The Clean Air (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 enables local Councils to establish 'Smoke Control Areas'. Under this legislation it is an offence to allow a fireplace including any installed burner/appliance to generate significant amounts of smoke. The penalty for this offence upon successful prosecution is a fine of up to £1000.

If you intend to have an open fire or install a burning appliance (i.e. woodburner) in your domestic property you must:

• Only use an authorised appliance in your property that has been exempted from the legislation. These appliances have been designed to burn unauthorised or inherently smoky fuels without emitting smoke. Such appliances are only exempt from the legislation when burning the specific fuels for which they have been designed and which are listed under the exemption.
• Only use an authorised fuel that has passed tests to show they can burn in an open fireplace without producing smoke.

You can download the current list of exempt appliances and approved fuels and view further information about smoke control areas on the Defra Website http://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk