Greater London · Ductwork cleaning
London ductwork cleaning
Ductwork cleaning across London and nearby, booked around your opening hours and finished with a written report and photos.
- Fat dripping from the ductwork
- A duct nobody has opened in years
- Stale grease odours from the duct
Grease, kitchens and London
Look up London on the FSA’s food hygiene register and you’ll find about 2,326 restaurants, cafés and canteens and about 809 takeaways in London and the streets around it, up to about 1.5 miles out. Wherever those kitchens cook under a canopy, the horizontal runs and risers need cleaning as well as the hood. It’s Southwark council that sends environmental health officers to food businesses in London. Extraction counts as kitchen equipment, so its condition can come up on the day. Our report lists what was cleaned and when, which is useful to have ready. Fire safety in London falls to London Fire Brigade. Grease in a kitchen extract is a recognised fire risk, and the fire authority enforces the law on managing it in most commercial premises.
If you run a church or community hall kitchen, near St George the Martyr or elsewhere in London, its extract still collects grease from every lunch and event. Term dates shape school work: for a school like Charles Dickens Primary School, an extract clean fits neatly into a half-term or summer break.
London is in Greater London. Sites in London get the same service as everywhere we cover: diagnosis first, a fixed price, out-of-hours working where needed and a written report with pictures. Our Greater London coverage runs to 764 places, and London is one of them.
Here we cover the CR0, E14, CR4 and SW11 postcode area for ductwork cleaning. Whether your site is on Walcot Square, Surrey Square and Sutherland Square or anywhere close by, our technicians can take on the work. Main roads around London include the A2 and A10, which makes travel easy for ductwork cleaning. Neighbouring places we cover for ductwork cleaning include Walworth (1 mile south), Bermondsey (1 mile east), Camberwell (2 miles south), South Bermondsey (2 miles south-east) and Surrey Canal (2 miles south-east). Further out, we also cover City of Westminster (3 miles west), Marylebone (3 miles north-west), Kensington (5 miles west), Walthamstow (7 miles north-east), Hampstead (5 miles north-west) and Ruislip (14 miles west). As one of the bigger places in Greater London, London has commercial sites of every size, and we cover all of them for ductwork cleaning.
Near you in London
Locally, jobs take us to businesses close to Newington Gardens, Trinity Arms Public House and London School of Musical Theatre and the streets around them. You will also find St Mary-at-Hill (0.9 miles north-east), Ark Globe Academy (less than half a mile south) and The BFI Reuben Library (1 mile north-west). London has its own railway station: Elephant & Castle station. Well-known places in the area include Surrey Dispensary (within half a mile south-east) and Baynard's Castle (0.9 miles north). For a walk, there’s Bellenden Road Nature Garden and St. James's Park Lake.
Ductwork cleaning in London
Duct cleaning is the hardest part of an extract clean, and the part most often skipped. Sections with no way in can go uncleaned for years. Each section we can reach is cleaned, and any we cannot is written down, so you know exactly where you stand. The work covers vertical risers, horizontal duct runs and attenuators, and people most often call us about stale grease odours from the duct and heavy grease at the base of a riser.
In a place the size of London, the kitchens with extract systems range from takeaways and restaurants to hotel, school and workplace kitchens. Each cooks for a different number of hours a day, so each needs cleaning at its own interval.
It’s worth checking any contractor’s accreditations. Ours are BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite membership, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease, plus CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, and we’re fully insured.
- Place
- London (CR0, E14, CR4, SW11)
- Region
- Greater London
- Paperwork
- Certificate plus before-and-after photos
- Quote
- A fixed price before work begins
- Working hours
- Overnight and weekend work, 24/7 emergency callout
- Telephone
- 0345 646 2711
- Last updated
- 30 October 2026
Why act early in London
Insurers know the risk of a greasy duct. Many require cleaning to TR19, and they can refuse or reduce a claim without proof. Your certificate and photo report show the ducts were cleaned. Dirt and wear build up fastest on busy sites, and a place the size of London has plenty of those.
Combining work into one visit or one programme often makes better use of the time. Mention every system or site you need covered and we will price it together.
Why choose Duct Doctor in London
- Fixed quotes from a survey or pictures
- Evenings, overnight and weekends, plus 24/7 emergency callout
- Member of BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease
- Ventilation hygiene specialists since 2009
Take a look at what affects the cost or our accreditations and certificates.
Different parts, different methods
Vertical risers
Cleaning a riser needs access along its height. Where it cannot be reached safely, the report says so.
Multi-storey and shared buildings
A fire in a duct in a shared building can affect far more than one kitchen, which makes keeping it clean all the more important. The paperwork suits landlords and managing agents.
Looking after it afterwards
Here’s the after-treatment advice, in brief:
- Run the extract fan throughout service
- Leave a way through to the access panels
- Ask for a grease thickness test if the kitchen gets busier
- Book the next clean before the recommended date
Every panel we open is refitted when we finish, and the surrounding area is left clean. Grease and dirty water are contained and removed.
Some signs mean the duct needs attention sooner: grease leaking from duct joints, smells, or a fan that sounds rough. A grease thickness test can confirm whether a spot clean is needed.
How the visit works
At the end of the visit, someone from your team can look over the work with us. We point out anything that couldn’t be reached or needs a follow-up, and it goes on the report too. The visit takes a shift or more, depending on the length of the runs and the number of access points. Larger sites in London can be done in phases, out of hours, so part of the building keeps working.
- We trace the duct and find every way in.
- Grease thickness is measured at set points.
- Out of hours, the area is protected and the access panels opened.
- Heavy deposits come out by hand, then each section is degreased.
- Panels are closed, readings and photos repeated, and unreachable sections recorded.
Before we arrive
- Let us know how we reach the system, including roofs, risers and plant rooms
- Tell us the best time to work, such as after service or at a weekend
- Tell us about site rules, permits or sign-in
Get a fixed quote
Want a quote for ductwork cleaning? Please give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or send us an email with a few details about the site. We will talk you through the work and give you a fixed quote before you commit to anything.
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Signs you need ductwork cleaning in London
A duct with too few access doors can’t be fully cleaned. Stretches with no way in may never have been touched, and the grease there keeps building out of sight.
Most sites get in touch after spotting one of these:
- A grease test showing the duct is overdue
- Heavy grease at the base of a riser
- Sections of duct with no access panels
- Stale grease odours from the duct
Healthcare kitchens can’t easily close, so their extracts are cleaned overnight or between meal services; the nearest hospital to London is Surrey Dispensary, about within half a mile south-east.
Comparing quotes
- Whether the work can be done while the site is closed
- Whether a written report and pictures are included
- Proof of accreditation you can verify
- How areas they cannot reach will be recorded
When something else is needed
Some problems need a different service or another trade:
- Sections that can’t be reached safely without new access (those are recorded, and panels can be fitted)
- A worn-out fan that needs replacing
- Ductwork that is corroded, split or holed (that needs a ductwork contractor)
If in doubt, call us on 0345 646 2711 or email us and we will say what we think before you book.
Parts of the system we cover
- Horizontal duct runs
- Attenuators
- Bends and junctions
- Access panels
- Vertical risers
- Multi-storey ducts
More services for London
What affects the quote in London
The survey tells us what the work involves. The main factors are:
- The condition we find in the survey
- One-off work versus a regular cycle
- The scale of the work
- Site requirements such as sign-in and permits
Kitchens, offices, schools and hospitals are all priced the same way: the size of the job, access, condition and working hours. Ask for a fixed quote and we will explain each part.
Asking for a quote
A few details help us quote accurately. With your enquiry, please include:
- Where the site is and what kind of site it is
- Anything you’ve noticed, such as smells, noise, drips or poor airflow
- The roof, plant room or outside wall the system runs to
- The times we could work without disrupting the site
To get a fixed quote, call us on 0345 646 2711 or send us an email and tell us the type of site, your opening hours and roughly what the system looks like. A few pictures and your last certificate or report help a lot. You will usually have a quote within one working day.
Common questions in London
Who carries out food hygiene inspections in London?
The local authority for London is Southwark council, and its environmental health team does the inspecting. It helps to keep the extract cleaning records with your food safety paperwork, so they’re ready if asked for.
Do you clean school canteen extracts around London out of term?
Yes. Half-terms and the summer break are the natural time for school work. Around London, the Food Standards Agency lists about 93 schools and colleges with registered kitchens within a mile and a half or so. You can give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or email us with the dates the site is empty.
Will I get a report after the ducts are cleaned?
You get a photo report with before and after pictures, and a full TR19 clean also comes with a certificate issued through the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal. Keep both in the maintenance log.
Are you insured?
Yes. Duct Doctor is fully insured, and we can share the details when you need them.
What should I send you?
Just the basics: where it is, what kind of site, when it’s open and the access. Photos and the last report help too. After that, simply call 0345 646 2711 or send us an email.
Can you look after several sites?
Yes. Tell us the addresses and what each needs and we will quote them together.
How do you know if the ductwork needs cleaning?
We measure it. Using a Wet Film Thickness Test or Deposit Thickness Test, we check the grease at set points. BESA guidance says the mean shouldn’t exceed 200 microns, and 500 or more anywhere needs immediate spot cleaning.
What does ductwork cleaning cost?
Every site is different, so each gets its own fixed quote. For a quote, give us a ring on 0345 646 2711, or send details by email with the site type, opening hours and a few pictures.