Where the three chimney inspection levels come from
The three levels come from NFPA 211, the national standard for chimneys, fireplaces and vents, and the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) describes them for the trade.
Our chimney inspection page covers booking and the posted price for each level; this guide covers what the levels mean and which one your situation calls for.
In CSIA’s words, NFPA 211 says chimneys, fireplaces and vents “shall be inspected at least once a year” for soundness, freedom from deposits and correct clearances, with cleaning, maintenance and repairs done as needed. The CDC gives the same advice on its carbon monoxide page: have the chimney checked or cleaned every year.
The levels are a national standard, not an Oregon statute, so the honest phrasing is “CSIA recommends a Level 2,” never “the law requires one.”
Level 1 is the visual check for a chimney where nothing has changed
A Level 1 inspection covers the readily accessible parts of the chimney and its appliance, with no tools or ladders beyond a flashlight. It is the right level when the same fuel burns in the same appliance and nothing about the system has changed.
CSIA’s written procedure for a Level 1 on a masonry chimney defines “readily accessible” as reachable without tools, and it calls Level 1 the appropriate inspection when “nothing is changing.” In practice that means the firebox, damper, smoke chamber and the first stretch of flue by flashlight, the cleanout, the connector pipe on a stove, and the exterior from the ground.
A Level 1 also confirms the appliance suits the flue it vents into and measures buildup: the same procedure says to sweep, or recommend sweeping, any flue with an eighth of an inch or more of deposit. A Level 1 look-over comes with every sweep we do.
A Level 1 is not a complete inspection. It does not reach the attic, the roof or the inside of the flue beyond flashlight range, and the procedure itself says a camera scan is optional at this level. If anything in the look-over hints at a problem, the next step is a Level 2, not a guess.
Level 2 adds the camera, and CSIA recommends it in five situations
A Level 2 inspection includes everything in a Level 1, adds the accessible parts of the house (attic, crawl space, basement, roof) and scans the whole flue with a video camera to check the liner’s surfaces and joints. Nothing gets demolished or pried open.
“Accessible” in the standard’s sense can require a ladder or common hand tools, so a Level 2 goes onto the roof and into the attic. CSIA’s page on chimney fires describes it: a small camera on sweep rods is lowered down or pushed up the flue and rotated to check every component, and the stills come off the camera for your report.
CSIA’s written Level 2 procedure recommends one in these five situations, and also after an operating malfunction or when a Level 1 cannot settle whether the system is serviceable.
- A sale of the property. When a house is being sold, CSIA recommends a Level 2, which is why a real estate chimney inspection is a Level 2 with a written report, ordered inside the inspection period.
- A change of fuel or appliance. A wood insert set into an open fireplace, a stove swapped for gas, a reline, or a new furnace that leaves the old flue to the water heater alone all change what the chimney must vent. Portland also requires a permit and a city inspection to install a stove or insert.
- After a chimney fire. If one is burning now, get everyone out and call 911 before anything else. Once the fire department has cleared the house, the flue stays cold until a Level 2 has looked at it; the had a chimney fire page and the chimney fire guide cover the hours after.
- After an earthquake. Shaking cracks flue tiles and opens joints you cannot see from the hearth. The State of Oregon puts the odds of a Cascadia quake of magnitude 7.1 or larger at about 37 percent over the next 50 years; the earthquake guide covers what that means for old brick.
- After storm damage. A limb through the crown, wind-driven rain off the Gorge, or an ice storm like January 2024, which put trees onto roofs across the metro, can crack a liner or shift a stack, and that earns a camera look before the next fire.
Relining is on CSIA’s list too, so a Level 2 is also the inspection that sizes a new stainless liner to the appliance. Many brick chimneys built before the 1930s have no clay tile liner at all, and more than a quarter of Portland’s housing predates 1940 by the Census Bureau’s count, so the camera often answers that question first; our unlined brick chimney page covers the options.
The camera inspection on our price board is a Level 2. One caution: a camera scan by itself is not a Level 2. Without the attic, the roof and the exterior, it is a Level 1 with pictures.
Level 3 means something gets opened up
A Level 3 inspection includes all of Level 2 and adds removal of parts of the building or chimney, when a serious hazard is suspected in a place the camera and a ladder cannot reach.
Level 3 is the exception rather than the routine, and it comes after a lower-level inspection has given a reason to look behind the masonry or the wall. You agree in advance what gets opened, who closes it up, and what happens if the finding is worse than expected.
Level 3 is only worth doing when the answer changes the repair. If a Level 2 has already shown a cracked liner and the decision is to reline, opening the wall adds cost without changing the plan. If the question is whether heat reached framing behind the chimney, opening the wall is the only honest answer.
The three levels side by side
The table compares what each level examines, the tools it uses and when each level is recommended, so you can match your situation to a row.
| Level | What is examined | Tools | When it is recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Readily accessible parts: firebox, damper, smoke chamber, flue by flashlight, cleanout, stove connector pipe, exterior from the ground; whether the appliance suits the flue; depth of buildup | A flashlight; no ladders or tools | Yearly, with a sweep, when the same appliance burns the same fuel and nothing has changed |
| Level 2 | All of Level 1 plus attic, crawl space, basement, roof and chimney top, and a video scan of the flue liner’s surfaces and joints | Ladders, common hand tools, a flue camera | Sale, change of fuel or appliance, relining, after a chimney fire, an earthquake or storm damage |
| Level 3 | All of Level 2 plus concealed areas reached by removing parts of the chimney or building | Level 2 tools plus whatever opens and closes the wall | When a serious hidden hazard is suspected |
What a good inspection report contains
A useful report states which level was performed and why, lists each part of the system with its condition and a photo, and ends with one conclusion: use it, use it after a specific repair, or leave it cold until that repair is done.
When you book any level, ask for these items by name, and expect every one of them to appear in a Level 2 report.
- The level performed, the reason for it, and the date.
- The appliance and the flue it vents into: open fireplace, insert, stove, furnace or water heater, with the liner type if one exists.
- Camera stills labeled by position in the flue, so the next person can find the same cracked tile.
- Each defect with its location and what it affects: draft, water, heat reaching framing, or combustion gases reaching the house.
- The recommendation, and whether the system can be used while you decide.
After a chimney fire the report does double duty. The same CSIA page advises asking your sweep to document the damaged sections with photos and to provide a written repair estimate, because both go to your insurer’s adjuster.
What a home inspector covers and what the chimney inspector adds
A general home inspection looks at the chimney from the ground and the firebox and often recommends a specialist for the rest. That is a sensible division of labor, not a Level 2, so the camera inspection is ordered separately during the inspection period.
In a Portland sale the Level 2 also answers questions the house itself raises. Is the brick flue lined? Is there an uncertified wood stove or insert that Oregon’s home-sale removal law says must be removed and destroyed at sale? The buying guide walks through what to ask for and how to use the report in negotiation.
Which level to ask for
If nothing has changed, book a sweep and take the Level 1 that comes with it. For a sale or a new appliance, or after a chimney fire, an earthquake or storm damage, book a Level 2 and ask for the report.
When you are unsure, choose the Level 2: the camera settles questions a flashlight cannot, and a cracked tile found before the heating season is cheaper than one found after a fire.
A flue that failed, smoked into the room or had a fire stays cold until the named repair is done and the system has been looked at again. A carbon monoxide alarm on the same floor as the appliance is the simple backstop while you wait.