Latest news about Bill SB605

Oregon Chimney Sweeps Association

To: Construction Contractors Board

Re: Chimney Sweep Rule Change

From: The Oregon Chimney Sweeps Association, Inc.

Thank you for the quick response to my phone call on 4-27-06 as well as the follow up phone call from Craig Smith on 5-4-06. Unfortunately, the faxed explanation of the change made to 812-002-0760 (2) that was sent to the Seventh Mountain Resort for consideration by our Board of Directors sat in their office until Sunday (4-30-06) when it was handed to Scott Hess, our treasurer, at check out. I have since received the original mailed to me.

The Oregon Chimney Sweeps Association, Inc (OCSA) was formed 29 years ago and is one of oldest associations or guilds of professional chimney sweeps in North America, second only to the National Chimney Sweep Guild (NCSG). We are non-profit and are run by volunteers. We meet once a year on May Day, the traditional day for sweeps to gather. We conduct our association business, put on educational workshops and review our certification program. Our Board of Directors meets via teleconference three times in between these annual meetings.

Since the 1970’s the OCSA has worked with state, county and city agencies as well as the state legislature to help shape various statutes, administrative rules and ordinances in order to better protect the health and safety of Oregonians. The state requirement that chimney sweeps be licensed was written and implemented with our input after numerous Builder Board hearings, public hearings and Court of Appeal reviews during the early 1980’s. To be a member of the OCSA you must be licensed by the CCB, bonded and insured. Our certification program is not mandatory but we recognize nearly 100% participation by current members.  The State Fire Marshal’s office periodically reviews the OCSA’s certification program and Oregon certified chimney technicians are referred to for sweeping and inspection of chimneys in adult foster care facilitities.

I have been appointed by the OCSA membership to address the changes made on June 28, 2005 to 812-002-0760 (2). That there was evidently no public comment or opportunity offered the OCSA and NCSG to address the ramifications of the proposed change is cause for concern.

Needless to say the entire membership was surprised and confused by the CCB’s ruling and the article that appeared in the April 2006 ‘Bulletin’. Along with sweeping a chimney, one of the chimney sweep’s primary functions is to inspect a chimney and judge the worthiness of the entire heating system for continued use. Cleaning a chimney prior to inspection or repair is necessary. The standards of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 211, ‘Standard for Chimneys, Fireplaces, Vents, and Solid fuel burning appliances, 2003 edition’, Chapter 13 and 14), require an annual inspection of the mechanical and structural integrity of the entire installation and subsequent repair if defects or non-compliance issues are found. This standard is recognized and supported by several heating and venting authorities including the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) and the National Fireplace Institute (NFI). Failure to perform a Level One inspection (NFPA 211) during a chimney cleaning will void most all product safety listings and warranties.

The unintended repercussions of the CCB’s rule change are that homeowners’ insurance policies could be jeopardized. The liabilities generated by an unlicensed chimney sweep will cause instability in the marketplace.

The rule change is almost certainly unenforceable. Based upon known past practices of out of state ‘boiler room operations’ it may actually threaten the health and safety of Oregonians as once again we witness a resurgence in solid fuel heating.

The OCSA views this rule change as an alarming regression to those days when we knew far less than we have come to professionally understand now about chimney safety. In 1982 fully one half of all one and two family structural fires in Oregon were caused by improperly installed and maintained wood heating systems.

It seems apparent that the board’s legal counsel did not adequately review judicial case law, hundreds of hours of public hearings, product safety listings, applicable code bodies or consult an Oregon certified chimney technician concerning the term “sweeping” or “cleaning” a chimney and what is actually involved.

It is understandable that to a lay person the realm of chimney cleaning by a chimney sweep conjures up images of Bert in Mary Poppins dancing on rooftops with his umbrella and chimney brush and occasionally flying up and down a fireplace flue.

Craig Smith has asked me to try and explain what constitutes a chimney ‘cleaning’ in the real world, here and now.

First, I’ll offer a sampling of the type of appliances and their venting systems, both commercial and residential, that chimney sweeps get called in to ‘clean’. This list is based upon my personal experience since 1977 and by no means represents everything out there. What a sweep will choose to work on depends on their individual comfort level, training, experience, insurance and tools.

My personal list includes dryer vents, freestanding woodstoves, coffee roasters, pellet stoves, gas fireplaces, liquid fired gas and oil furnaces, boilers, hot water heaters, pizza ovens, lumber dryers, fireplaces, incinerators, electric arc movie projectors, wax reduction kilns, masonry stoves, fireplace inserts, negative draft oil stoves and outside water stoves. The chimneys and vents that service these appliances vary in size, listing, design, configuration and material composition.

To facilitate cleaning and inspecting a chimney, connector pipe (breaching) and appliance the sweep must be prepared to power down the appliance and access the breaching, flue, and appliance. Access may involve cutting an opening and installing an approved door. Large systems may sometimes take days to cool down enough to work on and often will involve disconnecting and reinstalling the appliance, removing and reinstalling appliance baffle systems and manifold tubes, connector pipe, stack controls, and any accessories attached. It may be necessary to set up staging, scaffolding or rent a ladder truck to access the chimney system.  The procedures and requirements are the same for a freestanding woodstove as with a 1,000,000 BTU input boiler.

Almost without exception a customer expects a report when the sweep is done.   This is ‘…verification of the suitability of the chimney for continued service, under the same conditions and with the same appliance or appliances…’(NFPA 211 14.4). Almost without exception home inspectors defer this aspect of a home inspection to a qualified chimney sweep because they do not clean chimneys or possess the expertise and tools necessary to reliably evaluate them.

It is not uncommon that during routine annual service and inspection the sweep will immediately or at the earliest opportunity need to repair or replace something such as a burner, connector pipe, gasketing, liner, or chimney crown. (NFPA 211 13.2.2 and 13.4.1) The language of the rule change now suggests that an unlicensed chimney sweep will be obligated to walk away from a chimney system that is in dangerous disrepair or sustained damage in the course of routine cleaning and assessment. There will be no way the CCB will know whether the sweep repaired the situation or not and no recourse for the homeowner should a repair not have been done or have been done improperly. The question then arises: If the unlicensed chimney sweep informs the homeowner of a chimney’s damage or deficiencies, has he not just performed an inspection? 

Clearly a chimney sweep adhering to the guidelines of NFPA 211 during a routine ‘cleaning’ must: inspect, dismantle, install, alter and repair. Failure to follow these guidelines results in structural fires, flue fires, carbon monoxide poisoning, personal property damage, structural damage and the associated fatalities as well as displacement of entire families.

The Oregon Chimney Sweeps Association, Inc strongly encourages reconsideration of the language of the rule as it now reads. Should the CCB desire further input regarding the language, intent or purpose of 812-002-0760 the OCSA stands ready, willing and able to be of service.

On behalf of the OCSA board and general membership, thank you for your time and attention to this most crucial matter.

Sincerely,

Grant R. Darrow

Cc

Mark Long, Building Codes Division

Mike Ewert, Building Codes Division

Nancy Long, State Fire Marshal Office

State Representative Greg Smith

Senator David Nelson

OCSA membership