CLEANFLUE NI CUSTOMER INFORMATION
Cleaning & Maintenance
Keep your system clean, safe and efficient
A well-maintained stove and flue system performs better and lasts longer. Regular care improves efficiency, reduces fire and carbon-monoxide risks, and helps protect the appliance.
WHAT TO CLEAN & HOW OFTEN
Wipe the exterior with a soft dry or slightly damp cloth. Use only non-abrasive products and keep air vents clear.
Clean only when cold using stove-glass cleaner and a soft cloth. Avoid abrasive materials.
Empty regularly without overfilling, only when the ash is completely cold. Use a metal container with a tight-fitting lid.
Arrange professional sweeping at least once each year to remove soot, tar and creosote build-up.
Check and clean air vents and controls, ensuring they move freely.
Check that it is secure, clear of leaves, nests or debris, undamaged and operating correctly.
RECOMMENDED CLEANING TOOLS
- Stove brush and shovel for ash and soot
- Ash vacuum for completely cold ash
- Cleaner specifically suitable for stove glass
- Soft, non-abrasive microfibre cloths
SIGNS IT’S TIME TO CLEAN
- Stove glass blackens quickly
- Poor heat output
- Smoke or fumes enter the room
- Strong tar or smoky smells
- Soot build-up in the stove or flue
- Bird nests or debris in the cowl
SEASONAL MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST
Sweep chimney and flue; check cowl and terminal; inspect stove body, door seals and glass; clean air vents.
A good time for servicing and repairs; inspect seals and rope; check wear and damage; keep the flue sealed from moisture.
Clean stove and flue before heavy use; check dry fuel supply; test controls and vents.
Remove ash regularly; check glass and vents weekly; burn the correct fuel and control the air.
Use dry seasoned wood below 20% moisture or smokeless fuel authorised for the appliance.
Allow the stove to cool fully before cleaning. Never use water on a hot stove or inside the flue.
Cleaning improves efficiency and can extend appliance life.
A clean system burns more cleanly, produces more useful heat and uses less fuel.
NEED A QUOTE OR ADVICE?Get in touch today — we're happy to help.
CleanFlue NI customer terms
TERMS & CONDITIONS
Clear terms for quotations, appointments, installations, repairs, inspections and other services supplied by CleanFlue NI.
Important customer summary
Please read these terms before accepting a quotation or asking us to begin work. They form part of the agreement between you and CleanFlue NI.
1. Scope and agreement
“CleanFlue NI”, “we”, “us” and “our” mean CleanFlue NI. “Customer”, “you” and “your” mean the person who asks us to provide the work or services.
These terms apply to our quotations, inspections, chimney sweeping, stove and fireplace work, flue work, repairs, maintenance and related services supplied to domestic customers in Northern Ireland. The quotation, agreed specification and any written variation also form part of the contract.
A contract is formed when you accept our quotation or booking and we confirm it, or when you ask us to begin work. If anything in a quotation conflicts with these terms, the specifically agreed wording in the quotation takes priority.
2. Quotations and estimates
A fixed-price quotation is based on the information and access available when it is prepared. Please tell us promptly if any information changes.
- Unless the quotation says otherwise, it remains open for acceptance for one calendar month.
- Quoted material prices are held only for the quotation’s stated validity period. A revised quotation may be required after that period.
- An estimate is a good-faith indication rather than a fixed price. Where practicable, we will explain any material change before additional cost is incurred.
- Work requested outside the agreed scope is a variation and may change the price and completion date.
If the customer supplied incomplete or inaccurate information, or concealed conditions are discovered, reasonable additional work and materials will be quoted or agreed as a variation.
3. Statutory cooling-off rights
If a consumer contract is agreed online, by telephone, or away from our business premises, you may have a legal right to cancel it within 14 days without giving a reason.
We will not normally begin work during that cancellation period unless you expressly ask us to do so. If you ask us to start and later cancel within the period, you may have to pay a proportionate amount for work properly completed up to cancellation. If the service has been fully performed after your express request and acknowledgement, the statutory right to cancel may end.
This section takes priority over our normal appointment-cancellation policy whenever statutory cancellation rights apply.
4. Appointments, access and cancellations
Please give at least seven calendar days’ notice if you need to move or cancel an appointment or booked work.
If less notice is given, an appointment is missed, or we cannot gain the agreed access, we may charge the reasonable costs and losses directly caused by that cancellation or failed visit, after taking reasonable steps to reduce those losses. Any such charge will not exceed £65, and we will explain its basis if asked.
No cancellation charge will be made to the extent that you are exercising a statutory cancellation right, the cancellation results from our breach, or we agree that exceptional circumstances make a charge inappropriate.
We may rearrange work for safety, severe weather, illness, unavailable materials or another circumstance genuinely outside our reasonable control. We will give as much notice as reasonably possible and agree a new date. If a substantial delay makes performance unreasonable, either party may end the affected work and we will refund payments for services or goods not supplied.
5. Customer responsibilities
You agree to provide accurate information about the property and installation, safe and reasonable access at the agreed time, and an adult authorised to make decisions where needed.
- Keep children, pets, visitors and personal belongings clear of the work area.
- Tell us about known hazards, fragile surfaces, hidden services, structural concerns, asbestos or suspected hazardous materials.
- Obtain permissions that are your responsibility, including a landlord’s, freeholder’s, planning or listed-building consent, unless our quotation expressly includes this.
- Follow operating, fuel, maintenance and safety instructions supplied for the appliance or system.
We are not responsible for loss or damage caused solely by the actions of the customer, household members, guests or third parties, except to the extent that our own breach or negligence also contributed.
6. Variations and unforeseen work
A variation is an addition, omission or substitution to the originally agreed work, materials, fittings or fixings. Where practicable, the price and effect on timing will be agreed before the varied work proceeds.
Opening a fireplace, chimney, floor, wall, roof or concealed void may reveal defects that could not reasonably have been identified beforehand. If unexpected work is required, we will pause where safe to do so, explain the issue and seek approval for the additional cost.
We may take reasonable immediate steps without prior approval only where necessary to make the site safe or prevent avoidable damage, and we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible.
7. Existing installations and third-party work
Our responsibility is limited to the work and materials included in the agreed scope, together with any damage directly caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill.
We are not responsible for pre-existing defects, concealed deterioration, unsuitable earlier work, or components supplied or fitted by others unless we expressly agree to repair or replace them. An inspection or camera survey can report what is reasonably observable at the time; it is not a guarantee that every concealed defect will be identified.
If an existing defect affects safe completion, we may suspend work and propose remedial work. You remain free to accept or reject that additional quotation, subject to the system being left safe.
8. Materials, customer-supplied goods and natural-stone hearths
Goods supplied by us will be as described and, where the law requires, of satisfactory quality and fit for an agreed purpose. Manufacturer warranties are additional to, and do not replace, your statutory rights.
Natural stone varies in colour, grain, texture and veining. Normal natural variation is not a defect. A hidden vein or inherent weakness may occasionally become apparent only after fitting or use. We will assess any reported problem fairly:
- if the material or our installation does not meet the required legal standard, we will provide the remedy required by law;
- if replacement is needed because of accidental damage, misuse, building movement or an inherent issue for which we are not legally responsible, removal, replacement and refitting will be chargeable and quoted in advance.
Where you supply an appliance, hearth or other item, you are responsible for its suitability, condition and completeness unless we specifically agree to inspect or verify it. We remain responsible for installing it with reasonable care and skill.
9. Building Control, certification and legal compliance
Work will be carried out with reasonable care and skill and in accordance with applicable Northern Ireland Building Regulations, manufacturer instructions and the agreed specification.
Where our quotation includes Building Control notification, liaison, commissioning or certificates, we will provide the agreed service and documentation. Council fees or other third-party charges are included only if stated in the quotation. The customer must provide information and access reasonably required for inspection.
We may refuse or stop work that we reasonably believe would be unsafe, unlawful, contrary to applicable Building Regulations or inconsistent with the manufacturer’s instructions.
10. Health, safety and hazardous materials
Both parties must take reasonable steps to maintain a safe working environment. Please tell us immediately about anything you believe may be unsafe.
If asbestos or another hazardous material is found or reasonably suspected, we may stop work and isolate the area. Testing, licensed removal and lawful disposal must be completed by an appropriate competent contractor before affected work resumes. Unless the hazardous material was introduced by us or the quotation says otherwise, the customer is responsible for those specialist costs.
Outside our working hours, you are responsible for keeping people away from tools, materials and incomplete work areas and for following any temporary safety instructions we provide.
11. Utilities, facilities and waste
You will provide reasonable access to electricity, water and sanitary facilities where required for the work.
Waste removal is included only where stated in the quotation. Where it is not included, we will leave waste in a reasonably safe agreed location for the customer to arrange lawful disposal. Any waste that we remove will be handled in accordance with applicable requirements.
12. Start dates and completion times
Any start or completion date is an agreed target unless expressly stated to be fixed. We will perform the service within the agreed time or, if no time was agreed, within a reasonable time.
Weather, hidden conditions, council inspections, specialist access equipment and material availability can affect timing. We will keep you informed of material delays and will not use this clause to avoid responsibility for delay caused by us.
13. Payment and ownership of goods
Unless agreed otherwise before work begins, payment is due in full when the agreed work or service is completed. Payment may be made in cash or by another method expressly agreed in advance. We will provide an invoice or receipt.
Please raise any genuine concern promptly. This does not remove your legal rights or prevent you withholding a genuinely disputed amount where the law allows, but any undisputed balance remains payable.
Unfixed goods supplied by us remain our property until paid for in full, so far as the law permits. Once goods are permanently installed, we will not enter property or remove them without the customer’s agreement or another lawful right.
14. Our responsibility and liability
We are responsible for reasonably foreseeable loss or damage caused by our breach of contract or negligence. We are not responsible for loss or damage that was not reasonably foreseeable, was caused by a pre-existing defect outside our agreed scope, or was caused solely by misuse, failure to follow instructions, or the acts of others.
For domestic customers, we do not accept liability for business losses such as lost profit, lost business or loss of commercial opportunity arising from work at the property.
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, defective goods where statutory liability applies, or any consumer right that cannot legally be excluded.
CleanFlue NI maintains public-liability and product-liability insurance, each with cover of £2,000,000, subject to the insurer’s policy terms.
15. Advice, opinions, inspections and reports
Advice and reports are based on the information supplied, the agreed scope and conditions reasonably observable at the time. Chimneys and flues contain concealed areas, so findings may be subject to stated limitations.
We will provide advice with reasonable care and skill. Recommendations do not replace appliance-manufacturer instructions, Building Control decisions or specialist structural, asbestos or other professional advice where that is required.
16. Complaints and putting matters right
If you are dissatisfied, please contact us as soon as reasonably possible and explain the issue. Email is helpful because it creates a clear record, but it is not the only way to complain.
Please allow us a reasonable opportunity to inspect and, where we are responsible, to put the matter right. This complaints process does not restrict your statutory rights.
cleanflue@outlook.com
07704 773428
71 Parkgate Avenue, Belfast, BT4 1JB
17. Governing law and your statutory rights
These terms are governed by the law of Northern Ireland. A consumer may bring proceedings in the courts that have jurisdiction under applicable law. Nothing in these terms affects rights provided by consumer law.
If any part of these terms is found to be unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining terms will continue to apply.