Delaware: who needs a license to work on your chimney or fireplace?
Checked Jul 2026·Laws as cited·Not in the Sep 2026 verification pass
Public recordDE LAW
For consumer remedies, home-sale rules and carbon monoxide law, see Delaware chimney & fireplace laws — know your rights. That page was verified more recently than this matrix.
Stove & insert installation: is a credential required in Delaware?
#stove-installNONE- Credential
- No credential clearly reaches solid-fuel installs — 24 Del. C. § 1802(8) 'HVACR services' has no solid-fuel exclusion ('installation... of a product or of equipment... in heating... systems') but every restricted-specialty track is gas/forced-air/hydronic, so a freestanding wood/pellet stove installer is arguably OUTSIDE ch. 18 (Board practice UNVERIFIED; a ducted pellet kit or hydronic tie-in slides INTO scope); generic layers only: Division of Revenue business license (tax) + 19 Del. C. ch. 36 DOL Contractor Registration ($200/yr, wage-law compliance, no exam — NEW layer not in Pass 1/4/5 notes); NO statewide building code — county IRC pins: New Castle 2021 IRC eff. 1/1/2024 (2024 I-Codes likely eff. 1/1/2026 via Ord. 25-130, UNVERIFIED), Kent 2018 IRC, Sussex 2021 IRC chs. 1-10 eff. 1/1/2023; BUT the PHACR Board's IMC/IFGC adoption is statewide and every political subdivision must enforce it (§ 1806(c)-(d)) — IMC ch. 9 solid-fuel rules reach the whole state without a building code
- Issuing body
- n/a for solid fuel; DE Board of PHACR Examiners (statewide IMC); county building departments + Wilmington L&I (permits); DE DOL Office of Contractor Registration
- Statute
- 24 Del. C. §§ 1802(8), 1806(c)-(d), 1820(c)(2); 19 Del. C. ch. 36
- Dollar threshold
- none
- Exam
- n
- Local overlay
- y — three counties on different IRC editions; Wilmington edition UNVERIFIED
- Confidence
- high (statute + no-statewide-code); medium (county editions); low (Board practice on hearth installers) · checked 2026-07-10
- Sources
Gas fireplace service: is a credential required in Delaware?
#gas-fireplace-serviceLICENSE- Credential
- Master HVACR licensee or Master HVACR restricted licensee (restricted specialty (f) 'gas piping' is a standalone class — narrow cheap lane) or Master Plumber (plumbing services include gas piping installation/connection); STATUTORY CARVE-OUT: 'gas piping' EXCLUDES 'the installation of gas appliances where existing service connections are already installed' (24 Del. C. § 1802(5)) — a gas-log/insert swap onto an existing gas line sits in a licensure grey zone; homeowner exemption expressly EXCLUDES gas piping (§ 1820(c)(2)); utility-owned gas infrastructure excluded; no separate LP license class found at DPR (State Fire Marshal LPG overlay UNVERIFIED)
- Issuing body
- DE Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners (Division of Professional Regulation); board adopts IFGC statewide, local govts must enforce it (§ 1806(c)-(d))
- Statute
- 24 Del. C. ch. 18 — §§ 1802 (definitions), 1820 (license required + exemptions), 1821 (qualifications), 1806(c)-(d) (IFGC adoption) — fetched
- Dollar threshold
- none
- Exam
- y (written standardized exam + journeyman cert/apprenticeship or 7 yrs supervised experience + equivalency test)
- Local overlay
- n
- Confidence
- high · checked 2026-07-09
- Sources
What insurance does Delaware require of contractors?
#insurance- Regime
- none for competence (Division of Revenue business license only; DPR licenses plumbers/HVACR incl. gas piping)
- Liability minimum
- NONE — neither the Revenue business license nor the DPR Master Plumber/HVACR license carries any liability-insurance requirement (24 Del. C. ch. 18 fetched in full — zero insurance provisions); a 'licensed' DE gas-fitting master has passed an exam, never shown solvency
- Bond
- non-resident contractors ONLY: surety bond of 6% of contract price on contracts >= $20,000 (or aggregating >= $20k/calendar year), filed with the Division of Revenue BEFORE construction begins (30 Del. C. Title 30 ch. 3 subch. V, nonresident contractor bond); TRAP: this is a TAX-PROTECTION bond payable to the State to secure tax revenue, NOT a consumer-protection instrument; resident contractors post nothing
- Guaranty fund
- none — no guaranty/recovery fund
- Workers' comp threshold
- 1 employee triggers (19 Del. C. § 2306); sole proprietors/partners excluded, may elect in (§ 2308); immediate family of sole prop/partner INCLUDED unless they sign a written exemption; farm labor exempt
- How to verify
- insurance: nothing to verify (the requirement simply doesn't exist); trade license lookup dpr.delaware.gov + contractorregistry.delaware.gov; WC lookup: DCRB (Delaware Compensation Rating Bureau) proof-of-coverage verification
- Confidence
- high (absences + bond structure); medium (DCRB lookup detail) · checked 2026-07-09
- Sources
Download the full licensing matrix (CSV) · All states
Before anyone goes on your roof
What should you ask a chimney company in Delaware?
- Is your company a member of the National Chimney Sweep Guild (NCSG)?
- Does the technician coming to my home hold an individual NCSG certification, and which one?
- Does the technician hold a National Fireplace Institute (NFI) certification — and for which fuel: wood, gas, or pellet?
- What other certifications does the technician hold (for example, CSIA), and can I check them on the issuer's own roster?
- What state or local license or registration covers this work here, and what is the number?
- Will you send a certificate of insurance, dated and naming your company, before work starts?
- Which NFPA 211 inspection level — Level 1, 2, or 3 — are you performing, and why that level?
- Will you show me what you found — photos or video of the flue — in writing?
We take no fee from any certification body, guild, or contractor, and are not paid to mention anyone named.