Paste the mark off a caged tote or a plastic IBC, add the dates from its plate, and see when each test falls due and the last month it may be filled.
Result
Fill only before 03/2028
This IBC may be filled up to the end of the month before the date shown.
| Test or inspection | Due | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| Next leakproofness test | 03/2028 | 6.5.4.4.2 |
| Next 2.5-year inspection | 03/2028 | 6.5.4.4.1 (b) |
| Next 5-year inspection | 09/2030 | 6.5.4.4.1 (a) |
| End of use for dangerous goods | 09/2030 | 4.1.1.15 |
| If filled before the due date, it may travel until | 06/2028 | 4.1.2.2 |
| Return for disposal until | 09/2028 | 4.1.2.2 (b) |
Plate dates give month and year only, so this checker treats the first day of the due month as the deadline. The inspection report has the exact day.
For a composite IBC the five years count from the inner receptacle’s own date, which can differ from the main mark.
The five-year period of use is a hard stop: no grace period runs past it.
An empty IBC that has not been cleaned may always travel to its inspection.
When an IBC’s next leakproofness test and its next 2.5 and 5-year inspections fall due, when its five-year life for dangerous goods ends, and so the last month it may be filled. It reads the month and year of manufacture straight from a pasted UN mark.
Site and warehouse managers keeping a fleet of caged totes in date, dangerous goods safety advisers checking a customer’s IBCs, and buyers deciding whether to retest, rebottle or replace.
Products behind the numbers: IBC spill pallets, Industrial & Chemical Containers.
Metal, rigid plastic and composite IBCs carry dangerous goods on a cycle of 2.5 and 5-year tests. Under the UN and ADR rules, plastic and composite IBCs also stop at five years.
| Check | When | Applies to | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leakproofness test | Before first use, then at most every 2.5 years | IBCs for liquids (31) and for solids filled or emptied under pressure (21) | 6.5.4.4.2 |
| Inspection of the outside and service equipment | At most every 2.5 years | Metal, rigid plastic and composite IBCs | 6.5.4.4.1 (b) |
| Full inspection, marks and inside included | Before service, then at most every 5 years | Metal, rigid plastic and composite IBCs | 6.5.4.4.1 (a) |
| End of use for dangerous goods | 5 years from manufacture; for a composite, of the inner receptacle | Rigid plastic and composite IBCs, under the UN and ADR rules | 4.1.1.15 |
The month and year of manufacture is the third part of the UN mark: an IBC marked 31HA1/Y/02 26/... was made in February 2026. The plate beside the mark carries the date of the last leakproofness test and the date of the last inspection, as month and year. A composite IBC’s inner receptacle carries its own month and year, which sets its five-year life and can differ from the main mark.
The plate does not say whether the last inspection was the 2.5 or the 5-year level. Leave the level at “not sure” and the checker counts the five years from manufacture or the last repair, which gives the earliest date.
These come from 4.1.2.2. US rules let an IBC filled before its due date travel without a time limit.
Replacing the inner receptacle of a composite IBC with one of the original design from the same maker counts as a repair. The tests after the repair stand in for the 2.5 and 5-year tests, so both inspection clocks restart at the repair date, and the five-year life restarts at the new receptacle’s date. A receptacle of another design or maker makes it a remanufactured IBC, with a new mark and a new date of manufacture.
| Point | UN and ADR | US, 49 CFR |
|---|---|---|
| Five-year life for plastic and composite IBCs | Yes (4.1.1.15) | No |
| IBC filled before the due date | May travel up to three months after it | No time limit stated (180.352(a)) |
| Start of the 2.5-year clock | Not stated: at most 2.5 years between tests | Manufacture or a repair |
| Window to test early or late | None | None |
| IBC | Dates on it | Next 2.5-year test | Next 5-year inspection | End of use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composite tote, no later tests | 31HA1, made 03/2024 | 09/2026 | 03/2029 | 03/2029 |
| Same tote, tested 09/2026 | 31HA1, made 03/2024, leak test and inspection 09/2026 | 03/2029 | 03/2029 | 03/2029 |
| Rebottled tote | 31HA1, made 01/2021, new inner receptacle 05/2025 fitted 06/2025 | 12/2027 | 06/2030 | 05/2030 |
| Metal IBC | 31A, made 04/2019, 5-year inspection and leak test 04/2024 | 10/2026 | 04/2029 | None |
Safety advisers, trainers and trade bodies can embed it free. Paste the code into any web page. The tool updates when we update the rules, and the credit line links back here. Building software instead? The same answer comes as JSON from our free API.
Every 2.5 years on the outside and its service equipment, and every 5 years in full, including its marks and the inside. IBCs for liquids, and for solids filled or emptied under pressure, also take a leakproofness test at least every 2.5 years.
Under the UN and ADR rules, five years from its date of manufacture; for a caged composite IBC, from the date on its inner receptacle. Some substances set a shorter period: two years for nitric acid over 55 per cent. US rules set no five-year limit.
No. An IBC may not be filled once its test or inspection date has passed. One filled before the date may travel for up to three months after it under the UN and ADR rules.
No. Unlike tanks, IBCs get no three-month window either side of the date. A test done early sets the next date from the day it was done.
The standards and regulations this page relies on, at their issuing body. Where a market rule is named here, check the current revision before you specify against it.
Tell us how many IBCs you store and what they hold. We size the spill pallets and quote, with UN-marked jerricans and drums for the smaller volumes.