mia442•1mo agoProlific Poster

TIL about a new fire code rule in Portland that could mess up our schedules

I was at the supply house yesterday and overheard a city inspector talking to the counter guy. Said Portland is updating their chimney inspection rules starting next month, meaning we gotta do extra seal checks on any flue over 15 years old. If thats true, jobs are gonna take longer and customers are gonna complain about the price. Has anyone else heard about this or got the official notice yet?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade_hunt481mo ago

My buddy Dave over in the SE district got blindsided by this last week on a routine flue job. The city inspector showed up, pulled out a new checklist, and made him do a full seal inspection on a 17 year old fireplace that took an extra 45 minutes. Dave said the homeowner was literally pacing around the driveway because she had to leave for work, and now he's gotta reschedule her for a second visit just to finish the original work.

hugo_moore29d agoMost Upvoted

Did you try calling the city permit office ahead of time to ask what changed? The last time I ran into this I pulled up the local building code website while I was on site and read through the new requirements out loud to the inspector. It actually helped because we both saw the same language and he admitted the seal thing was only needed if the flue liner was over 20 years old. Dave's client sounds super stressed, but maybe he can knock out the second visit in 30 minutes if he brings the right sealant and a caulk gun ready to go. I've been keeping a printed copy of the latest checklist in my truck ever since.