Fireplace, fire proof cement and boards?

[~Divine~Wind~]

First off am I actually allowed to do this myself?

old back boiler out leaves me with a terribly uneven and unsightly brick hole
Was thinking coat it in fireproof cement and them some fireproof boards?

My other option is just to temporarily board it out with chipboard and paint it, leave it til later down the line, just wondering the possibility of doing it now if its ok to DIY.

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

in the end want a log burner in there, just not sure wether its ok to do or if it needs to be done by someone specific/accredited/certified

Short term, remove fireplace and make it a little less cack looking

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

Cheers for the help so far guys

Accordign to the vitcas info I can use the fire cement to render over the bricks, sounds like far less hassle than installing boards/bricks, might be the one I go with, will have a bit more read tho

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

For the potential issues it may cause I'd rather not skimp
The stuff isnt that expensive in all honesty.
Tub of render and a tub of plaster should suffice, not 100% sure on the flooring side of things yet tho (under where a stove would be.