In Fireman’s Insurance Company v. Fire-Free Chimney Sweeps, Inc.,[1] the Court denied a Motion for Summary Judgment filed by a chimney sweep company. It claimed that its contract with a condominium association to “clean and inspect” chimneys and flues for the individual fireplaces in the condominium complex did not create any duty on the part of the chimney sweep to inspect the fireplaces connected to the chimneys. The Court found that NFPA 211, the standard relied upon by the plaintiff, required the chimney sweep to perform a full “Level 1” inspection which involves an evaluation of the chimney, flue and all appliances, including the fireplaces, that were attached to the chimney.
Plaintiff argued that had a full and complete Level 1 inspection been performed, the chimney sweep would have detected the fire hazard created by the after-market doors and should have provided warnings to the unit owner and condominium complex that the doors should be replaced in order to prevent fires. The chimney sweep argued that its duty was limited to properly cleaning and inspecting the flues. It asserted that since it had no access to the individual units it could not be responsible for the condition of the fireplaces in those units that it did not access. It did offer to inspect individual unit owner’s fireplaces for an additional charge of $40. Only a few of the unit owners availed themselves of this offer.
The Court concluded that once a chimney sweep undertakes an inspection encompassed within the NFPA 211 standard, it has an absolute obligation to perform a full Level 1 inspection consistent with the standard and anything less would constitute negligence and negligence per se. The court stressed code compliance as NFPA 211 is a standard intended to protect life and property from the risk of fires and explosions. The Court essentially required a contractor like a chimney sweep to turn down a contract if it cannot carry out the steps in an adopted safety code, even if full compliance means mandating access to the private property of third parties.
[1] This opinion is yet unpublished. It is identified as Delaware Civil Action No. 07C-06-287-JOH