Selling firewood in England: Ready to Burn, the 2 cubic metre line and penalties

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It covers England only. The rules come from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) guidance and from Statutory Instrument 2020 No. 1095.

Wood in units under 2 cubic metres

The GOV.UK guidance Selling wood for domestic use in England says wood fuel in volumes of less than 2 cubic metres can only be supplied or sold if it is certified as Ready to Burn. That certification confirms a moisture content of 20% or less. The scheme applies to firewood in single retail bags, firewood supplied as a bulk delivery in loose volumes under 2 cubic metres, and wood briquettes in the same two forms.

The regulations back this up. In regulation 4 of the made version of the Regulations, a person must not supply a relevant unit of wood that is not authorised wood, meaning wood with a certificate from an approved wood certification body. A person also must not supply such a unit without the relevant information and the logo shown in Schedule 1. A breach is an offence, liable on summary conviction to a fine. The moisture standard named in regulation 5 is ISO 18134-1 or ISO 18134-2.

Getting wood certified

The guidance lists what a supplier submits: an application form, a representative fuel sample, evidence of how moisture content is controlled, the numbers and locations of depots, the names of retail outlets and websites where the fuel is sold, and annual sales figures used to set scheme fees. The supplier pays application, registration and any testing fees. A certified supplier is added to the Ready to Burn list, given a certificate with a unique ID for each fuel, and sent the authorised logo. Each certification period lasts 12 months, and the supplier pays an annual certification fee and an annual testing fee before renewal.

Labelling and storage

The guidance says certified wood has a guaranteed moisture content of 20% or less, so sellers must store it indoors, off the ground or undercover, and rotate stock. When wood is sold to third-party sellers and final customers, three details must be attached to the packaging, shown alongside it on the shelf or placed next to the price: the Ready to Burn logo, the supplier's company name, and the unique certification number. For online sales the logo must appear on the part of the web page where the fuel is advertised.

Wood in units of 2 cubic metres or more

The guidance says sales of 2 cubic metres or more do not need certification. Suppliers must give customers the notice that explains how to dry, store and check the moisture of the wood. This also applies to small-scale wood producers. Regulation 8 and Schedule 2 of the Regulations set the form of words. The Schedule 2 text says the wood is not suitable for burning until dried, that wood should not be burned until its moisture content is 20% or less, that it should be dried for at least two years with rain kept off in winter, and that a moisture meter should be used on a freshly split surface.

Small foresters

Regulation 6 gave small foresters a delay. A person who supplied less than 600 cubic metres of wood in the year ending April 30, 2021 was treated as a small forester, and regulation 4 applied to that person only after the end of 12 months beginning May 1, 2021. The guidance of July 7, 2022 removed its older text on that deadline.

Smoke control areas

Under a section added on July 7, 2022, the guidance says sellers must inform customers that wood can only be used in an exempt appliance in a smoke control area. Its examples are a sign next to the fuels or tills, or a message on the website for online customers.

Enforcement and penalties

Regulation 16 gives enforcement to the relevant local authority. The guidance says an officer may check labelling, certification details against the list, drying information for large loads, sales records, storage and delivery records for households in smoke control areas. It says a seller could be fined if wood is stored above 20% moisture or lacks the logo or correct labelling, with a GBP 300 fixed penalty from the local authority or a larger fine from the courts. Regulation 20 sets the fixed penalty at GBP 300, payable within 28 days of the notice.

For cords, legal units and other places, see the firewood sale rules overview.