Chimneys need a clean sweep

Having your chimney cleaned is not just a good way to get your fire to burn more efficiently and safely – it is also a legal requirement that should be done once or twice a year by a professional sweep.

Blocked chimneys are blamed for many fires and especially for carbon monoxide poisoning (which kills 300 people a year) with a build-up of soot and tar – and sometimes bird nests – which stop fires or boilers burning well and can catch fire.

There is no national law on getting the chimney swept – ramonage – just local prefectoral or municipal regulations but the vast majority say it should be done twice a year for coal and wood fires or oil boilers; once at the beginning of the season and once during the winter. Gas boilers only need the flue cleaned once.

Over-the-counter chemicals are said to clean the chimneys but they are nothing like as efficient as the sweep’s brush (or hérisson, hedgehog in French) – and the sweep also provides a certificat de ramonage which, while having no monetary value itself, is invaluable in dealing with insurance claims.

Not getting the chimney swept is a Category 3 offence that could lead to a €450 fine – but the consequences could be much more severe in the case of a house fire, with the insurance company reducing any pay-out if there is no certificat de ramonage and also the very real possibility of someone dying.

British sweep Sandy Jardine in Bozel, Savoie, said some insurers only specified one ramonage on policies but if the small print says it should be done in “accordance with RSDT” it means in line with règlement sanitaire départemental type local rules – twice a year.

He said: “Few people get it done twice a year but a chimney fire can cause a lot of damage – or destroy the building. If a chimney goes up it needs to be inspected afterwards as 1,000C heat can damage stone.

“I regularly get people who come to me the year after their chimney went up and want it checked... and then they get it swept regularly.”

The cost of ramonage varies across the country but is generally from €40 to €70 and will be double for boilers as they have more nooks and crannies to be cleaned.

Chimneys or flues are designed to withstand heat and remove toxic gases from the living area so they need to draw air through the appliance and out to the open air.

Cleaning the chimney improves this “draw” and gives better efficiency but as materials age the chimney may need work to ensure it remains fireproof. This can be done with the use of a flue “insert” which is airtight and fireproof.

Sandy, of 3vRamonage, trained in the UK but the Chambre de Métier said he had to do a three-week specialist Costic course in Paris to have French qualifications. He was only the second Briton to do the course but he said other sweeps could use at least three years’ UK experience as equivalent.

In Paris and Ile-de-France it could be the last sweep needed for many people as open fires are to be banned in Paris and more than 400 communes from January 1, 2015.