Stepping out and embracing new technologies can be a lonely venture, especially if you’re one of a very small group of people who understand what you’re trying to accomplish.
Shop owners looking to expand into natural gas service have found this out on more than one occasion. Many local officials don’t understand natural gas enough to be helpful in conversion. And that’s unfortunate because there is a laundry list of requirements for such an investment.
Among the major concerns in converting an existing facility to service natural gas is the unintended release and ignition of gasses while the truck is in the bay. So, naturally, many of the requirements center on ventilation. But there is no shortage of other regulations and codes and, too, there is no shortage of interpretations.
What worked for your service point in Cleveland might not work for your location in Cincinnati, even if your plans are exactly the same.
Your local fire marshal will likely have the final say-so over your conversion process, and his interpretation of local codes will guide their decisions and your retrofit.
However, you stand a good chance of being the first person to ask for his/her input on a CNG/LNG shop conversion, and that can lead to complications and delays.
(You can get dinged for a violation that your inspector isn’t even sure is an actual violation.)
