How to check a chimney sweep in Texas

What Texas does and doesn't license

Texas does not license chimney sweeps or chimney masonry work: none of the 41 programs the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation runs covers chimneys or fireplaces.

Gas lines are different. Texas law defines plumbing to include piping that supplies gas. Running or changing a gas line to a fireplace is work for a plumber licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. You can look up a plumbing license on the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners website.

Inside San Antonio city limits, the Development Services Department handles building permits and inspections through its BuildSA portal (210-207-1111). Ask the pro whether your job needs one. New fireplaces and rebuilt chimneys usually do, and so do new gas lines. The suburbs and the small cities inside the loop, such as Alamo Heights and Castle Hills, run their own permit offices.

What to ask for instead

1. Insurance. A certificate of general liability insurance, and workers' compensation if they have employees. Someone falls off your roof, it matters.
2. The industry credential. The Chimney Safety Institute of America's Certified Chimney Sweep credential is a national industry certification, not a state license. You can search the CSIA's online directory of credential holders. It is voluntary, so its absence is a question to ask, not proof of anything.
3. The inspection level. The Chimney Safety Institute of America recommends asking for a Level 1 chimney inspection and a sweeping, and says a sweep who doesn't know what a Level 1 inspection is is the wrong sweep.
4. Photos. Before and after pictures of the flue, and a photo of any problem they want to fix.
5. A written price for any repair, separate from the sweep, with time to get a second quote.
6. A real address and phone number that answers. The FTC warns against contractors who only take cash, pressure you to decide on the spot, or show up uninvited.

Red flags

• A sweep advertised far below every other quote, followed by a long repair list the same visit.
• "Your chimney will kill you" without a photo or a written report.
• An offer to remove chirping birds from the chimney in summer. Chimney swifts are federally protected. Chimney swifts.
• Someone other than a licensed plumber offering to run or move a gas line.

How we handle this: Mission Flue Line passes requests to an independent chimney company and asks it for insurance, written prices, photos of the flue and a licensed plumber for gas line work. How it works.