Spill Containment

Spill containment is the secondary containment that sits underneath your liquids — the bund, sump or tray that catches a leak, a drip or an overfill before it reaches a drain, the yard surface or a watercourse. This range covers spill pallets for drums and IBCs, drum sump pallets, sump flooring, lockable storage vaults and flexible portable bunds, in polyethylene and in painted or galvanised steel. Everything here is manufactured in the UK by GPC Industries.

A quick note on names before you start comparing products. A spill pallet, a bunded pallet and a bund pallet are the same thing; a sump pallet usually means the same thing in steel; a spill deck or a drip tray is a shallower, lower-capacity version of the same idea. Suppliers use all of these words for overlapping products, which is why the same drum pallet can appear under four different headings across four websites. We have used every term below where it is the accurate one.

Spill containment prices at a glance

Live prices, re-checked at the time of writing. Where GPC does not publish a sump capacity in litres for a model we have not estimated one — ask us and we will confirm it against the manufacturer's drawing before you order, because sump capacity is the number your compliance case rests on.

Model	Description	Type	Price
PEC27Z	Polyethylene vault, 2 drums	Roller-shutter vault, drum store	£965.34
PEC27S	Polyethylene vault with shelving, smaller containers	Roller-shutter vault, small containers	£1,327.02
DSP04G	Floor sump pallet, 4 drum with grid, painted	Low-level steel sump pallet	£1,388.76
PSP01Z	IBC containment pallet, single	Polyethylene IBC bund	£1,564.38
DSP08Z	Sump drum storage pallet, 4 drum with grid, painted	Steel drum sump pallet	£1,589.94
FPB3750	Flexible portable bund, 3,750 litres	Fold-flat PVC bund	£1,611.96
SF1001	Sump flooring, 1,400 x 1,250 mm	Bunded floor panel	£1,616.04
PEC42Z	Polyethylene vault, 4 drums	Roller-shutter vault, drum store	£1,800.36
FPB4375	Flexible portable bund, 4,375 litres	Fold-flat PVC bund	£1,873.62
PSP09Z	IBC containment pallet, double	Polyethylene IBC bund	£2,352.24
SF2301	Sump flooring, 2,200 x 1,050 mm	Bunded floor panel	£2,555.70
PSP0410	Polyethylene spill pallet with steel cover, 4 drums	Covered 4 drum spill pallet	£3,019.44
SSV01Z	Storage vault, 700 mm wide	Fire-rated lockable vault	£3,131.04
FPB9750	Flexible portable bund, 9,750 litres	Fold-flat PVC bund	£3,217.26
SF2831	Sump flooring, 2,800 x 1,250 mm	Bunded floor panel	£3,276.90
SSV02Z	Storage vault, 1,370 mm wide	Fire-rated lockable vault	£4,406.58
SSV03Z	Storage vault, 2,500 mm wide	Fire-rated lockable vault	£7,882.56
WCD02Z	Drum storage unit with sump base	Walk-in drum store	£11,185.50
WCI03Z	IBC storage unit with deep sump base	Walk-in IBC store	£11,820.78

What is a spill pallet used for?

A spill pallet does one job: it holds a container above a sealed sump so that if the container leaks, splits, is over-filled or is punctured by a fork truck, the liquid is caught and can be pumped or mopped out instead of running across the floor. Drums, kegs and IBCs sit on a removable grid; the bund is the void underneath. That is the whole mechanism, and it is why the two numbers that matter are the sump capacity and the load the deck will carry.

The legal driver in England is the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001, which apply to most above-ground oil storage over 200 litres at industrial, commercial and institutional sites; equivalent rules apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Beyond oil, COSHH and general environmental law expect you to prevent hazardous liquids escaping. In practice, the Environment Agency, your insurer and your own risk assessment all point at the same control: put a bund under it.

The 110% rule — sizing a bund or spill pallet

The capacity benchmark most UK sites work to is the 110% rule: the bund should hold at least 110% of the largest single container stored on it, or 25% of the total volume stored, whichever is greater.

• One 205 litre drum needs a sump of roughly 226 litres or more.
• A single 1,000 litre IBC needs at least 1,100 litres.
• Four 205 litre drums total 820 litres — 25% of that is 205 litres, but 110% of the largest container is 226 litres, so 226 litres is the number to beat.
• Ten 205 litre drums total 2,050 litres — 25% is 513 litres, which now exceeds the 226 litre single-container figure, so 513 litres governs.

The switchover between the two tests catches people out. Below roughly four or five identical containers the largest-container test governs; above that the 25% test takes over and the required bund grows with every drum you add. If you are bunding a whole store rather than a pallet, work from the total.

Two practical points that are not in the regulations. First, an outdoor bund fills with rainwater, and rainwater in the sump is capacity you no longer have — either cover the store or include a routine for emptying it. Second, the sump has to be emptied by someone: a 500 litre bund full of contaminated liquid is a pumping job and a waste-disposal cost, not a mopping job. Size for the spill you must legally contain, then think about how it gets cleaned up.

Drum spill pallets — 1, 2 and 4 drum

The drum spill pallet is the workhorse of any oil or chemical store. Our steel sump pallets are fully welded for secure sump containment and fitted with a removable galvanised grid so the sump underneath can be cleaned out — a detail worth checking on any pallet you buy, because a fixed deck makes the bund almost impossible to service. The fork guides double as a lifting point when the pallet is not in use.

• Floor sump pallet, 4 drum with grid (DSP04G) — low-level painted steel, £1,388.76.
• Sump drum storage pallet, 4 drum with grid (DSP08Z) — painted steel, £1,589.94.
• Polyethylene spill pallet with steel cover, 4 drums (PSP0410) — medium-density polyethylene sump with a 0.6 mm galvanised, powder-coated steel cover; hinged doors with retaining catches to hold them open, and lockable. £3,019.44, 21 day lead time.

An honest note on unit count. If you are searching for a 1 drum spill pallet or a 2 drum spill pallet, the small end of this market is served better and far more cheaply by the trade catalogues than by us — see the price section below. Our range starts at the 4 drum, covered and lockable end, where construction and fire performance start to matter more than the headline price.

For rotating, decanting and moving drums rather than storing them, see our drum storage range and the guide to drum handling equipment. For enclosed and covered options there is covered drum storage, vertical drum storage and a walkthrough of storing oil drums safely.

IBC bunds and containment pallets

A 1,000 litre IBC needs an 1,100 litre bund, which is why IBC containment pallets are a distinct product rather than a bigger drum pallet. Ours are moulded in polyethylene with fork pockets for positioning, in single (PSP01Z, £1,564.38) and double (PSP09Z, £2,352.24) versions, plus a walk-in IBC storage unit with a deep sump base (WCI03Z, £11,820.78) where a whole IBC store needs enclosing.

The detail worth planning for is decanting. Most IBC spills are not catastrophic tank failures — they are taps left running and hoses pulled off during transfer, which is why a dispensing area inside the bund is worth more than extra sump capacity. Full range and sizing detail is on the IBC containment pallets page, with the buying detail in our IBC storage and bunded units guide.

Sump flooring — bunding an area rather than a pallet

Where drums, kegs and part-used containers are handled loose, a pallet-by-pallet approach falls apart: someone always stands something on the floor. Sump flooring solves it by making the floor itself the bund. The panels are seam-welded and flush-fitting so containers, and in some layouts a sack truck, can be moved across them, and GPC states they are built to comply with the Oil Storage Regulations (England) 2001.

• SF1001 — 1,400 × 1,250 mm, £1,616.04
• SF2301 — 2,200 × 1,050 mm, £2,555.70
• SF2831 — 2,800 × 1,250 mm, £3,276.90

Panels can be combined to cover a larger footprint. Set them out against the actual working pattern of the area — where drums are decanted and where the fork truck turns — rather than simply tiling the room.

Storage vaults — outdoor, lockable and fire-rated

A vault is containment plus a building. Two families sit in this range and they are not interchangeable.

Polyethylene vaults (PEC27Z 2 drum £965.34; PEC42Z 4 drum £1,800.36; PEC27S with shelving for smaller containers £1,327.02) use roller-shutter doors for easy drum access and are stated by GPC to comply with the Oil Storage Regulations (England) 2001. Polyethylene will not corrode, which makes it the sensible choice for aggressive chemicals and for outdoor stores where a painted steel cabinet will eventually rust at the seams.

Steel storage vaults (SSV01Z 700 mm £3,131.04; SSV02Z 1,370 mm £4,406.58; SSV03Z 2,500 mm £7,882.56) are the flammables answer. From the manufacturer's specification: designed to comply with the Flammable Liquid Storage Regulations (1972) as appropriate and with HSG51; all-welded to A.P.E.A. construction requirements; a stated half-hour protection from collapse and the passage of fire; an adjustable vent that meets flammable storage requirements closed and agrochemical requirements open; multi-lockable, with a lift-up lid assisted by gas struts; a liquid-tight base to contain spillage; and skids in the base for fork lifting. On SSV01Z and SSV02Z the middle shelves pivot so larger items can sit on the base level; SSV03Z has a central partition and four shelves, the top two made in three sections with the back section fixed.

GPC's own safety note is worth repeating: before storing herbicides or petroleum-based products, take specific guidance from your health and safety inspector, trading standards officer, environmental health officer and fire officer. If what you are storing is a smaller quantity of flammables or COSHH chemicals indoors, a cabinet is usually the right answer instead — see flammable cabinets, COSHH cabinets, pesticide and agrochemical cabinets and the comparison of a flammable cabinet against a COSHH cabinet.

Flexible portable bunds

Flexible portable bunds fold flat, travel in a van and pop up to contain leaks from vehicles, plant, generators and temporary refuelling points — the situations where a rigid pallet is useless. Ours are manufactured from 900 gsm PVC-coated polyester with aluminium angle brackets for secure wall support, in a modified PVC-coated fabric chosen for chemical and environmental durability; mats and liners are also available.

• FPB3750 — 3,750 litres, £1,611.96
• FPB4375 — 4,375 litres, £1,873.62
• FPB9750 — 9,750 litres, £3,217.26

These are the only products in the range with a published capacity in litres, and the capacities are large because the intended use is a whole vehicle or plant item rather than a drum. Full range on the flexible portable bunds page.

What a spill pallet costs in the UK — four honest tiers

Prices checked against live UK listings at the time of writing. The spread in this category is enormous and it is not all quality — it is mostly capacity, cover and fire performance.

• £75–£250 — spill trays and small drum decks. Recycled or virgin polyethylene, one or two drums, no cover, modest sump. Sold by the general trade catalogues; live listings in this band sat at roughly £76 to £250 when we checked. We do not sell this tier and cannot beat it. If you need a tray under a single drum in a workshop, buy it there.
• £250–£550 — trade bunded spill pallets. The volume end of the market: two and four drum bunded pallets, four-way entry, sometimes a low-level ramped deck. Live listings we checked ran from about £169 to £530 depending on drum count. Also not a tier we stock.
• £950–£3,300 — engineered, covered and area containment. Where our range begins: lockable polyethylene vaults from £965.34, steel sump pallets with removable galvanised grids from £1,388.76, IBC bunds from £1,564.38, sump flooring from £1,616.04, portable bunds from £1,611.96 and the covered four-drum pallet at £3,019.44.
• £3,100–£11,900 — fire-rated vaults and walk-in stores. Steel storage vaults from £3,131.04 to £7,882.56, and the walk-in drum (£11,185.50) and IBC (£11,820.78) stores with integral sump bases.

The gap between a £150 tray and a £3,000 covered pallet is a gap in purpose, not in build quality alone. The cheap tray contains a drip. The covered pallet contains a drip, keeps rain out of the sump, locks, and stands up to a fork truck working around it every day. Decide which of those you actually need before you compare prices.

Polyethylene or steel?

Both appear in this range and the choice is genuinely product-specific.

• Polyethylene resists most acids, solvents and oils, will not corrode, and is the default for aggressive chemicals and for anything living outdoors. It is not the answer next to a heat source or where a fire rating is required.
• Steel — painted or galvanised — takes impact and heat far better, carries higher deck loads, and is what a flammables vault is built from. It will corrode if the coating is damaged and the contents are aggressive, so inspect welds and coating at each check.

Where a steel sump pallet carries a removable galvanised grid, as ours do, you get the load capacity of steel with a deck that can be lifted out for cleaning — which in practice is what determines whether a bund is ever actually maintained.

What is a spill barrier, and what is a spill containment system?

Two questions that come up constantly alongside spill pallets, and they describe different things.

A spill barrier is a dynamic control: a socked absorbent boom, a drain seal, a bund wall or a flexible bund deployed to stop liquid that is already moving. It is what you reach for after a spill has started.

A spill containment system is the static arrangement designed in before anything happens — the pallet, sump, bunded floor or vault under the container, sized to the 110% rule, plus the procedures around it. Most sites need both: containment underneath as the engineered control, and a barrier or spill kit in the cupboard for the escape that gets past it.

We supply the containment, not the consumables. We do not sell spill kits, absorbent granules, pads, socks or drain mats. Buy those from a spill-response specialist; there is no advantage to sourcing them here.

Buying, delivery and use

• A forklift is required to unload the steel sump pallets, storage vaults and walk-in units — GPC states this explicitly. Confirm you have one, and somewhere for it to work, before you book the delivery.
• Lead times vary by product — the polyethylene vault PEC42Z is quoted at 7 days and the covered polyethylene spill pallet PSP0410 at 21 days in the manufacturer's data. Ask us to confirm on the specific model at the time of order.
• Site it on firm, level ground. A bund on soft or falling ground does not hold its stated capacity, and a pallet that rocks under a fork truck is a puncture risk.
• Inspect and empty. Include bunds in your routine checks: liquid in the sump, coating damage, split welds, a grid that no longer lifts out. As work equipment they fall under PUWER, and as a pollution control they are exactly what an inspector asks to see.
• Segregate incompatible chemicals. A shared bund puts everything stored on it in contact after a spill. Acids and alkalis, or oxidisers and fuels, should not share a sump.

What we sell — and what we don't

Plainly, so you do not waste a phone call. We sell: engineered spill pallets, drum sump pallets, IBC containment pallets, sump flooring, lockable polyethylene and fire-rated steel vaults, flexible portable bunds and walk-in drum and IBC stores — all new, all UK-manufactured by GPC Industries.

We do not sell: £75 spill trays or single-drum decks; spill kits, absorbents or drain mats; second-hand or refurbished bunds; hire — we supply outright, so if you need an IBC bund for a fortnight's site work, a hire company is the right answer, not us. We also do not install: these arrive as equipment, not as a fitted bunded floor.

Choosing the right spill containment

Four questions, in order:

1. What are you storing? Drums, IBCs, kegs or a mixed area — this sets the format: pallet, IBC bund, sump flooring or vault.
2. What volume? Apply the 110% and 25% tests and take the larger figure. Confirm the sump capacity of the specific model before you commit.
3. What liquid? Polyethylene for corrosive chemicals; steel and a fire-rated vault for flammables; segregate anything incompatible.
4. Indoors or out? Outdoors means a cover or a lid, or a rainwater routine — and a lock.

Related ranges: hazardous storage for the wider cabinet and store range, gas cylinder storage for cylinders, lithium battery storage for battery charging and storage, and pallet trucks for moving loaded pallets safely.

Further reading: spill pallets explained compares the types in detail; spill containment and bunding: what UK law requires covers the legal side and bund sizing; COSHH cabinet requirements and COSHH symbols explained deal with what sits above the bund. Not sure which model meets your sump requirement? Send us the containers and quantities and we will confirm the capacity against the manufacturer's data before you order.

Storing hazardous liquids also brings COSHH duties — our COSHH Regulations 2002 guide explains the risk assessment and control requirements that sit behind secondary containment.