Kitchen Ventilation Cleaning Service

As BESA members, and BESCA Ventilation Hygiene Register (VHR) members, Rentokil Specialist Hygiene are your perfect partner for providing TR19 compliant kitchen ventilation cleaning services for your commercial kitchen. With over 50 years of experience within commercial kitchens large and small across the UK, our local teams are perfectly placed to ensure your kitchen is safe, clean and compliant.

Designed to remove airborne fat, oil and  grease (F.O.G)  molecules and other contaminants, the intricate network of metal ductwork above a commercial kitchen often goes unnoticed but serves a critical purpose within every catering and hospitality building.

Aerosolised grease from cooking can quickly gather in large volumes if not carried away from the kitchen. This build up of grease increases the risk of a fire starting or spreading significantly. Modern commercial kitchens MUST have a ventilation system under the Health and Safety at work act 1974 to remove fumes and smells and reduce the risk of fire. A typical system will start with a canopy and filters above the cooking range or grill, which leads into several metres of ducting. At the other end is a powerful fan which draws air through the system from the kitchen, and expels it outside the building.

Regular cleaning of a commercial kitchen ventilation system ensures grease is removed and does not build up to an unsafe level.

Grease buildup is an unavoidable issue in any kitchen ventilation system. If left unaddressed through regular cleaning, this accumulation can lead to several significant problems:

Operational and Maintenance Issues:

• Increased Wear and Tear: Excess grease on the fan and motor forces the fan to work harder to maintain consistent airflow. This increased strain accelerates wear and tear, ultimately reducing the fan's lifespan.
• Malodour and Nuisance: Saturated filters and excessive exhaust odour outside the building can become a significant nuisance.

Health, Safety, and Pest Concerns:

• Slip Hazards and Staining: Unaddressed grease can damage the ductwork and leak, causing unsightly pooling and staining. Where it leaks, it creates dangerous slip hazards.
• Pest Attraction: Leaking grease can also attract pests into the building.
• Fire Risk: Most critically, accumulated grease within the ductwork presents a serious fire risk.

The Need for Professional Cleaning and Inspection:

Visible grease and bad smells are clear indicators that urgent cleaning is required. However, even a system that appears clean on the surface may be harbouring hidden dangerous deposits.

To ensure the fire risk within the ductwork remains negligible, regular inspection and measurement of grease deposit levels is essential.

Visual inspection alone is insufficient to determine safety. According to the BESA TR19 guidelines, which serve as the industry standard, a safe average level of grease throughout the system is below 200 microns. A qualified industry professional must quantify this level through regular inspection and measurement.

Commercial kitchen ventilation systems are often hard to access, difficult to clean, and regularly forgotten about, but they are heavily reliant on correct inspection and cleaning to ensure they do not become a fire hazard. Many insurers will stipulate that maintenance of ventilation must be carried out in order to provide cover for commercial kitchens, with policies becoming invalid without those measures in place.

All of our kitchen ventilation cleans are carried out in accordance with BESA’s TR19 standard. TR19 is the widely accepted standard for cleaning of grease extract systems in the UK and makes clear what is and isn’t acceptable.

Many insurers require TR19 compliant cleans for commercial kitchen owners, with service providers needing to demonstrate competency, accreditation and due diligence as well as being part of the Ventilation Hygiene Register as standard to ensure that kitchen ductwork is cleaned to a level proven to mitigate against fire risk. Rentokil Specialist Hygiene meets this criteria and offers a TR19 compliant kitchen ventilation cleaning service with the below features as standard on every clean:

• Over 50 years of commercial kitchen cleaning experience
• Local BESA-accredited, trained experts in ventilation cleaning and maintenance
• Nationwide coverage 24/7
• Specialised access and cleaning equipment to reach every part of a system
• Aviva Specialist Partners - we work with insurers to provide comprehensive service

Call our friendly team of experts on 0808 159 1403 or contact us here 24/7/365 to arrange a free, no obligation survey for your kitchen.

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  Why should I have my kitchen extraction system deep cleaned?

  To prevent fires. An uncleaned grease extraction system in a commercial kitchen is a serious fire risk. It can also cause bad smells, costly repairs of fans and motors, and leave airborne pollutants in the air.

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  What is TR19?

  TR19 is industry accepted guidance that sets out how a commercial kitchen ventilation system should be cleaned and to what level. It is based on real world testing of acceptable grease limits and is the go to for service providers of kitchen vent cleaning.

  TR19 guidelines are used to standardise cleaning and they recommend the monitoring and maintenance of kitchen ventilation and extract systems, to help reduce the risk of kitchen fires. The document was updated in July 2019 with more stringent guidance and criteria that service providers must meet in order to provide a TR19 compliant service, to help reduce the growing number of fires in commercial kitchens.

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  Is TR19 a legal requirement?

  No, but failure to adequately maintain your kitchen ventilation system can lead to prosecution in the event of a fire. TR19 compliance helps you demonstrate due diligence should the worst happen.

  Many insurers use TR19 as a standard within their insurance policies and make it a condition of cover that planned maintenance is carried out. If your business does not maintain adherence to TR19, it could increase the risk of fire within your commercial kitchen and lead to higher insurance premiums. In the event of a kitchen fire, your claim could become void if this evidence of compliance with TR19 is not provided, and if you have not used a TR19 complaint service provider.

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  How can our service help your extraction system become TR19 compliant?

  At Rentokil Specialist Hygiene we will always clean your system to TR19 standards, and leave a comprehensive report for your records. A compliant system is one that has been cleaned in its entirety and we will work with you to achieve this wherever possible.

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  What kitchen ventilation system cleaning do we offer?

  Our cleaning involves responsible use of chemical cleaning products, but also relies heavily on good old fashioned elbow grease. If we can't reach it by hand, we use modern, specialised remote cleaning equipment to get to every bend and elbow.

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  How much does it cost to clean kitchen vents?

  This will always be cost based on your kitchen, as every kitchen is different. We will provide a no obligation quote following an expert-led assessment at a time convenient with you.

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  How often should commercial kitchen extraction be cleaned?

  This is measured based on the amount of grease produced every day. TR19 gives clear guidance on how often the system should be cleaned to ensure fire safety. It also allows for seasonal variation in grease levels as a result of different menus or frequency of use.

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  Can I clean out my kitchen ventilation ducts myself?

  If you are industry trained, have the correct equipment and experience, health and safety training, COSHH training, time, resource and know how, are a signed up member of the VHR with full insurance and BESA membership then yes you can otherwise it's probably best to give us a call.