The chimneys and flues sector faces three main challenges over the coming year, says Robert Burke, president of the British Flue and Chimney Manufacturers' Association.
Chimney manufacturers face three big issues in 2011 - the recession, how we work with renewables manufacturers, and the enforcement of best practice.


There are two categories of chimney manufacturers associated with the British Flue and Chimney Manufacturers' Association. The first is masonry chimney makers that sell into new build housing. The effects of the recession on them have been fairly severe.

I am not aware of any of them going out of business, but I am aware that most have cut production back and in some cases completely mothballed production and are just selling products out of stock simply because the new house market has become extremely flat and is a fraction of what it used to be.

The other end of the manufacturing spectrum is the retrofit chimney systems which are the stainless steel twin wall systems or chimney systems with ceramic / metal linings. They have been booming in the last few years and are one of the few industries to be having a good time in the recession. That is borne out of the fact that they are selling into the retrofit market where people are looking to switch fuels to cheaper options and also looking at green initiatives, particularly wanting to use biomass.

However, the downside is that the production of some of these metal flue products have been affected by cheaper imports and it has meant that some of the traditional UK manufacturers are taking production abroad.


We are working closely with the biomass industry. We realised back in 2006 when the first changes to Document L of the Building Regulations took effect that chimneys are only tubes and the industry is looking for more efficient systems and there was little we could do as an Association on our own to influence the move into the low carbon energy efficient economy so we got together and worked hard with HETAS which oversees the solid fuel and biomass industry.

We brought the manufacturers of appliances and UK suppliers together into an informal group called the Stove Industry Alliance (see box) to work together for the good of the biomass / solid fuel industry and to try and promote those products against other technologies. Although informal at the moment, we are in negotiations to formalise the industry.


The benefit of the biomass industry is the zero carbon ratings of the fuels. We can't do anything with the chimneys other than make sure they are suitable for use with the new fuels. We are, however, having issues with some of the more elaborate new, fast-growing fuels such as pampas grass and some of the cereal husks.

The emissions are different to wood and are more aggressive chemically on products and are affecting both appliances and chimneys in terms of corrosion.

We are looking at working on the standardisation of fuels to make sure that what is put on the market is safe and won't affect the products or the environment.


We are also keen to convince appliance manufacturers that making traditional stoves with output levels of 15 kW aren't really suitable for new houses that have a heat demand of possibly only 3 kW.

We are also putting a lot of emphasis on room-sealed appliances that take air from outside through the combustion chamber and back up the chimney so that they don't waste energy.

Policing the system

It has long been a problem in most sectors that have anything to do with building regulations that building control officers have very few teeth. If someone fits a control service, very rarely do they inform building control. The only point of policing of the system is when the householder tries to sell the house and the surveyor picks up that they have a new appliance in there without the right paperwork.

The EuP Directive will bring in energy labelling from Bands A to G into all heating products and that has to be backed up with European legislation, if not surveillance.

I would emphasise that the best manufacturers haven't got a problem, but we will be pushing the poorer imports and cheaper products to make sure that they are brought to the attention of the market surveillance authorities.