About Chimney Sweep Index

Chimney Sweep Index is an independent public guide compiled by Shortell Designs for the fall heating season. It explains when to inspect and sweep a chimney, what creosote is, how dryer vents differ from chimneys, and how a homeowner can verify credentials on official sites.

What this is not

• Not a chimney, hearth, or dryer-vent contractor.
• Not endorsed by CSIA, NCSG, NFI, NFPA, the U.S. Fire Administration, or any state licensing board or fire department.
• Not a ranking, marketplace, or referral desk. There is no paid placement on professional lists. Amazon Associates links (tag radontestinde-20) appear only on how-to and dryer-vent pages for relevant kits/products, marked as paid links. They do not appear on directory or state list pages. As an Amazon Associate, Shortell Designs earns from qualifying purchases.
• Not fire-code advice and not a substitute for NFPA 211 or for a local official.

Why there are no sweep names here

CSIA’s public finder at web.csia.org/directory is for homeowners who want to locate a professional or verify CSIA credentials. CSIA states on that resource that the list is not intended for marketing or other business development purposes. This index does not scrape that list to republish names.

No other public official roster of chimney sweeps — a statewide license list meant for the public, analogous to a state radon-tester PDF — was found for Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, or Virginia. Those states regulate contractors (home improvement registration or contractor class) rather than issuing a chimney-sweep occupational license. Maryland’s labor department says in so many words that it does not regulate chimney cleaning.

Inventing names to look like a directory would be worse than an empty list. The state pages therefore send you to CSIA’s finder and to the official contractor lookup, with an honest note about what that lookup does and does not cover.

Sources used (retrieved 2026-08-29)

• CSIA: csia.org, Homeowner Resources, Preventing Chimney Fires, CDET, finder web.csia.org/directory
• NFPA: Home Heating Safety; Clothes Dryer Safety tip sheet
• U.S. Fire Administration: Heating Fire Safety
• Massachusetts DFS: Dryer Fire Safety
• NCSG homeowner finder: Find a certified sweep
• NFI: Find an NFI Pro
• State lookups linked from the Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Virginia pages.

Contact

Questions about the compilation: Shortell Designs. For certification status, use CSIA, NCSG, or NFI. For contractor registration, use the state lookup. For a fire in progress, call 911.