Air quality

Your business is likely to carry out a number of activities that could have an impact on air quality including:

• handling and moving dusty materials
• producing emissions and dust from vehicle movements
• using abrasives to prepare surfaces before spraying vehicles
• spraying vehicles.

You must make sure that your business does not cause a nuisance to your neighbours or the local community. Nuisances include smoke, dust, odour, noise and vibration. Anyone affected by a nuisance can take legal action against you or your business, or complain to your local council.

If your business causes a nuisance, or could cause or repeat a nuisance, you can be issued with an abatement notice. Your local council’s environmental health department or the courts can issue abatement notices. You can be fined if you do not comply with an abatement notice.

An abatement notice can:

• stop or impose restrictions on your operations
• require you to carry out works or take other steps to restrict or remove the nuisance.

For further information see our guidance on Noise, odour and other nuisances.

In England, Northern Ireland and Wales if you use one tonne or more of organic solvent per year for surface cleaning you must have a Pollution Prevention and Control permit.

In Scotland you must have a Pollution Prevention and Control permit if you carry out surface cleaning and use:

• one tonne or more of solvents which have the risk phrase R45, R46, R49, R60 or R61, per year
• one tonne or more of halogenated volatile organic compounds which have the risk phrase R40, per year
• two tonnes or more of any other solvent per year

Your permit will contain conditions that control your emissions to air.

You must not use ozone depleting substances for any degreasing or solvent application. These include:

• hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)
• chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
• 1,1,1 trichloroethane
• bromochloromethane (CBM)
• carbon tetrachloride.

If you service or replace air-conditioning systems, you must capture the refrigerant gas for recycling or disposal. Do not disperse the gas directly into the atmosphere.

• Make sure that you communicate regularly with your neighbours. This can reduce any ill feeling if air quality problems do arise.
• Keep a record of any complaints you receive about odour and emissions to air. Ensure that you deal with complaints promptly and appropriately, and that you record the results of investigations into the cause and any corrective actions you have taken. Make sure you communicate effectively with the person who complained.
• If you have courtesy cars and recovery vehicles, use vehicles that are fuel efficient and produce low emissions of greenhouse gases.