Chimney Sweep Certificate Software — One Certificate per Flue
Paper certificates get lost, rewritten and posted late. With We Sweep, your technician completes the certificate on their phone at the property — one for every flue, with the job's before and after photos — the customer signs on the spot, and each certificate is filed against the job and in the customer's own portal.
If you're HETAS-registered or independent, it can be your certificate. If your trade body has its own — NACS members must issue the NACS certificate — keep issuing it: We Sweep's sits alongside it, or you can upload yours against the job.
Certification that works the way sweeps do
Completed on the job
The field app walks your technician through the certificate form on-site — one certificate for every flue swept. No evening paperwork, no rewriting details from a notebook.
Works offline
No signal in a rural cottage? Take the photos, complete the certificates and finish the job anyway — the app saves it all on your phone and sends it automatically when you're back in signal.
Photographic proof
Before and after photos are taken as part of the job and printed on the certificate itself — clear evidence of the work done, kept with the job.
Filed where it can be found
Every certificate is filed against the job and in the customer's own online portal, and the job-completed email links them to it — no more “can you send my certificate again?” calls.
One per flue, labelled
A three-chimney booking gets three certificates, each with its own label — “Lounge stove”, “Kitchen range” — and the job can't be completed until every flue has its certificate.
Signed on the spot
The customer signs on the technician's phone, and the signature prints on the certificate — a record that they were given it.
What's on every certificate
Each certificate records what an insurer, a landlord or the next sweep needs to see:
- Your business name, address, email and logo, your trade-body numbers, and a unique certificate number
- The customer's name and address, the service and the date
- Which flue, by its label — with “Flue 2 of 3” on a multi-flue job
- The appliance and fuel, the flue type, and the make and model, flue height and bends where recorded
- How it was swept — the method, and from the hearth or the roof
- The condition of the liner, brickwork and cap or cowl, any blockage, and the soot removed
- The smoke draw test result, the carbon monoxide alarm and the ventilation
- Pass or fail and when the next sweep is due, defects, recommendations and the technician's notes
- The technician's name, the customer's signature and the job's before and after photos
See every field on an annotated sample in our chimney sweep certificate template guide, with what each one is for.
Built around the trade bodies' rules
Most sweeps answer to a trade body, and its rules decide what the certificate has to do. Your HETAS registration and membership numbers are set once in your settings and print on every certificate.
- HETAS. The HETAS Chimney Sweeping Code requires a certificate for every visit that sweeps a solid-fuel chimney, with any faults or concerns recorded and a copy for the customer. It also asks for a smoke draw test in every case and a check of the carbon monoxide alarm — We Sweep's form has a field for each.
- NACS. Members must issue the NACS Certificate of Chimney Sweeping for every chimney they clean — on paper or through the NACS-approved digital version only. Keep issuing it: We Sweep's certificate sits alongside it, or upload yours against the job.
- The Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps and APICS. Members follow their association's code, and the Guild has its own paper certificate. Whichever certificate you hand over, We Sweep keeps the job's record — findings, photos and the customer's signature — in one place.
Prefer your own format? Upload your report or trade-body certificate as a PDF instead of filling in the inspection form. It's kept with the job in your admin panel, and We Sweep still produces a certificate — outcome, customer's signature and photos — for the customer's portal.
What insurers, landlords and buyers look for
Insurers
A policy can make sweeping a condition of cover. One specialist thatch policy requires two professional sweeps a year, in set months, by a member of NACS, the Guild or APICS, and says proof may be asked for after a fire. A dated certificate for that flue, with the findings on it, is what answers the question.
Landlords
In England, landlords must keep heating installations in repair and, since October 2022, have a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker. A certificate for each flue, with the CO alarm check on it, is their record.
Buyers
HETAS's moving-home advice lists the sweeping certificate among the papers to hand to a buyer — and in We Sweep the customer can download it from their portal whenever they need it.
The sources, and more on who asks and why, are in our guide to what a chimney sweep certificate must include.
Failed flues and warning notices
When a flue fails, the technician marks it as failed and can't save the certificate without the reason and the recommended remedial actions. The certificate prints FAIL in red with both, the customer signs it, and when the job is completed they're emailed “Inspection Outcome: Action Required”, asking them not to use the appliance until the issues have been resolved by a qualified professional. On a multi-flue job, the flues that passed still get their own certificates.
It's a record of the failure, not a formal warning notice: We Sweep doesn't classify the risk the way the HETAS Unsafe Situations Procedure does, and doesn't print a warning label. Where your trade body requires a warning notice or a label, issue it the way your code says.
Certificates that bring next year's work back
About 11 months after the sweep, for bookings made through We Sweep, the customer gets a prompt to book their next one — with you, not whoever comes up first on Google. It's how a certificate stops being paperwork and starts being marketing.
Certificates are included — unlimited — and so are up to 10 job photos a visit (5 before, 5 after), at no cost to you. You pay We Sweep nothing; your customers pay a £1.95 online booking fee, which you can subsidise, and standard card processing of 1.5% + 20p applies to card payments — see pricing. See the full chimney sweep software platform or how online booking fills your calendar in the first place.
Frequently asked questions
Does the certificate app work without signal?
Yes. Once you've signed in with signal, the day's jobs stay on your phone. At a property with no signal you can still take the photos and complete the certificate for every flue, with the customer's signature — it's all saved on the phone and sent automatically when you're back in signal, and the customer is emailed a link to their certificate then.
What does the certificate record?
Your business and your trade-body numbers, the customer and the property, the service and date, which flue, the appliance and fuel, the flue type, how it was swept, the condition of the liner, brickwork and cowl, the smoke draw test, the carbon monoxide alarm, pass or fail, when the next sweep is due, defects, recommendations, the technician's name, the customer's signature and the job's before and after photos. Our chimney sweep certificate template shows every field on an annotated sample.
Can I attach photos to a chimney sweeping certificate?
Yes. Up to 5 before and 5 after photos taken on the job are printed on the certificate itself and kept with the job, alongside the certificate PDF.
How does the customer receive their certificate?
When the job is completed, the customer's email links to their online portal, where they sign in with a one-time link and can download every certificate for the job — one per flue — whenever they need it. No more reissuing lost paperwork.
What about a property with more than one flue?
Each flue gets its own certificate. A three-chimney booking produces three certificates — each labelled for its flue — all filed against the one job and all included at no extra cost — the customer's £1.95 online booking fee is per booking, not per certificate. The insurer asking about one specific flue gets a certificate for that flue.
What happens if a flue fails inspection?
The technician records the reason and the recommended remedial actions, the certificate prints FAIL, the customer signs it, and when the job is completed they're emailed asking them not to use the appliance until it has been put right. It isn't a formal warning notice: where your trade body requires one, or a warning label, issue it the way your code says.
Can I use my own inspection report or my trade body's certificate?
Yes. Upload it as a PDF against the job instead of filling in the inspection form. It's kept with the job in your admin panel, and We Sweep still produces a certificate with the outcome, the customer's signature and the photos for the customer's portal. NACS members must keep issuing the NACS certificate either way.
What does certificate software cost with We Sweep?
Nothing for you. Certificates, photos and the field app are included with no monthly fee and nothing per booking: your customers pay a £1.95 online booking fee, which you can subsidise. Standard card processing of 1.5% + 20p applies to card payments.