Hawaii: 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 recordHI LAW
For consumer remedies, home-sale rules and carbon monoxide law, see Hawaii chimney & fireplace laws — know your rights. That page was verified more recently than this matrix.
Stove & insert installation: is a credential required in Hawaii?
#stove-installLICENSE- Credential
- Named-class capture, verified against the full Exhibit A: C-25 institutional & commercial equipment — 'to install FACTORY BUILT STOVES, FIREPLACES, AND PREFABRICATED STEEL CHIMNEYS' — and C-44 sheet metal — 'metal flues, and FREE STANDING FIREPLACES AND CHIMNEYS' — reach wood/pellet stove and insert installs ('stoves' and 'free standing fireplaces' are fuel-agnostic scope words; the task question resolves YES, C-25/C-44 capture stove installs); A/B general licensees reach it via automatic/specialty rules; unlike the gas side there is NO individual worker layer for wood (HRS ch. 448E covers plumbers/electricians only) — a wood-stove job is ONE-class work vs gas's two-class + 448E structure; $1,500 aggregate handyman exemption (HRS § 444-2(7)) is VOID where a county building permit is required — county permits apply to solid-fuel appliance installs (four county building departments; practice detail medium); CODE: Hawaii State Building Code = 2018 IBC/IRC base (HRS ch. 107 pt. II); counties must adopt within two years or the state code becomes the INTERIM county code — a listing/manufacturer-instruction rule reaches every county by one route or the other (current per-county editions UNVERIFIED — pin before publish); WOOD-SMOKE: no Hawaii wood-smoke or no-burn regime found (absence — the Western axis stops at the Pacific); NFI: voluntary, referenced nowhere
- Issuing body
- Hawaii Contractors License Board (DCCA PVL); four county building departments (permits)
- Statute
- HRS §§ 444-2(7), 444-9.5; HAR ch. 16-77 Exhibit A (C-25, C-44 scopes — read in full); HRS ch. 107 pt. II
- Dollar threshold
- $1,500 aggregate handyman exemption — void where a permit is required, never anti-splitting
- Exam
- y (2-part Business & Law + trade exam AND 4 yrs supervisory experience)
- Local overlay
- y — county building departments issue all permits; county code amendments vary
- Confidence
- high (class scopes read in full); medium (county permit practice + code-edition pins) · checked 2026-07-22
- Sources
Chimney flashing: is a credential required in Hawaii?
#chimney-flashingLICENSE- Credential
- C-42 Roofing contractor — task question verified YES: Exhibit A scope ends 'To also install ROOF FLASHING in connection with all of the above', and the C-42b wood-shingles subclass includes 'all flashing materials to form a watertight surface' — chimney flashing and roof-leak repair are C-42-scope work; OVERLAP: C-44 sheet metal also names 'flashings' in its fabricate-assemble-install scope, so a C-44 chimney shop has a lawful flashing lane; TRAP: C-55 Waterproofing expressly EXCLUDES 'the work of the C-42 roofing contractor' — never accept C-55 as a flashing credential; $1,500 handyman exemption can cover a small flashing patch ONLY where no county permit is required (minor-repair permit exemptions are county practice — medium); license-as-insurance-proxy strength applies (GL+WC welded to license with auto-forfeiture, Pass 4)
- Issuing body
- Hawaii Contractors License Board (DCCA PVL)
- Statute
- HRS §§ 444-2(7), 444-9.5; HAR ch. 16-77 Exhibit A (C-42, C-42a-g, C-44, C-55 scopes — read in full)
- Dollar threshold
- $1,500 aggregate handyman exemption — void where a permit is required
- Exam
- y (Business & Law + trade exam, 4 yrs supervisory experience)
- Local overlay
- y — county permit practice decides the minor-repair line
- Confidence
- high · checked 2026-07-22
- Sources
Gas fireplace service: is a credential required in Hawaii?
#gas-fireplace-serviceLICENSE- Credential
- TWO-CLASS + individual-worker regime (CA C-36/D-34 pattern, island edition): the GAS side is C-37 Plumbing — its HAR 16-77 Exhibit A scope expressly includes 'fuel gas piping systems... and the venting for waste water piping systems and FUEL GAS PIPING SYSTEMS' — with the hands-on work performed by licensed journey worker/master PLUMBERS (HRS ch. 448E; HRS § 444-9.5 ties the two chapters: plumbing work on licensed jobs must be done by 448E-licensed workers; Hawaii Plumbing Code = UPC with ch. 12 Fuel Gas Piping); the hearth APPLIANCE boxes live in OTHER named classes — C-25 institutional & commercial equipment ('to install factory built stoves, fireplaces, and prefabricated steel chimneys' — resolves the rights-file pin: C-25, not C-44, is the prefab-hearth home), C-44 sheet metal ('metal flues, and free standing fireplaces and chimneys'), C-4 boiler (chimneys/flues appurtenant to boilers); so a gas-fireplace install = C-25/C-44 sets the box + C-37/448E runs the gas; NO gas-named class and NO LP installer license (LP = NFPA 58 as the county-adopted Hawaii LP Gas Code + Hawaii Gas utility engineering standards; C-37f 'fuel dispensing' covers service-station tanks, not hearth LP) — absence finding, medium; the $1,500 handyman exemption (HRS § 444-2(7)) is VOID where a building permit is required and never covers plumbing/electrical, so real gas work is licensed from $0; A/B general licensees reach it via automatic/specialty rules; chimney masonry = C-31 (+C-31c refractory) — both sides licensed, mismatch NARROW (gas adds the individual 448E layer chimney lacks)
- Issuing body
- Hawaii Contractors License Board (DCCA PVL), HRS ch. 444 + HAR ch. 16-77; Board of Electricians & Plumbers (HRS ch. 448E) for the worker layer
- Statute
- HRS §§ 444-2(7), 444-9.5, 444-22; HRS ch. 448E (§ 448E-9 unlicensed activity); HAR ch. 16-77 Exhibit A (C-37, C-25, C-44, C-4 scopes)
- Dollar threshold
- $1,500 aggregate labor+materials handyman exemption (HRS § 444-2(7)) — void where a permit is required, never for electrical/plumbing, anti-splitting; HB846 (2025) proposal to raise to $2,500 NOT enacted as of Jul 2026
- Exam
- y (2-part Business & Law + trade exam AND 4 years supervisory experience w/ 3 notarized certificates; 448E plumber exams on the worker layer)
- Local overlay
- y — four county building departments (Honolulu, Hawaii, Maui, Kauai) issue all permits; no state building department for private homes; county amendments may be more restrictive
- Confidence
- high (class scopes, exhibit text read in full); medium (LP absence) · checked 2026-07-22
- Sources
What insurance does Hawaii require of contractors?
#insurance- Regime
- license (CLB, HRS ch. 444 — exam + 4 yrs experience; >$1,500 or any permit work; C-31/C-37/C-25/C-44 hearth-relevant classes)
- Liability minimum
- GL REQUIRED AND STATE-HELD — bodily injury $100,000/person + $300,000/occurrence, property damage $50,000/occurrence (HAR ch. 16-77; amounts confirmed via DCCA licensing instructions — exact HAR section pin before publish); certificates are filed with the board through a DEDICATED CARRIER PORTAL (pvlinsurance.dcca.hawaii.gov — emailed certs not accepted); THE TEETH: failure to maintain continuous liability or WC coverage causes AUTOMATIC FORFEITURE of the license, and if not reinstated within 60 days the contractor (and its RME) must reapply as a NEW applicant — the harshest lapse consequence in the project (WA suspends; HI erases)
- Bond
- NO universal license bond — bonds are situational: C-53 miscellaneous-retail-products licensees file a $50,000 surety bond (HAR 16-77 Exhibit A); the board may require bonds case-by-case; and HRS § 444-25.5 obliges every contractor to VERBALLY explain the homeowner's option to DEMAND a performance/payment bond before contracting (non-waivable; violation = per-se UDAP feeding treble under § 480-13)
- Guaranty fund
- Contractors Recovery Fund — CURRENT FIGURES (HRS § 444-26, 2025 text verified 2026-07-22): $12,500 PER CONTRACT regardless of number of injured persons; recovery = actual damages + court costs + reasonable attorney fees; trigger = circuit/district court order; claimants limited to owners/lessees of private residences who contracted with a DULY LICENSED contractor — license suspended/revoked/FORFEITED/inactive at contract time = NO recovery (note the interaction: an insurance-lapse auto-forfeiture silently strips the customer's fund coverage too); funded by $150/licensee at licensure; the $25,000-per-contractor AGGREGATE cap sits in a neighboring ch. 444 section (rights file attributed it to § 444-26 — current § 444-26 no longer carries it; pin exact section before publish — CORRECTION flag)
- Workers' comp threshold
- 1 employee — no numeric threshold (HRS ch. 386); WC certificate held by the CLB with the same automatic-forfeiture teeth as GL; exclusion filing (form CT-13, 'Exclusion from Chapter 386') available ONLY for: sole props with no employees, no-employee partnerships (NOT LLPs), single-member member-managed LLCs with no employees, corporations whose RME owns >=50% with no other employees, out-of-state contractors with no Hawaii employees
- How to verify
- STRONGEST LICENSE-AS-INSURANCE-PROXY IN THE PROJECT: because lapse auto-forfeits, an ACTIVE Hawaii license = GL ($100k/$300k/$50k) AND WC in force TODAY — the only state where 'licensed' strictly implies 'insured now'; AUTOMATED lookups: mypvl.dcca.hawaii.gov/public-license-search + businesscheck.hawaii.gov (one-stop) + RICO complaints history (web2.dcca.hawaii.gov/rico); recovery-fund coverage automatic with licensure; bond = DESK (rare); RICO 808-587-4272 for unlicensed reports
- Confidence
- high; medium (exact HAR insurance-section number, aggregate-cap section) · checked 2026-07-22
- Sources
Download the full licensing matrix (CSV) · All states
Before anyone goes on your roof
What should you ask a chimney company in Hawaii?
- 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.