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The Verified Chimney Sweep Program
The Verified Chimney Sweep program is a private organization designed to educate homeowners before they hire service professionals to clean or repair their chimney. The facts are that many home owners do not understand the technicial issues of the chimney industry. The chimney profession in the United States is basically an unregulated business. Here are a few tips that you should consider before hiring any chimney sweep company.
1) Does your chimney sweep have workers compensation insurance?
You might think that this is an obvious answer of yes. The fact is that most chimney sweep companies do not carry workers compensation insurance. Workers compensation insurance is coverage that pays if a worker is hurt on a home owner's property. If a chimney technician services your home and he falls off your roof and has a major injury, guess who is required to pay for his medical bills and lost work? You would think the company would pay for it. Most chimney sweep companies are one and two person businesses. These individuals might be living paycheck to paycheck. The answer is that if these companies do not carry workers copensation insurance and they are hurt on your propery, the home owner is sued for damages. Likely, your home owner insurances will cover most of these claims but you are still responsible for deductables and possible increased insurance premiums. Make sure your chimney sweep carries workers compensation insurance.
2) Who is the person you are inviting into your home?
So you have heard good things about a company and would like to use their service. The chimney industry is a very seasonal business. It is very busy in the fall and slow during the spring. Most chimney sweep companies have to hire new employees in the fall season to properly adjust to work flow. These employees might be seasoned veterens of the chimney business or labor helpers who can bring equipment in and out of your home. The fact is that most chimney sweep companies screen their prospective employees with a simple interview. With the advancement of the internet, employers can perform instant background checks and drug screening. Many employers do not know of the ease of this process or neglect to check with a "don't ask - don't tell" attitude. Make sure your technician has been background checked and has been screened for illegial drug.
3) What is the reputation of the company you are hiring?
The best way to find information concerning a chimney sweep is to research the firm on the internet. There are many review websites that request feedback from clients. Sometimes the clients are actually competition that tries to discredit their competition. Sometimes, these glowing comments are being placed by the company owner and employees trying to boost their "internet reputation." One of the best firms that eliminates these deceptive actions is the Better Business Bureau. There is no system that is perfect but usually if a company has a bad reputation with the Better Business Bureau, than they have ignored complaints from customers that the Better Business Bureau has documented. A good company should have little difficulty maintaining an A, A- or A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. If a customer is dissatisfied with your service, simply explain your side of the story to the Better Business Bureau and they will usually offer a fair resolution. Many times the BBB will side with the company, but if they side with the home owner and the company does not make it right, well you can expect a lower rating. Make sure your company has an A rating with the Better Business Bureau.
4) What formal testing, certification or training does your chimney sweep have?
There are many chimney training, certification and testing programs in the United States. Some of these programs are great programs but some are geared to drain money from home owners pockets. The chimney industry in the United States generates a certain amount of money. The chimney is the only portion of a home that is not protected by a roof. These chimneys are exposed to elements and require maintenance and repair. These repairs can produce a lot of money in many cases. Chimney technicians can sell repairs based on fear. Many times these repairs are backed with code standards that have been lobbied by the chimney industry to sell various repairs. When the board of directors for chimney lobby groups are chimney liner manufactures, chimney video scan makers and chimney suppliers, than you can expect that standards are pushed to require video inspections to sell chimney liners. The only problem is that these codes they quote are not applicable building code law. In the United States, the adopted residential building code is the International Residential Code. There are only a handful of other locals that have been lobbied to adopt other codes. Make sure that you hire certified individuals who are tested to the latest IRC Building codes.
5) What guaranteed resolution do you have when you hire a chimney sweep company?
Have you ever contracted to have a service performed and the company did not show up? Have you ever hired someone to do a task and they took your money and ran. Many times, it's not the money that bothers you, but the time energy and effort involved to make things right. The Verified Chimney Sweep program is designed to help eliminate that problem. Our program is simple. We only associate with the best companies. We are so confident with our verified chimney sweeps that if you have a problem, either they will make it right or we will make it right. (See our guarantee.) If we have to make it right, we will remove them from our program. Since our program guarantees to send more leads to our sweeps than any other program in the United States, rest assured they do not want to lose a connection with chimneysweep.org. Click on the locator to find your verified chimney sweep. Book your appointment through our online link to guarantee your service. Your verified chimney sweep will contact you to schedule your appointment. Easy as that. Sweeps luck to you.
