A European Legacy

How ESCHFOE Revolutionized Chimney Sweeping in the U.S.

By Victor Imgarten, Founder, Clean Sweep Chimney Service

Over the years, many things have seemed to magically appear in our trade. We’ve now reached an entire generation of sweeps who think it has always been this way or take for granted what is considered normal in our sweeping world. Just think of inspections before cameras, sweeping when you had to screw each rod together, or taping over the fittings on factory fireplaces. Then, there was changing light bulbs in your drop light several times a day, or job. The list goes on and on.

Two of the biggest changes that affect us as sweeps are thanks to the dues paid by National Chimney Sweep Guild (NCSG) members, and for most, it feels like they’ve always been a part of our sweep life. No, I’m not talking about inspection cameras, rods, vipers, or having more than two choices of chimney caps, and so on. Everyone who sweeps uses these tools (I assume all), and the other gives everyone the choice to attend and better themselves or go into the sweep business in one easy week (sort of). These changes helped put us on the map as a true trade.

Both are due to the NCSG’s involvement with the European Federation of Chimney Sweeps (ESCHFOE). ESCHFOE represents European chimney sweeps, and the NCSG has been a member of this association for several decades.

Our original involvement started when the world was changing for the European chimney sweep. Actually, it was changing for all of us, as the Berlin Wall was soon to come down. Most countries in Europe had a mandatory law requiring the chimney to be swept by a sweep assigned to a specific district. A group of mostly Swedes, along with a couple of Germans, attended an NCSG convention years ago to learn marketing and how we operated in a free-market system, which was soon coming to them and their way of doing business.

We were as overwhelmed as they were during the week they spent with us at the convention. In return, we were invited to attend the upcoming ESCHFOE convention, for which they paid.

Three of us attended a meeting in Hungary that fall. Needless to say, we were speechless. It was like a United Nations meeting, with all the translators sitting behind us, feeding the translated words into our headsets. We were fortunate to have the technical director of the German chimney sweeps group as our translator.

So, where did this lead us?

We left that first meeting almost speechless at the level of respect the sweeps had from the public and officials, and at the education system in each country. We realized that even though they all spoke different languages, they essentially spoke the same language. Yes, each country had different ideas, guidelines, and schools, but it all boiled down to the same training and education, along with a complete understanding of fire, chimneys, home construction, and codes.

As a side note, at the time, our country had many different codes, with some areas and cities adopting more than one. This was also before the EU had formed, yet they still spoke the same language of codes and fire safety – something we couldn’t do even at a county level.

At the time, we were throwing around the idea of a mobile school to be pulled by a semi. It was just an idea, as we were just starting to get the NCSG training school off the ground and successfully running at a college campus during the summer.

Our first ESCHFOE meeting changed everything.

During the meeting, we decided to establish a permanent school. However, when it was pitched to the board, our executive director and some board members were a bit underwhelmed. In fact, they even thought we had spent too much time during our layover in Amsterdam! Thanks to a few forward thinkers on the board and a lot of arm-twisting with financial guarantees (fundraising), a chimney sweep school became a reality for the United States within a few short years.

A few years later, when three others attended another ESCHFOE meeting, they came away with the idea to develop a standard similar to the European standard for pressure-testing chimneys. Again, it came back to speaking the same language as the Europeans, who used the DIN standard at the time, now referred to as the EN ISO standard.

After years of testing and significant personal time from a few individuals, it became painfully clear that our chimneys would never pass the pressure test. However, this loss turned out to be our biggest win. The process, with additional work, converted that knowledge into the most impactful document we’ve ever seen: NFPA 211 levels of inspection. Not too long ago, it was the wild west, and we were lucky to know which side of the street went by which rules and codes. Now, we have a complete document outlining three levels of chimney inspection.

Over the years, many other ideas have come from our involvement with ESCHFOE. We left a few good ones on the table, such as testing flue gases from gas and oil furnaces for efficiency and building performance.

The industry wasn’t prepared for it. The HVAC companies and the public didn’t see the need. Hopefully, in the future, we’ll see appliances tested so we can save valuable resources, and homeowners can save money.

Understanding houses, buildings, and how they work is part of the job for European sweeps. Working with builders, homeowners, architects, and building inspectors is just a normal day for our European friends. The concept of a building performance specialist existed before Building Performance Institute (BPI) was founded. Again, our industry wasn’t prepared, and BPI was born.

What does the future of ESCHFOE hold for us?

Who knows? Europe is ahead of the United States in energy conservation. This will affect sweeps worldwide, and in time, it will affect us more than it currently does. By the end of September, Great Britain will be coal-free, with the last power plant closing.

We can blame the East or West coasts, but much of what we deal with starts in Europe and works its way here. So, it’s best to be proactive and prepared. The NCSG’s yearly trip to the ESCHFOE meeting is how the NCSG is helping our industry prepare for what lies ahead. Just think how different you and your company would be without levels of inspection and proper training. ■