July 11, 2026

Chimney Sweep & Inspection Intake Forms: What to Document Before You Climb the Roof

Chimney work is one of those trades where you walk into a house with almost no information and are expected to assess a system that the homeowner barely understands and has probably neglected for years. The homeowner knows their fireplace smokes, or their inspector flagged something, or they just bought the house and want to make sure the chimney is safe. Beyond that, they usually cannot tell you whether they have a masonry chimney or a prefab, whether the flue is lined, or when the last cleaning was done.

That is exactly why a proper chimney sweep and inspection intake form matters. You need to gather as much information as possible before the appointment so your technician arrives with the right equipment, allocates the right amount of time, and knows what they are walking into. Here is what that form should cover.

Fireplace and chimney type: the starting point for everything

The first question on your intake form should be what type of fireplace the customer has. This single answer determines your equipment, your cleaning method, your inspection protocol, and often your pricing.

Wood-burning fireplaces — whether open masonry or insert — are the bread and butter of chimney sweep work. They produce creosote, they get used heavily in winter, and they need annual cleaning. Gas fireplaces (vented or ventless) produce no creosote but still need inspection for corrosion, blockage, and carbon monoxide leaks. Pellet stoves have their own cleaning requirements (fly ash, auger maintenance, exhaust vent cleaning). Oil-fired appliances produce a different kind of buildup. And some homes have chimneys that are no longer connected to any appliance at all — abandoned flues that still need caps and waterproofing.

Your intake form should list these as checkboxes, not a blank field. Homeowners will write "fireplace" in a blank field when what you actually need to know is "prefabricated zero-clearance wood-burning insert with a stainless steel liner." Give them categories to choose from and let your technician narrow it down on site.

Also ask how many fireplaces or appliances the home has. A house with two fireplaces and a wood stove in the basement is a very different job scope than a single-fireplace condo.

Last cleaning and usage history

Ask when the chimney was last cleaned and by whom. If the customer has records or a previous inspection report, request a copy. This tells your technician what they are likely to find. A chimney that has not been cleaned in three years of heavy use may have Stage 2 or Stage 3 creosote buildup, which changes the job from a routine brush cleaning to a chemical treatment or mechanical removal. A chimney that was cleaned last year but is "smoking into the house" suggests a draft problem, not necessarily a cleaning problem.

Usage frequency matters too. A decorative fireplace that gets used five times a year is a very different conversation than a wood stove that heats the house full-time from October through April. Heavy-use chimneys accumulate creosote faster, wear components faster, and are more likely to have developed cracks in the flue liner from repeated thermal cycling.

Ask what type of wood the customer burns. Seasoned hardwood produces less creosote than softwood or green wood. If the customer has been burning pine, construction scraps, or (this happens more than you would think) painted or treated lumber, your technician needs to know that before they open the flue.

Known issues and reason for the call

Why is the customer calling? This sounds obvious, but the answer shapes the entire appointment. Common reasons include:

• Annual maintenance — routine cleaning and Level 1 inspection. Standard appointment, standard pricing.
• Smoke entering the house — could be creosote buildup, a blocked flue, a damper issue, a draft problem caused by house pressurization, or a structural defect. This is a diagnostic appointment, not just a cleaning.
• Odor — especially in summer. Creosote deposits combined with humidity and reversed draft create a distinctive smell. Sometimes it is an animal carcass in the flue. Sometimes it is water damage.
• Real estate transaction — buyer or seller needs a Level 2 inspection with camera scan for a home sale. These have hard deadlines tied to the closing date.
• Insurance or damage claim — a chimney fire occurred and the insurance company requires a professional inspection and report. These require detailed documentation and sometimes a Level 3 inspection involving demolition of the chimney structure to assess hidden damage.
• Animal removal — birds, raccoons, squirrels, bats. This is a separate service that happens before any cleaning.
• Water leak — water coming in through the chimney structure, which could be a cap issue, crown issue, flashing issue, or masonry deterioration.

Each of these scenarios requires different equipment, different time, and different expertise. Your technician should not be discovering the scope on site. The intake form should ask for the reason in enough detail that you can schedule the right appointment.

Inspection level and what it means for your scope

The NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) defines three levels of chimney inspection. Your intake form should at least reference these so your office staff can classify the appointment correctly:

Level 1 is the standard annual inspection included with a routine cleaning. Visual check of accessible areas. No special tools required beyond a flashlight and mirror. This is what most residential appointments involve.

Level 2 adds a video camera scan of the interior flue surface and an evaluation of accessible areas of the attic and crawl space where the chimney passes through. Required for real estate transactions, after any chimney fire, after any event that may have caused damage (earthquake, lightning, severe weather), or when the type of appliance changes (switching from wood to gas). Level 2 takes longer and costs more. The intake form needs to identify when a Level 2 is appropriate so you do not underquote the job.

Level 3 involves removal of components of the building or chimney structure to gain access to concealed areas. This is only done when a Level 2 inspection reveals a suspected hazard that cannot be confirmed without opening walls, removing the crown, or taking apart the chimney structure. Level 3 is essentially construction work and needs to be quoted separately.

Access, safety, and scheduling details

Chimney work involves roof access. Your intake form should capture the roof pitch (steep, moderate, walkable), the chimney height, and whether there are any access obstacles (solar panels, skylights, antenna arrays, trees overhanging the roof). Some jobs require harness and rope work that not every technician is trained for. Some roofs are simply too steep or too fragile (slate, old cedar shakes) for safe access and require alternative cleaning methods from below.

Ask about the home's layout as it relates to the fireplace. Is the fireplace on an interior wall or an exterior wall? Where does the chimney exit the roof? Is there a cleanout door in the basement? These details affect how the technician sets up drop cloths, routes the vacuum, and accesses the flue from below.

For scheduling, note whether the customer needs a specific time (many homeowners want to be present for chimney work, which is reasonable given that a stranger is on their roof). Ask about parking for the work truck. Ask whether there are dogs in the yard that need to be secured. Ask about the preferred date, time window, and whether there is any deadline (real estate closing, upcoming season, insurance requirement).

Documentation that protects your business

Chimney work has real liability exposure. A technician who cleans a chimney, reports it as safe, and then the homeowner has a chimney fire the following week is going to face questions. Your intake form is part of the paper trail that shows what you were told, what you found, and what you recommended.

Document pre-existing conditions before you start. Note any visible damage to the firebox, damper, smoke shelf, or exterior masonry that you can see before cleaning. If the customer tells you they had a chimney fire two years ago and "a guy looked at it and said it was fine," write that down. If they tell you they have been burning green wood all winter, write that down.

After the inspection, your findings go on the inspection report, not the intake form. But the intake form is the before picture — what the customer disclosed and what was visible before your technician touched anything. Combined with the after report, you have a complete record of the job. Companies that also do general contracting work on chimney rebuilds and masonry repairs use a similar documentation approach: intake captures the initial condition, then the project scope builds from there.

Whether you are a solo chimney sweep or a multi-truck home services company, the intake form is the document that makes every subsequent step — quoting, scheduling, inspecting, reporting — go right.