Chimney.Services

New Hampshire: 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 recordNH LAW

For consumer remedies, home-sale rules and carbon monoxide law, see New Hampshire chimney & fireplace laws — know your rights. That page was verified more recently than this matrix.

Stove & insert installation: is a credential required in New Hampshire?

#stove-installNONE
Credential
No installer credential and no contracting layer of any kind (no statewide GC/HIC registration exists); the only law reaching a stove install is the state building/fire code enforced town-by-town — permits exist only in municipalities that adopted an enforcement mechanism under RSA 674:51; CODE CORRECTION vs task premise: the 2021 IRC has been in force since 7/1/2024 (2024 ch. 323) — the 7/1/2026 event is adoption of the 2024 I-Codes (2025 ch. 276) with a 2021/2024 concurrency window to 12/31/2026, plus new preemption of local technical amendments (RSA 155-A:3 rewrite eff. 7/1/2026); NFPA 211 (2019) on the fire-code adopted-standards list; NFI/CSIA voluntary
Issuing body
n/a statewide; municipal building departments (RSA 155-A / RSA 674:51); State Fire Marshal (Saf-C 6000)
Statute
RSA 155-A:1 IV + RSA 155-A:3 (fetched); Saf-C 6000 fire code (NFPA 1 2021)
Dollar threshold
none
Exam
n
Local overlay
y — permit regimes only in enforcement-mechanism towns (Manchester/Nashua detail UNVERIFIED)
Confidence
high (statute text); medium (fire-code edition dates) · checked 2026-07-10
Sources
GOVgc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XII/155-A/155-A-1.…GOVgc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XII/155-A/155-A-3.…GOVfiremarshal.dos.nh.gov/laws-rules-regulatory/state…

Gas fireplace service: is a credential required in New Hampshire?

#gas-fireplace-serviceLICENSE
Credential
Fuel Gas Fitter license (individual endorsements: Fuel Gas Piping Installer / Fuel Gas Installation Technician — 'installation of propane and natural gas piping from point of delivery to appliance, installation of gas appliances and equipment, venting, safety checks' / Fuel Gas Service Technician / Domestic Appliance Technician) + fuel gas fitting business entity license; propane AND natural gas under one fuel-gas track (no LP/NG license split)
Issuing body
NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification — Mechanical Safety and Licensing Board (transferred from Dept. of Safety 2021)
Statute
RSA 153:27-38 (cited on OPLC page); N.H. Admin. Code Saf-Mec 300/305 (eligibility) + Saf-Mec 501 (fees)
Dollar threshold
none
Exam
y (board-approved exam via approved providers + 60-140 hr education; CE 3 hrs code update/yr)
Local overlay
n
Confidence
high · checked 2026-07-09
Sources
GOVoplc.nh.gov/mechanical-safety-and-licen…REFlaw.cornell.edu/regulations/new-hampshire/N…GOVgc.nh.gov/rules/state_agencies/saf-me…

What insurance does New Hampshire require of contractors?

#insurance
Regime
none for chimney/GC work (no state GC/HIC credential; fuel gas fitter license for gas work)
Liability minimum
NONE for chimney/GC work — no state credential exists to attach it to; fuel gas fitter eligibility rules (Saf-Mec 300/305) contain no liability-insurance requirement found; whether the fuel gas fitting BUSINESS ENTITY license requires insurance is UNVERIFIED; TRAP: SEO/bond-vendor sites claim an 'RSA 332-B HIC registration with $10,000 bond' — FALSE, RSA 332-B is the NH Veterinary Practice Act (verified on gc.nh.gov); NH AG's position is contractors need no license
Bond
none at state level (the circulating '$10k NH HIC bond' is debunked — see liability column)
Guaranty fund
none — no guaranty/recovery fund of any kind
Workers' comp threshold
1 employee (full or part-time) triggers coverage (RSA 281-A:5 per NH DOL FAQ); sole proprietors/partners/self-employed exempt for themselves, may elect in; corporations with only 3 corporate officers and no other employees exempt
How to verify
insurance: nothing to verify for chimney work; gas license lookup oplc.nh.gov/license-lookup (AUTOMATED); WC public lookup: NH DOL Workers' Compensation Insurance Coverage Verification (NCCI-fed, search by business name/FEIN, shows insurer + policy + effective date)
Confidence
high (absences + WC); medium (business-entity insurance question) · checked 2026-07-09
Sources
GOVgc.nh.gov/rsa/html/NHTOC/NHTOC-XXX-33…GOVdol.nh.gov/resource-center/frequently-…REFncci.com/Articles/Pages/DR_ProofofCo…GOVoplc.nh.gov/mechanical-safety-and-licen…

Download the full licensing matrix (CSV) · All states

Before anyone goes on your roof

What should you ask a chimney company in New Hampshire?

  1. Is your company a member of the National Chimney Sweep Guild (NCSG)?
  2. Does the technician coming to my home hold an individual NCSG certification, and which one?
  3. Does the technician hold a National Fireplace Institute (NFI) certification — and for which fuel: wood, gas, or pellet?
  4. What other certifications does the technician hold (for example, CSIA), and can I check them on the issuer's own roster?
  5. What state or local license or registration covers this work here, and what is the number?
  6. Will you send a certificate of insurance, dated and naming your company, before work starts?
  7. Which NFPA 211 inspection level — Level 1, 2, or 3 — are you performing, and why that level?
  8. 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.