First-in-first-out sounds obvious and is not universal, and stock held out of sequence can reach customers with less remaining shelf life than expected - which matters if your own customers specify a minimum on delivery.
Despatch records are the final link in traceability. Confirm that batch numbers appear on delivery documentation, since without that link it is impossible to identify who received a given batch even where production records are excellent. For dangerous goods, also establish who acts as consignor and prepares transport documentation - see chemical transport and dangerous goods.
Questions to Ask a Manufacturer
- Is your storage facility designed and consented for our product's hazard classification?
- How do you segregate incompatible substances in storage?
- Do you manage onward distribution directly, or work with an established logistics partner?
- What storage capacity do you have available for our expected inventory levels?
Related Pages
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every manufacturer offer on-site warehousing?
No - some focus purely on production and expect the customer to arrange separate storage and logistics, so confirm this capability specifically if you want it included as part of the service.
Is Hazardous Substances Consent the same as an HSE requirement?
No - it's a separate planning control administered by the local planning authority, triggered above certain substance thresholds, distinct from HSE's workplace safety regulation, though both can apply to the same site.
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Search the DirectoryLast reviewed: August 2026. Regulation and guidance change — verify anything you rely on against the primary source. Tell us if something here is out of date.