Chimney check before buying a house

The short answer

• Ask for the latest cleaning certificate and the technical condition inspection certificate; for a solid-fuel flue this inspection must be done once every five years.
• If the boiler or stove has been replaced, ask for the certificate on whether the new appliance may be connected to the flue.
• Look at the chimney in the attic, on the roof and at each appliance: cracks, damp, traces of tar, the distance to timber.
• If there are no documents or they are old, order an inspection with a camera and a certificate before the deal.
• Use any damage you find in the price negotiations, and plan the repair before the first fire.

Which documents to ask the seller for

The owner of a private house may clean a solid-fuel flue themselves, and then no certificate has to be drawn up. So a missing cleaning certificate does not in itself mean the chimney has not been cleaned, but it does mean there is no document on its condition. The technical condition inspection certificate may be signed only by a person with the qualification named in the regulations, for example a chimney sweep or a stove and fireplace mason.

What you can look at yourself

• In the attic: cracks in the chimney masonry, dark traces of tar on the bricks or render, scorched or darkened beams and boards next to the chimney. The regulations require the chimney in the attic to be whitewashed or painted a light colour, and on a light surface cracks and traces of tar are easy to see.
• On the roof, from the ground or with binoculars: a crumbling chimney head, mortar missing from the joints, a bent or rusty cap, the height of the chimney relative to the ridge.
• At the appliances: cracks in the stove masonry, the condition of the flue pipe, whether a boiler and a stove are connected to one channel, whether the floor in front of the firebox is covered with non-combustible material.
• In the rooms: damp, dark patches on the chimney walls, especially if the house has a gas condensing boiler.
• In conversation with the seller: whether the stove smokes, whether soot has ever burned in the chimney, what has been burned and how much.

An old house and distances to timber

In many old wooden and mixed-construction houses in Riga and the Riga region, timber beams are built straight into the chimney masonry or are only a few centimetres away. Point 64 of the fire safety regulations sets the distance from the inner surface of the flue to a combustible structure: 380 mm for an appliance that runs for up to three hours, and 510 mm if longer. An explanation by the State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) states that there are no exceptions for buildings already in use. So these distances must also be kept in an old house, and if they are not, the solution is fire-resistant separation or a new flue.

What only an inspection reveals

You cannot see the inside of a flue from outside. There may be cracks after a chimney fire, collapsed bricks, a burnt-out or rusted liner, several appliances connected to one channel and a thick layer of tar. In a technical condition inspection the flue is cleaned, examined (often with a camera too) and measured, and each flue is entered in the certificate with a mark showing whether it may be used. Photos or video are attached to the certificate, and it is a document you can show the seller, the bank or the insurer.

Order the inspection before the deal, not after it: then the findings can still affect the price. How the inspection is done: chimney sweep's condition report and camera inspection.

Insurance after the purchase

The property insurance terms of BTA, Balta and ERGO require flues and chimneys to be cleaned at least once a year, and the ERGO terms provide that otherwise the payout may be reduced by up to 50% or refused. The ERGO and If terms also contain an exception for a fire from a non-compliant flue if the house was bought from another person, but this does not release you from the yearly cleaning requirement. Read the terms of your policy and keep certificates and invoices from the first season.

If the inspection finds damage

The regulations forbid using a damaged flue, so it must be repaired before the first fire. The most common solutions: chimney repair for the head and the masonry, chimney lining for a flue with cracks inside or for a new boiler, and chimney installation if the old chimney cannot be saved. We name the repair price separately after the inspection, and the seller and the buyer can use it in their negotiations.