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What you need to do to supply, distribute and sell wood for use in domestic heating appliances in England.

You can only supply or sell wood fuel in volumes of less than 2 cubic metres if it is certified as ‘Ready to Burn’. This confirms it has a moisture content of 20% or less.

The Ready to Burn certification scheme applies to:

If you’re a small-scale wood producer who supplied less than 600 cubic metres of wood between 1 May 2020 and 30 April 2021, you’ll have until 1 May 2022 to comply with the new Ready to Burn certification scheme.

Suppliers must submit an application to get wood fuel certified.

After you apply, you’ll be told how long it will take to get your wood certified. You’ll have to pay application, registration and any additional testing fees.

If your wood meets the legal standards and you’ve paid the fees, it will be certified and you’ll be:

Each certification period lasts for 12 months from the date it was approved.

You must pay an annual certification fee plus annual testing fee before your renewal date.

Wood certified as Ready to Burn has a guaranteed moisture content of 20% or less.

Make sure you store the wood properly, so that you do not sell it to customers damaged or wet. You can do this by storing the wood indoors, off the ground or undercover.

Rotate stock so that older stock is used up first.

The wood must be correctly labelled when it is sold to third-party sellers and final customers. You must make sure the following details are either attached to the wood packaging, displayed alongside it on the shelf or next to the price:

You can check the supplier’s details and certification number on the Woodsure website.

If you sell online, make sure the logo for each fuel is displayed on the section of the webpage where the fuel is advertised.

You do not need to get wood fuel sales of 2 cubic metres or more certified. You can include a note when you deliver the wood to explain it is dry.

Suppliers who sell wood in volumes of 2 cubic metres or more must provide customers with this notice that explains how to dry, store and check the moisture of the wood before it is used. This also applies to small-scale wood producers.

Local authorities are responsible for enforcing the rules. An enforcement officer may check:

You could be fined if:

Updated labelling information for small bags of wood in the 'Compliance checks' section.

Added information about selling online, packaging requirements for sellers and fines.

Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.

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