Delaware: no state license covers chimney work. Here's what that means.

Delaware CONFIRMS the master finding. With no competence-based state license for chimney work — just a Division of Revenue business license that tests tax registration, not masonry — the state compensates on the sale side: § 2572's mandatory disclosure form asks about the flue by name and even wants its cleaning/service history, one of the more specific chimney questions on any state form. That is the classic weak-license / strong-disclosure inversion. The oddball twist is the CO statute, which quietly exempts owner-occupied homes, so the very buyers the disclosure protects get no state CO mandate once they move in.

No state trade license covers chimney work in Delaware — the gating credential is a tax/business license, not a skills exam. STATE LAW: general and specialty contractors (masonry, roofing, etc.) do not sit for a state contractor exam. What Delaware requires is a Division of Revenue contractor business license — 30 Del. C. § 2502(a) ("Any person desiring to engage in business in this State as a contractor shall obtain a license upon making application to the Division of Revenue and paying a fee of $75"), renewed annually, plus a gross-receipts license fee of 0.6472% above a monthly deduction (§ 2502(c)); issuance requires proof of workers' compensation coverage and a Department of Labor certificate (§ 2502(b)). Non-resident contractors must post a surety bond (or approved letter of credit) of 6% of the contract price on contracts of $20,000 or more (aggregating within a calendar year), payable to the State — 30 Del. C. § 375 (Ch. 3, Subch. V — not Ch. 25). Separately, the Delaware Contractor Registration Act, 19 Del. C. Ch. 36, requires contractors performing construction services to register with the Department of Labor's Office of Contractor Registration (§ 3604) — a worker-misclassification measure, not a competence test; registration information is not public under FOIA (§ 3605(e)). Among building trades, the Division of Professional Regulation licenses electricians and plumbers/HVACR (plus architects, land surveyors, landscape architects, home inspectors, and manufactured-home installers) — no board covers general contracting, home improvement, masonry, or chimney work (DPR board list re-read Sep 25, 2026). Consumer-side duties for residential repair contractors come from the DOJ Consumer Protection Unit's Home Improvement Services Regulation (Regulation 106, 27 DE Reg 254, effective Nov 1, 2023), adopted under the Consumer Fraud Act (6 Del. C. § 2513): complete written contracts listing material terms, a completion date or written explanation, no calling a binding contract an "estimate," no completion sign-off before work is finished, and notice of any § 4404 cancellation right. Its definition of "home improvement" — shared with the criminal home improvement fraud statute, 11 Del. C. § 916 — expressly lists "chimneys, fireplaces, stoves." Public lookup: Division of Revenue business-license search (revenue.delaware.gov/business-license-search/). So "licensed and bonded" in Delaware usually means has a Revenue business license, which attests tax registration — not flue competence.

Wide. A Delaware chimney contractor can be fully "licensed" (Division of Revenue) without ever demonstrating masonry or flue skill — the business license tests nothing about the work. Chimney sweeping and chimney repair sit on the same side of the line here: neither is a state-examined trade. Individual certs (NCSG CCP/CCR; CSIA CCS, C-DET) and an independent inspection are the only real competence signal. NATIONAL STANDARD NFPA 211 fills the vacuum the state leaves open.

STATE LAW: Delaware has a mandatory seller disclosure under the Buyer Property Protection Act, 6 Del. C. § 2572 (disclosure of material defects) with the property condition report at § 2573 and form contents at 6 Del. C. § 2578 (Buyer Property Protection Act, 6 Del. C. §§ 2570–2578). The statute itself does not mention chimneys; the Delaware Real Estate Commission's Seller's Disclosure of Real Property Condition Report (current version effective Aug 1, 2026) does, in Section XIV "Fireplace or Heating Stove," Qs 159–165: number of fireplaces/stoves, fuel type (fireplace: wood/propane/natural gas; stove: wood/pellet), whether part of the original design, whether "installed by a professional contractor or manufacturer's representative" (Q163), "Are there any problems?" (Q164), and Q165 "When were the flues/chimneys last cleaned, serviced, or repaired?"; Section XV separately asks about carbon monoxide detectors (dpr.delaware.gov/boards/realestate/forms/ → "Real Property Condition Report"). Timing (STATE LAW): 6 Del. C. § 2573 requires the report be given to all prospective buyers "prior to the time the buyer makes an offer to purchase," and § 2572(a) requires disclosure of material defects known when the property is offered for sale or before final settlement. This is one of the few forms nationally that asks a service-history question about the flue. No inspection is mandated at transfer; NFPA 211 Level 2 stays a NATIONAL STANDARD.

STATE LAW: the Consumer Fraud Act, 6 Del. C. § 2513 (unlawful practices), enforced by the DOJ Consumer Protection Unit, reaches deceptive home-repair practices. Door-knock work is separately governed by the Home Solicitation Sales Act, 6 Del. C. Ch. 44 (§ 4404), giving buyers a 3-business-day right to cancel any door-to-door sale of $25+ ("YOU, THE BUYER, MAY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION AT ANY TIME PRIOR TO MIDNIGHT OF THE THIRD BUSINESS DAY"), with refunds due within 10 business days — the exact mechanic of chimney scare-sales. The DOJ Home Improvement Services Regulation requires contracts to disclose that § 4404 right where it applies, and 11 Del. C. § 916 treats noncompliance with Ch. 44 on a home improvement contract as prima facie evidence of intent for home improvement fraud. Chapter 44 also requires a door-to-door seller to carry a Division of Revenue door-to-door salesperson ID card showing the business name, legal name, phone, address, and Delaware business-license number (§ 4405), and limits door-to-door solicitation at homes to 9 a.m.–8 p.m. (§ 4406), with $75–$250 fines; both sections were amended by 85 Del. Laws c. 315 (153rd GA). *(Proposed home-improvement contract bills — HS 1 for HB 427 (152nd GA; died in committee) and its successor HB 57 (153rd GA; tabled in House committee in 2025), which would have added a separate cancel right (5 days for seniors/disabled), a 10% deposit cap, and repeat-offender debarment — did not become law; no such provisions appear in the current code.)* Complaints: Delaware DOJ Consumer Protection.

The Delaware DOJ Consumer Protection Unit pursues home-repair and door-to-door abuses, and the door-knock "we noticed your chimney" pitch is a textbook Home Solicitation + § 2513 violation. No Delaware DOJ chimney-specific enforcement action was located (searched Sep 25, 2026) — keep to patterns, name no one. DOJ's 2023 Home Improvement Services Regulation and the 11 Del. C. § 916 home improvement fraud statute (which names chimneys, fireplaces, and stoves) are the live tools; local reporting (Spotlight Delaware, Apr 2025 — REF) describes rising home-improvement-fraud arrests with few convictions.

STATE LAW/LOCAL: Delaware has no single statewide residential building code enforced uniformly — 16 Del. C. § 7601 says the Kent Levy Court and the New Castle and Sussex County Councils "may adopt and enforce building codes" (energy provisions must track the latest IECC per § 7602); adoption and enforcement run through the three counties and municipalities (Wilmington, Dover, Newark). Current county cycles (LOCAL): Kent County — 2018 IRC (adopted Aug 18, 2020; effective Oct 5, 2020); Sussex County — 2021 IRC, Chapters 1–10 (incl. Ch. 10 Chimneys and Fireplaces; Ord. No. 2851, Aug 9, 2022); New Castle County — cycle not confirmed this pass; municipalities set their own — verify locally before publish. Chimney relines, rebuilds, crowns, and solid-fuel appliance installs are generally permit work where a building department exists; routine sweeps and like-for-like caps generally are not. Sussex County's rapid-growth beach corridor and New Castle's older stock diverge in practice.

No statewide burn-ban or stove-emission regime. Not a material content section for DE.

STATE LAW: 16 Del. C. Ch. 66C (§§ 6601C–6605C) requires CO detectors, but only in "lodging establishments" — hotels, motels, apartments, multi-family, dorms, B&Bs, condos — that have a fossil-fuel appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage. A private residence occupied by the owner is expressly excluded from "lodging establishment," so owner-occupied single-family homes are NOT covered by Delaware's CO statute. Absence-as-finding: unlike NY/IL, Delaware has no statewide CO requirement for owner-occupied dwellings and no pre-sale CO certificate. Civil fine $100–$500 per offense for covered owners (§ 6605C). A permitted chimney job is still the natural moment to add alarms even where the law doesn't compel them.