What are the main challenges facing the chimney sweep industry in Massachusetts?
The main challenge of the industry right now is the fact that we are not regulated – at all. You are capable of going down to Sears, getting yourself a vacuum cleaner, getting yourself rods, putting them in a van and you are a chimney sweep. You have to have a license in the state of Massachusetts to paint my fingernails. You have to have a license to cut my hair. You don’t have to have any kind of license to be a chimney sweep, which can be deadly if you don’t know what you’re doing or you’re doing a lousy job at it. So we have recently gone – myself as president and one of my other board members, along with a representative from the Chimney Safety Institute of America – we went to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards, and in front of that board we basically asked them, “Would you please license us?” We wanted them to use the CSIA certification as a basis to license chimney sweeps in the state of Massachusetts. We were turned down. Why do you think you were turned down? Wha
