Fireplace fixing regulations are to be reviewed following an inquest in December into the death of a four-year-old boy after a 50kg stone mantlepiece fell on him.

The coroner’s report criticised a lack of industry standards and regulations, including training, installation, quality inspection, secondary review and audit paper trails as factors that contributed to the tragedy.

After the inquest the Deputy Coroner who presided, Tom Osborne, wrote to the Department of Communities & Local Government expressing his concern about the lack of standards. He also said he would be contacting Persimmon Homes, responsible for the development where the accident happened, asking them to implement their own standards.

The inquest heard that the fireplace fixing had been sub-contracted to a company called KD Childs, based in Northampton at the time. This was not an isolated installation by them for Persimmon. Persimmon have subsequently written to other purchasers of their houses about the fireplaces.

A spokesperson for the Department of Communities & Local Government said after receiving the Coroner’s letter: “We will consider carefully the coroner’s comments. While fixtures and fitting do not normally fall under building regulations, safety is our key concern and we will consider whether there is a need to provide guidance in future on this issue.”

The Health & Safety Executive, whose investigations into the child’s death are on-going, have already contacted both Stone Federation Great Britain and the National Fireplace Association offering to work with them on developing standards for fixing stone fireplaces. Both organisations say KD Childs are not members.

The National Fireplace Association say they have also been in touch with British Standards Institution and want to try to develop a general British Standard for installing fireplaces, which they say is not adequately covered by BS1251.

Peter Healy, Director of the Fireplace Association, told NSS: “Although the burning device is covered very well by the standard, the fire surround really isn’t.”

He said there had been a similar case of a child being killed by a falling stone fire surround in Darlington in 2003.

Jane Buxey, Chief Executive of Stone Federation, described this as a “tragic, tragic case”. She said there should never be a problem with a stone fireplace if it is fixed properly and that Stone Federation members would know how the work should be carried out.

After the jury had reached what is called a narrative verdict – ie they simply said the child died of cardiac injury without determining whether it was caused by accident, misadventure or whatever – Persimmon Homes issued a statement saying they agreed with the inquest that the lack of national industry standards and regulations had contributed to the accident.

David Bryant, Regional Chairman of Persimmon, said: “It is group-wide policy to obtain appropriate health and safety assessments for all our sub-contractors and we expect that, as experts in their field, they carry out their duties in accordance with current regulations and industry standards. Sadly, there have never been any such regulations or industry standards in relation to fireplace installation.

“As demonstrated during the inquest, we did not foresee such an incident, having appointed what we believed to be a competent supplier. Indeed, if that supplier had applied sufficient mortar then this tragic accident would probably not have occurred.”

The child who died was Matthew Green, the four-year-old son of David and Gail Green. The accident happened at their home in Towcester in October 2005. The accident was not witnessed. Gail was out and David had answered the door when he heard a loud crash from the living room. When he went to investigate he found his son lying under the stone mantle, which had broken in two. Matthew was rushed to hospital by air ambulance. He later died in hospital. His ribs had been broken and his heart ruptured.