Chimney fires are an all too frequent occurrence in many homes every year. To help prevent a chimney fire occurring in your property, you should ensure your chimney is swept as often as recommended by the Solid Fuel Association.

Appliance	Frequency
Smokless Fuel	Once per year
Coal	twice per year
Wood Burning	Quarterly when in use
Gas	Once per year if designed for chimney sweeping
Oil Fired	Once per year

On a cold stove, place a thin strip of newspaper between the door and the stove. Shut the door tightly and see if you can pull the paper out. Try this on several different positions around the door-jam, if the paper pulls out the door adjustment needs to be reset or rope replacement may be necessary.

All heat producing appliances should be serviced minimally once a year. Many professional chimney sweeps provide this service. This may be a separate charge or may be included in the chimney sweeping service.

Yes, contrary to belief once you have had a liner installed on your appliance it is very important to sweep the chimney on a regular basis. Yearly minimal intervals are recommended however, it may be necessary to sweep the flue/chimney every three months when in use.
Ask your chimney professional for advice, sweeping intervals can vary dramatically depending on the type of flue, type of appliance, if there is a boiler fitted, and the amount of chimney draw you have.

Yes, all heat producing appliances should have the chimney swept on an annual basis.

See information below...

Gas Safe Register replaces CORGI 30th March 2009
Gas Safe Register's top tips to keep you and your family gas safe:

1. Always use a Gas Safe registered engineer for any gas work in your home - and check their ID card.

2. Make sure your gas appliances are safety checked and serviced in accordance with the manufacturer's guidelines, or at least once a year.

3. If you live in rented accommodation, your landlord must arrange for a Gas Safe registered engineer to carry out a safety check every year on all gas appliances. You should be given a copy of the safety certificate before you move in or within 28 days of the safety check. If you don't have this certificate, ask your landlord.

4. Install an audible carbon monoxide alarm, which will alert you if dangerous levels are present in your home.

5. If you smell gas or think there might be a gas leak: turn off the gas at the meter, extinguish naked flames, open windows and leave the area. Seek medical advice if you feel unwell. Call the Gas Emergency Freephone number 0800 111 999.

Find and check a Gas Safe registered engineer by visiting www.gassaferegister.co.uk or by calling 0800 408 5500.

The Steering Committee is a collection of members, voted for by the members, to represent the whole membership. This allows decision making to be taken without all the unwieldly necessity of contacting every member for an opinion on every decision.

No. The administrator receives a small remuneration. It is hoped that the association will be able to afford to pay the officers when funds and members have grown to justify payment, in line with all professional national trade associations.

Yes, if it's a new sweep applying for membership in an area already covered by an existing APICS sweep; no, if it's an existing sweep extending his/her area. Each sweep has the right to work anywhere they choose and the profile system allows members to indicate where they want to work. It would be impossible to check the website hourly, in case someone decided to enlarge their area, and then search our records to find if that encroached on another patch.

No. You subscribe to a membership, you have not bought a franchise for your area.

Only if you are moving areas and only for a temporary period. (Please read SC minutes for May 2009).

Yes. However, in an effort to remove the confrontational aspect of question and answer formats, we ask members to forward any questions to the steering committee for consideration before the meeting, to give time for reasoned consideration. The answers can then be given at the meeting, but remember that if a two-thirds majority disagree with a committee decision, then a postal ballot of all members will be called.