Terms & Conditions

1.1 Contract: By booking an appointment by telephone, online, email, or messaging service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.

1.2 Independent Trade Practice: We operate as an independent, fully insured chimney sweeping and stove maintenance service. All works are conducted in accordance with recognized industry codes of practice and current health and safety guidelines.

1.3 Right to Decline: The Company reserves the right to refuse or discontinue service at any stage if an appliance, flue, or working environment is deemed dangerous, inaccessible, illegal, or structurally unsound, or where abusive behaviour is encountered.

2.1 Arrival Windows: Due to variable traffic conditions, road layouts, adverse weather, and the unpredictable nature of chimney works (e.g. uncovering heavy blockages on earlier jobs), specific times are estimates only. The Company cannot be held liable for delays. Where an unexpected delay exceeds 60 minutes beyond the agreed window, we will endeavour to notify you as soon as practically possible.

2.2 Client Cancellations & Rescheduling: If you need to cancel or rearrange an appointment, you must provide a minimum of 48 hours’ notice. Cancellations made with less than 48 hours’ notice, or instances where our engineer arrives and cannot gain access, will incur a cancellation fee of up to 100% of the quoted service price.

2.3 Company Rescheduling: The Company reserves the right to reschedule appointments due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including engineer illness, vehicle breakdown, equipment failure, or severe weather.

2.4 Consumer Cancellation Rights: Where a booking is made remotely (by phone, website, or email), domestic clients have a statutory 14-day cancellation period under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. However, if you request an appointment date that falls within this 14-day period, you expressly acknowledge and agree that the service may commence before the cancellation period expires, and your right to cancel without cost ceases once the service has been performed.

3.1 Extinguished Fireplace / Cold Appliance: The appliance or open fire must not have been lit for at least 12 hours prior to the engineer’s arrival. It must be completely cold. Sweeping hot flues damages industrial HEPA filtration equipment and presents an immediate fire and safety risk.

3.2 Abortive Heat Fee: If an appliance or open hearth is found to be hot, warm, or currently alight on arrival, the flue cannot be swept. An abortive call-out charge of 100% of the service price will apply to cover travel and reserved diary time.

3.3 Clear Work Area: The Client is responsible for ensuring clear, safe access from the property entrance to the fireplace:

• A minimum clear working radius of 1.5 to 2 metres around the hearth must be cleared of personal belongings, fire irons, fuel buckets, furniture, delicate ornaments, soft furnishings, and electronics prior to arrival.
• While we use heavy-duty floor runners and industrial containment, fragile, light-coloured, or porous items nearby should be removed or covered by the Client. The Company accepts no liability for accidental damage to items left within the immediate working area.

3.4 Pets and Children: For safety and containment, all children and domestic pets must be kept out of the work area and adjacent hallways for the duration of the visit.

4.1 Regulatory Compliance: Solid fuel and oil appliances are expected to comply with Building Regulations (Approved Document J) and manufacturer installation guidelines. The Company accepts no liability for pre-existing installation defects, non-compliant flues, or uncertified installations.

4.2 Internal Stove Components (Wear & Tear): Stoves, grates, and internal components operate under extreme thermal stress. Over time, internal elements become brittle, warped, or corroded:

• Baffle plates (throat plates), firebricks (vermiculite or cast iron), baffle fixings, grate bars, door rope seals, and glass retainers deteriorate through normal operation.
• While our engineers take every reasonable care during removal and cleaning, components weakened by prior thermal fatigue or corrosion may break or crumble during standard disassembly.

The Company accepts no liability for the failure or fracture of pre-fatigued or deteriorated internal parts during servicing. Where parts fail due to age or heat degradation, the engineer will document the issue and advise on replacement options at the Client’s expense.

4.3 Structural Soundness of Flues: Sweeping involves mechanical brush friction and rotary power rodding. The Company cannot be held liable for damage caused to decaying, friable, unlined, or structurally compromised brickwork, parging, mortar liners, or chimney breasts where such damage is the result of pre-existing deterioration.

5.1 Terminal Condition: Chimney pots, cowls, anti-downdraught terminals, and bird guards must be soundly bedded and securely mechanically clamped or mortared to the stack to withstand standard sweeping operations.

5.2 Dislodged Terminals & Stacks: The Company accepts no liability for cowls, bird guards, weather caps, or loose chimney pots that become dislodged during the sweeping process. An item that dislodges under normal brush pressure is defective, incorrectly attached, or degraded by weather/corrosion and was not fit for purpose.

5.3 Wire Mesh Prohibitions: Improvised wire mesh or wire netting fitted over pots or terminals is unsafe; it clogs rapidly with soot, severely restricts air draw, and constitutes an acute carbon monoxide hazard. We strongly advise the removal of wire mesh. The Company accepts no liability for the detachment, destruction, or tearing of wire mesh during sweeping.

5.4 External Falling Debris & Vehicles: Work on chimneys can occasionally cause weathered flaunching, loose mortar, or dislodged stones to fall outside the stack. Clients are strongly advised to move vehicles, garden furniture, and outdoor valuables away from the perimeter of chimney stacks prior to the visit. The Company accepts no liability for damage caused to vehicles or property parked or situated within the fall zone of a chimney.

5.5 Roof Access: Standard sweeping and inspection are conducted from the bottom up (hearth-level). Where roof, ladder, or elevated inspection is requested or required, access remains strictly subject to site-specific risk assessment, ladder footing safety, pitch, roof material, and weather conditions under the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The engineer holds sole discretion to decline roof access where safety cannot be assured.

6.1 Nest & Blockage Clearances: Clearing jackdaw nests, debris, or heavy tar blockages is an intensive, specialist operation charged at an additional hourly or fixed rate beyond a standard sweep.

6.2 CCTV Requirement for Clearance Verification: A mechanical sweep through a nested flue creates a passage, but it cannot guarantee that all compacted twigs, nesting debris, or lateral obstructions have been cleared from ledges and offsets. Complete verification of an obstruction-free flue is only possible via a continuous internal CCTV camera inspection.

6.3 Limitation on Blockage Clearance: If the Client declines a recommended CCTV inspection following a nest removal, the Company accepts no liability for remaining debris, residual smoke spillage, or flue failure.

6.4 Wildlife Protection: In accordance with the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, active nests of wild birds cannot be legally disturbed or removed during the breeding season until the fledglings have vacated. The engineer reserves the right to cease nest removal if active eggs or dependent chicks are encountered.

7.1 Purpose of Certificate: Upon completion of a sweep, a Certificate of Sweeping (digital or paper) will be issued. This certificate records that a sweeping appliance has been passed through the flue, notes visible condition at the time of the visit, and records the result of a standard smoke draw test.

7.2 Not a Structural Warranty or Guarantee: The Certificate of Sweeping does not constitute a structural warranty, lifetime safety guarantee, or guarantee of chimney integrity. It does not guarantee that the flue is free from latent masonry defects, breaches in party walls, hidden cracks in flexible liners, or unseen build-ups behind internal offsets.

7.3 Smoke Testing: Smoke evacuation checks (pellet tests) verify whether smoke exits the intended terminal under current atmospheric and room conditions. It is an indicative operational check, not a full pressure-integrity test (such as a BS EN 15287 soundness test).

7.4 Ongoing Client Monitoring: Factors including atmospheric inversion, cold flue air plugs, wind direction, extractor fans, double glazing, air-vent blockages, and burning wet or unseasoned wood can alter an appliance’s performance overnight. If smoke spillage, downdraught, or unusual odours occur after our visit, stop using the appliance immediately and contact a professional.

7.5 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms: Under Building Regulations and standard safety guidelines, a working, compliant BS EN 50291 carbon monoxide alarm must be present in the room of any solid fuel burning appliance. The Client is legally responsible for the provision and operational testing of their CO alarm.

8.1 Standard On-Site Disposal: As standard practice, bulk soot and combustion debris removed during sweeping will be securely bagged and left on-site with the Client. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, soot generated from a domestic appliance constitutes domestic household waste and can be safely placed directly into your domestic general refuse bin.

8.2 Commercial Waste Regulations: Once soot is transported off-site in a trade vehicle in bulk, it converts under UK law to commercial controlled waste, which would require commercial transfer stations and substantial tipping surcharges. To keep servicing costs fair and transparent, bulk soot remains on-site.

8.3 Machine Filtration Discretion: The Company reserves the right, entirely at its discretion, to retain negligible particulate matter contained within sealed industrial vacuum filtration systems without altering standard on-site disposal terms.

9.1 Price Variations: Standard quotations assume unobstructed flues swept at regular intervals. Additional charges apply where unexpected complications are discovered on-site, including:

• Severe tar/creosote (creosote glaze) requiring specialist chemical or mechanical removal.
• Blockages, bird nests, or animal carcasses.
• Accessing flues via non-standard soot doors or register plates requiring re-sealing.
• Removing seized baffle plates or unbolting modified appliances.

9.2 Advance Notice of Costs: Where significant additional labour or materials are necessary to make an appliance safe and operational, the engineer will discuss options and obtain Client agreement before proceeding where feasible.

9.3 Parking, Permits & Tolls: The Client must provide or arrange safe, lawful vehicular parking within reasonable proximity to the property entrance for our service van and equipment. Any direct parking costs, pay-and-display fees, parking permit charges, or congestion/clean-air zone tolls incurred will be added directly to the Client’s final invoice.

10.1 Domestic Customers: Payment is due immediately upon completion of works on the day of the visit, payable by electronic bank transfer, debit/credit card, or cash.

10.2 Invoiced / Commercial Clients: Where an account or delayed invoice arrangement has been agreed in writing in advance (e.g. for landlords, letting agents, or commercial entities), invoices must be paid in full within 5 working days of the invoice date.

10.3 Late Payment Administrative Fees: Where an invoice remains unpaid after 5 working days from the due date, the Company reserves the right to charge an administration fee to cover the direct costs of ledger management, payment chasing, and recovery correspondence:

• (a) Commercial Accounts: For commercial clients (including landlords and letting agents), statutory compensation of £40.00 per invoice will apply automatically in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
• (b) Domestic Consumer Accounts: For domestic homeowners, an administration charge of £25.00 may be applied following the issue of a formal payment reminder where payment is not settled within 14 days of the service date.
• (c) Dishonoured Payments: In the event of a returned, cancelled, or dishonoured cheque or failed electronic payment, an administration fee of £20.00 will be added to the outstanding balance to cover bank handling and processing charges.

10.4 Interest on Overdue Balances: For any balance remaining unpaid beyond 30 calendar days from the invoice date:

• (a) Commercial Debts: Statutory interest will accrue at 8% per annum above the Bank of England base rate, calculated daily until full settlement, pursuant to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations.
• (b) Domestic Consumer Debts: Simple contractual interest will accrue at the statutory County Court rate (8% per annum), calculated daily from the due date until the balance is cleared in full.

10.5 Debt Recovery & Enforcement Costs: If an invoice remains unsettled following formal notification, the Company reserves the right to instruct a professional third-party debt recovery agency or initiate legal proceedings in the County Court. To the fullest extent permitted by the Civil Procedure Rules and applicable law, the Client shall indemnify the Company against all reasonable third-party debt recovery commissions, court fees, tracing costs, and legal disbursements incurred in recovering the outstanding debt.

11.1 Exclusions: Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits the Company’s liability for death or personal injury caused by our proven negligence, fraud, or any liability which cannot be excluded by English law.

11.2 Cap on Property Damage: Subject to clause 11.1, the Company’s total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with the performance of our services, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), or statutory duty, shall be strictly limited to the direct repair costs of verified damage, up to a maximum amount not exceeding the limit of our Public Liability Insurance policy.

11.3 Consequential Losses: The Company shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential loss, loss of heating, loss of alternative accommodation expenses, loss of profit, or commercial disruption.

11.4 Pre-existing / Latent Defects: The Company is not liable for structural chimney breast collapse, masonry cracking, chimney stack deterioration, water ingress, or fireplace defects attributable to age, poor installation, historical chimney fires, or pre-existing decay.

The Company shall not be deemed in breach of this agreement or otherwise liable to the Client for any failure or delay in performing its obligations due to events beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to: acts of God, flood, storm, severe snow or ice, road closures, epidemics, industrial disputes, or government-mandated travel restrictions.

These Terms and Conditions, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Both parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.