Chimney sweep in Dzirciems for apartment buildings and institutions

Apartment buildings: what needs doing there and what does not

The neighbourhoods portal describes Dzirciems as a neighbourhood where most of the housing is multi-storey apartment buildings. Most such flats in Riga get their heat from an external supplier, so there is usually no stove or flue there. Frankly, in such a flat a chimney sweep is needed only for the ventilation ducts and gas appliances.

• Natural ventilation ducts: cleaning and checking once every 10 years.
• A room with a gas cooker or gas water heater: the duct once every five years.
• Gas water heater or boiler flue: brick once a year, lined or metal once every two years.
• A certificate for every cleaning, because in an apartment building it is always needed.

If you replace a gas water heater or boiler in a flat, Riga rules require the application to include a technical condition inspection certificate for the existing appliance, the flues and the natural ventilation ducts. More on the page chimney check for a gas boiler.

Pockets of private houses between the blocks

Dzirciems has clusters of old private houses squeezed between multi-storey buildings and institutional grounds. There you find wood stoves, wood-burning cookers, gas boilers and fireplaces. Such a house has one peculiarity: a taller building next door can change the wind flow around the chimney, and the small house's smoke then escapes less easily. If the draught got worse after a new building went up next door, it is worth saying so in the request.

In a private house with wood heating, the fire safety regulations allow the owner to clean the flue themselves, and then no certificate is needed. If a chimney sweep cleans it, a certificate must be drawn up, and it is proof that the chimney has been cleaned. A masonry stove is cleaned by 1 November; a boiler and a metal stove are also cleaned once more in winter.

Schools, medical institutions and businesses

Dzirciems has large educational and medical grounds, as well as retail and service buildings. If they have their own boiler, a canteen cooker with a flue or ventilation shafts, the same rules apply, but the documents must be in order every time, because the fire safety of institutions is inspected.

The Fire Safety, Firefighting and Rescue Work Law provides that from 1 January 2027 fire safety services, including flue cleaning, may only be provided by a person with appropriate professional training and under a written service contract. The work is done by a qualified chimney sweep, and the certificate states their qualification document.

On large sites access has to be judged for each property: an access pass, a facilities contact person and a time when there are few people in the building; state these in the request. More: chimney sweep for businesses.

What does an inspector look for in the certificate? The regulations list: the property, the owner, the address and the date, the location and description of the flue or duct, the cleaner's name, the name and number of their education or qualification document, and a statement on the result of the work. The technical condition inspection certificate, drawn up once every five years, is accompanied by a drawing showing the location of each flue and photos or video.

Access and traffic

From Dzirciems, Dzirciema iela and Jūrmalas gatve lead to the centre and the western neighbourhoods, and traffic there is heavy. Parking is easier in the private house streets than by the big buildings, but at an apartment building we need to know where to park a vehicle with ladders and tools. If there is a barrier at the yard, mention it in the form.

What we can do in Dzirciems

• Ventilation duct cleaning for apartment buildings and institutions: price by the number of ducts.
• Chimney cleaning in Dzirciems for private houses: from €100 per flue with a certificate.
• Fireplace cleaning and wood stoves: from €100.
• Chimney sweep's condition report once every five years or before replacing an appliance: priced for your situation.