Tennessee: a state license applies only to jobs ≥ $25,000. What that means.

Tennessee is a split verdict against the license⇄disclosure inverse-correlation. It is only half low-licensing (no credential for the routine sub-$25k chimney job, but a real $25k+ contractor regime and a county home-improvement tier) yet has a mandatory seller disclosure (§ 66-5-201) — the "wrong" corner for the inverse rule. The catch that keeps it from fully breaking: the disclosure carries a lawful "as is" disclaimer (§ 66-5-202) if the buyer waives it, so a seller can end up revealing nothing. And its CO statute, often described as broad, turns out to cover only older hotels — existing Tennessee homes and rentals have no statutory CO-alarm duty. Net messages for the page: most chimney sweeps need no TN license, so verify certifications yourself; the seller's disclosure can be waived to "as is," so get your own inspection; there's no state CO requirement for your existing home; and outside code-adopting jurisdictions there may be no permit backstop at all.

Tennessee licenses contractors only above a dollar threshold, plus a county-specific home-improvement tier. The Board for Licensing Contractors (Dept. of Commerce & Insurance) states: "A contractor's license is required before contracting, including bidding, offering to engage, or negotiating a price, for projects of $25,000 or more when acting as a prime contractor," counting materials, equipment, and labor (Tenn. Code Title 62, Chapter 6). Subcontractors need a license for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, HVAC or roofing portions of $25,000+, and "Masonry subcontractors must be licensed when the masonry portion is $100,000 or more." Separately, a Home Improvement license covers "residential remodeling projects from $3,000 to $24,999" — only in Bradley, Davidson, Hamilton, Haywood, Knox, Marion, Robertson, Rutherford, and Shelby counties (TDCI, verified Sep 15, 2026; TDCI cites T.C.A. 62-6-501(4)(A)) — with a $10,000 surety bond (or cash/property bond or irrevocable letter of credit). Below $25,000 statewide (and below $3,000 or outside those 9 counties), no state license is required — so a routine chimney sweep, reline, cap, or small repair typically needs no state license. A rebuild of $25,000+ contracted directly with the homeowner would. Lookup: search.cloud.commerce.tn.gov (Verify a License).

For the vast majority of chimney jobs (well under $25,000), there is no state credential to verify — and the contractor license tests business/law/trade breadth, not flue diagnosis. In the 9 Home-Improvement counties a $3k–$25k job needs an HI license, which attests a bond and business qualifications, not chimney competence. Individual certs (NCSG CCP/CCR; CSIA CCS, C-DET) fill the vacuum. "Licensed and bonded" in TN usually means the $10k HI bond (in one of the 9 counties) or the $25k+ contractor license — verify the classification actually covers the work.

Tennessee has a mandatory disclose-or-disclaim regime — the Residential Property Disclosures Act, Tenn. Code § 66-5-201 et seq., applying to "transfers by sale, exchange, installment land sales contract or lease with option to buy residential real property consisting of not less than one (1) nor more than four (4) dwelling units." Under § 66-5-202 the owner must furnish either (1) "a residential property disclosure statement in the form provided in this part regarding the condition of the property, including any material defects known to the owner," or (2) — only where the purchaser waives the disclosure statement — "a residential property disclaimer statement stating that the owner makes no representations or warranties … and that purchaser will be receiving the real property 'as is.'" The statutory form is prescribed at § 66-5-210; forms used need not be identical but must include all its items. Jul 2026 research reported the form lists "Fireplace(s)" and "Gas Starter for Fireplace" among included features plus roof and structural items — the form itself was not reachable this pass, so whether it names "fireplace" and/or "chimney" is UNVERIFIED. No inspection is mandated at transfer; NFPA 211 Level 2 stays a NATIONAL STANDARD.

Two tracks. (1) The Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977 (Tenn. Code § 47-18-101 et seq.): under § 47-18-109(a)(3), for a "willful or knowing violation," "the court may award three (3) times the actual damages sustained" (and may not also award punitive damages for the same practice); § 47-18-109(e)(1) lets the court award reasonable attorney's fees and costs. (2) The Home Solicitation Sales Act (Tenn. Code § 47-18-701 et seq.): § 47-18-704 gives the buyer until midnight of the third business day after signing to cancel by mailed notice; § 47-18-702 excludes cash sales under $25 from "home solicitation sale." That is the exact mechanic against chimney scare-sales. Because most chimney work needs no license, hiring an unlicensed sweep doesn't by itself remove these remedies. Complaints: Division of Consumer Affairs and the AG.

Home-improvement complaints are a recurring category for the TN Division of Consumer Affairs, and state warnings about door-to-door "storm chaser" contractors urge consumers to verify licenses and never pay cash or sign over an insurance check. The Jul 2026 draft's statement that "TN law bars asking for more than one-third of the project cost up front" was not verified to a statute this pass — do not publish it until a citation is found. A TN chimney-sweep-specific enforcement action was NOT found; TDCI publishes contractor disciplinary actions (tn.gov/commerce/regboards/contractors/consumer/rbdar.html) — use pattern language only.

Tennessee adopts statewide construction safety standards through the State Fire Marshal's Office. The currently adopted residential code is the International Residential Code, 2018 edition, with Tennessee amendments, effective July 16, 2020 (prior: 2009 IRC, 2010); the other statewide codes (IBC, IFC, IMC, IPC, IFGC, IEBC) moved to 2021 editions in the adoption effective Apr 17, 2025, with the 2018 IECC for residential. TN has a genuine opt-out patchwork: under Tenn. Code § 68-120-101 et seq., a local governing body may exempt one- and two-family dwellings from the statewide standards by a two-thirds vote; the exemption expires 180 days after the next general municipal election unless re-adopted, with a certified resolution sent to the State Fire Marshal (MTAS, University of Tennessee). No public list of current opt-out jurisdictions was located, and the "~20% of population" figure from the Jul 2026 draft is unverified and removed. Local jurisdictions with their own codes may be on newer editions. Where a code and building department apply, chimney relines, rebuilds, and solid-fuel appliance installs are generally permit work; in opt-out areas there may be no residential permit process at all. Name the opt-out reality plainly.

No statewide woodstove-emission or burn-ban regime material to hearths. East Tennessee (the Great Smokies/Blue Ridge counties) and the Cumberland Plateau carry real wood-heat and old-masonry density — the market core. Not a regulatory section, but a genuine demand note.

CORRECTED Sep 15, 2026. Tenn. Code § 68-120-112, "Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms in residential buildings," makes it unlawful to (b)(1) operate a hotel without smoke alarms in sleeping rooms, (b)(2) operate an apartment building without a smoke alarm in every living unit, and (b)(3) operate a hotel that has "a fossil-fuel-burning heater or appliance, a fireplace, or other feature … that emits carbon monoxide" without "an approved carbon monoxide alarm within ten feet (10′) of each room used for sleeping purposes." Subsection (c)(3): the section "shall apply only to buildings existing before January 1, 2016"; new buildings follow the adopted construction safety standards (§ 68-120-101). So Tennessee statute imposes no CO-alarm requirement on existing single-family homes, rental houses, or apartments, and there is no pre-sale CO requirement. New one- and two-family dwellings built under the adopted 2018 IRC pick up the model code's CO-alarm provisions (NATIONAL STANDARD model language; TN amendments not read) — and in opt-out jurisdictions not even that. A chimney or stove job is the natural moment to recommend alarms.