HETAS certificate website: replacements and compliance

The official HETAS certificate website lets you find a notified solid-fuel stove installation and order a replacement certificate of compliance. A replacement can only reproduce an existing installation record, and the certificate remains a separate document from the data and notice plates fixed at your installation.

What does a HETAS certificate prove?

A HETAS Certificate of Compliance relates to one installation, not to a stove model. It confirms that specific work went through a recognised notification route. Once you know what the record holds, you can judge what it can and cannot prove for your client or your property file.

What the installation record contains

The certificate records a particular solid-fuel stove installation notified through the HETAS competent person scheme, the self-certification route for registered businesses. It is not a general approval label for the appliance. Its fields identify who, where and when, then describe the technical work carried out.

• Parties and property: the customer, the installation address and the completion date.
• Installer details: the installing business and its HETAS registration details.
• Appliance and hearth: the appliance fitted, plus any work to the hearth or fireplace.
• Flue and safety checks: flue details, ventilation, carbon monoxide alarm and commissioning tests.

Content depends on the certificate version and the work notified. Older certificates do not need to share the fields or layout of modern electronic records, so a sparse older document is not, in itself, a sign of a problem.

What compliance evidence does it provide?

In England and Wales, the certificate confirms that an eligible installation was registered through the scheme. As a result, it serves as evidence that the work was notified to Local Authority Building Control. The HETAS registered installer signs a declaration that the work complies with applicable requirements. HETAS does not carry out a retrospective safety inspection when it issues the certificate.

The distinction lies in time: the certificate is historical evidence. It does not show that the stove has stayed unaltered or safe since then. Beyond that, it does not certify a replacement appliance fitted later, and it does not fix defects in the original work.

Which notification rules apply?

Since April 2005, relevant solid-fuel installations in England and Wales have needed notification. That happens either through an appropriate competent person scheme or directly through Building Control. In contrast, the Building Control route produces Building Control evidence rather than a HETAS certificate.

Registered businesses must submit online notifications no later than 14 calendar days after completion. HETAS must then notify the relevant Local Authority within 30 days of installation. Scotland uses Building Standards and building warrants, and Northern Ireland has separate district-council arrangements, so do not assume the England and Wales route applies there.

Order a replacement online

A replacement is ordered through HETAS's consumer Certificates of Compliance page. The process has three stages: search for the record, confirm that it matches, then pay for the document.

Prepare for the official search

Ordering a HETAS replacement certificate online does not need a trade-account login: the consumer page uses email verification instead. The search accepts either the installation property's postcode or the original certificate reference. Before you start, gather the following details:

• Property and date: the installation address and the date the work was completed.
• People and business: any previous owner's name and the installing business.
• Paperwork: the HETAS registration number, the invoice and commissioning documents.

Verify the matching record

First, enter your email address, then type in the verification code sent to that inbox. The search results then become available.

Where a property has had more than one stove installation, check the result against the property, completion date, appliance, installing business and scope of work. Once the match is confirmed, select the orange reference number in that result to place the replacement order.

Pay and receive the replacement

HETAS displays a charge of £36 for a replacement certificate. Searching for a record and ordering its document are separate steps. HETAS states that it emails the replacement certificate and invoice within 30 minutes of payment.

Once received, keep the replacement with the appliance instructions, commissioning paperwork and installation invoice. Together these documents form a coherent installation file.

When paperwork or records are missing

The online search depends on an existing record. When paperwork is lost, never arrived or the record seems wrong, the next step depends on whether notification took place, and through which route.

Lost, undelivered or incorrect paperwork

A lost certificate can be replaced only when HETAS holds an existing installation record. The replacement reproduces that record; it does not certify the work again. If a certificate never arrived, ask the original installer for the certificate reference and contact HETAS Consumer Support to establish whether the work was notified.

Where a search result looks incorrect, compare its property and installation details with your original paperwork. Do this before ordering.

Where else might approval be recorded?

An unsuccessful search does not, on its own, prove that an installation was unlawful or lacked Building Regulations approval. Another route may hold the evidence instead.

If another competent person scheme handled the notification, its records are the relevant source, not the HETAS certificate register. Similarly, if the work went through Building Control, seek the building-control records rather than a HETAS replacement.

If no notification can be found

Finding no HETAS certificate for a wood burner is not yet proof that no record exists. Compliance starts with checking every possible source: the original installer, the scheme covering that installer at the time, Building Control and previous conveyancing or property records. A business listed on the HETAS installer register does not prove that this installation was notified.

HETAS cannot reproduce a certificate for work never notified through its scheme. Several shortcuts also fail to fill that gap:

• A new installer's certificate: a different registered installer cannot issue a HETAS certificate claiming responsibility for someone else's work.
• Inspection: it assesses present condition but does not establish that the original notification occurred.
• Recommissioning: the same limit applies, since it reflects today's state, not past notification.

Where no notification or approval record can be found, contact the relevant Building Control authority. It can advise on the appropriate compliance route for the existing installation.

Distinguishing certification from data and notice plates

Three records need to be told apart on site: the certificate, the appliance data plate and the chimney notice plate. Each one answers a different question, and none of them can stand in for another.

What each document or plate identifies

The certificate records notification of a particular installation. The two plates, in contrast, carry technical identification for the appliance and for the flue system.

• Manufacturer's data plate: identifies the stove itself, commonly with manufacturer, model, serial number and technical ratings.
• Chimney or flue notice plate: records technical information about the installed hearth, fireplace, flue or chimney.
• HETAS certificate: records that this particular installation was notified.
• Installer number on a plate: shows who may have fitted the system, not that the work was notified.

A notice plate does not substitute for the certificate. Finding one does not establish notification. Equally, a missing plate does not automatically mean certification never occurred.

What notice-plate rules require

Building Regulations Requirement J5 calls for durable information on the performance capabilities of a hearth, fireplace, flue or chimney when one is provided or extended. Approved Document J describes a robust, indelibly marked, securely fixed notice plate as one way to meet it. Welsh guidance lists the hearth or flue location, flue category, suitable appliance types, flue type and size, liner details, manufacturer and installation date. An obvious position such as beside the consumer unit or water stopcock is acceptable, so the plate need not sit beside the electricity meter.

Data Plate Hub notice-plate options

Data Plate Hub offers a standard data notice plate for chimneys, log burners, flues, stoves and multi-fuel appliances. You complete its installation details with a permanent marker, then fix it using the supplied self-adhesive pads.

For sellers and installers who want their name on every job, Data Plate Hub also supplies a bespoke data notice plate with your logo. It records the same installation details while carrying your business name.

Installers who already use a custom design can place bulk reorders of their custom plates.

Frequently Asked Questions