Competent persons schemes were introduced to offer a framework for qualified tradesman to self certify their work and avoid the need for homeowners to pay an external body to carry out inspections.
HETAS says that over the last 10 years, several other organisations now offer registration but its scheme remains the only to specialise in solid fuel and biomass.
Chief executive, Bruce Allen, said: “In terms of solid fuel and biomass there is clear evidence that competent persons have improved safety. Most of the problems we see are now related to lack of maintenance rather than poor installation, and of course we’d like to address current issues such as encouraging customers to get chimneys swept more regularly.
“Our focus is the customer, so we want to make sure there are trained installers who are able to fit quality products, and we try to make this happen through our comprehensive training and assessment schemes for installers, retailers, products and fuels.”