WETT Inspections
What you need to know about fireplace, stove and chimney installations.
WETT stands for Wood Energy Technology Transfer.
WETT are the governing body who work with insurance underwriters and government bodies, to ensure safe installations and provide standards for inspections and insurability of wood burning appliances, such as wood stoves and open fireplaces.
While many home inspectors, including some of our Safe Homes Canada home inspectors, have taken the WETT courses and have become WETT-certified, we feel that, in some cases, it is best to let ‘specialists’ do the job.
In the home inspection industry, it has become somewhat standard for home inspectors who are WETT-certified to perform ‘insurance’ inspections at wood-burning appliances. While that may serve a practical function in some cases, that type of inspection excludes inspecting the condition of the various elements, including chimneys, their functionality, and their expected useful life. Unfortunately, these ‘insurance’ inspections usually – in our opinion – come up short, in providing important, necessary information to buyers.
If a chimney is in rough condition, full of corrosion or degradation, for example, we want our clients to know at the time of the home inspection, not after they occupy the home. If a cover was not removed during a home inspector’s WETT inspection, surprises may await the new owner when a fireplace specialist is invited for a pre-winter cleaning. OR YOUR HOUSE COULD BURN DOWN. One of our past clients used a different home inspection company for a recent purchase (2020). The home inspector did the fireplace inspection. The house partly burned down after my past client moved in. Thankfully no one was hurt.
Again, we seek to provide our buyers with a clarity of vision that can only be provided – in our opinion – by inviting a true fireplace/wood stove/chimney professional to carry out these inspections. That way, we can eliminate unwanted surprises down the road, we can prevent possible disappointment, and we can help keep our clients and their families safe.
We will be happy to co-ordinate the WETT-certified inspection, performed by a true specialist, on behalf of our clients!
