Greater London · Ductwork cleaning
Ductwork cleaning in Southborough, Greater London
Looking for ductwork cleaning in Southborough? We diagnose first, fix the price and book the work around your hours, finishing with a written report and pictures.
- Duct runs with no cleaning record
- Heavy grease at the base of a riser
- Gaps where access panels were never fitted
Ductwork cleaning for kitchens and businesses in Southborough
Once air leaves the canopy, it travels through ductwork that most people never see. Every horizontal run and vertical riser collects grease along the way and a fire in the duct can spread through the building. We clean it from the inside, through access panels, to BESA TR19® Grease. The work covers attenuators, multi-storey ducts and access panels, and common reasons people get in touch are fat dripping from the ductwork and stale grease odours from the duct.
In London, few kitchens can spare a day to close, so extract cleaning in Southborough is usually done overnight, after the last service. Before the clean, we agree loading, parking and roof access with whoever manages the building.
Nothing is signed off by word of mouth: a written report, dated and illustrated with photos, plus a certificate through the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal when the work is a TR19® Grease clean. It shows what was done and what, if anything, couldn’t be reached.
- Place
- Southborough (BR2, BR1)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Records
- TR19® certificate and photo report
- Quotes
- A fixed quote up front
- Working hours
- After hours by arrangement; emergencies any time
- Call
- 0345 646 2711
- Last updated
- 30 October 2026
Different parts, different methods
Horizontal duct runs
Long horizontal runs need access panels at regular intervals. Where the gaps between panels are too long, we record what couldn’t be reached and can fit extra panels.
Multi-storey and shared buildings
Ducts in taller or shared buildings often run past other occupiers. We plan access with you and the building manager, so the clean is done safely and quietly.
What we do, step by step
On the day, we arrive at the time agreed with you, which is often after service, overnight or at a weekend. Equipment that has to be off is switched off and allowed to cool before work begins, and floors and nearby surfaces are sheeted. The work itself takes a shift or more, depending on the length of the runs and the number of access points. Loading bays, visitor permits and roof access are the first things we ask about for a site in Southborough.
- We trace the duct and find every way in.
- We take grease readings along the route.
- Once the kitchen has closed, we protect the area and open the panels.
- Heavy deposits come out by hand, then each section is degreased.
- Panels are closed, readings and photos repeated, and unreachable sections recorded.
Preparing for the visit
- Let us know when the site is closed or quiet
- Make sure equipment near the work can be switched off and left to cool
- Dig out any earlier paperwork for the system
Get a fixed quote
Photos are enough for some jobs, while others need a look on site. Big or complicated sites, and systems that are hard to see in photos, get a survey first. Either way, the quote is fixed before any work is booked.
Related advice
How we price ductwork cleaning
You will get a fixed price before work begins. It’s based on:
- The number of sites or systems
- The condition of the system
- Any permits to work or inductions
- How big the system is
What you pay reflects the actual work. That’s why every job is surveyed first, and why the quote is fixed before we start.
Asking for a quote
What to send for a quote:
- When the site is open and when it’s quiet
- Problems your staff have spotted
- The paperwork from the last visit, if you have it
- Wide photos of the system and the area around it
For ductwork cleaning in Southborough, phone us on 0345 646 2711 or email us. Let us know the site type and the opening hours, plus photos or the previous report if they’re to hand. We normally send a fixed quote within one working day.
Also near Southborough
More services for Southborough
Landlords, agents and facilities managers
We also work for facilities teams across offices, schools and healthcare in Southborough and across Greater London. Larger estates can be phased building by building to keep disruption down.
From a single site to a large estate, you get the same standard: the system surveyed, the price fixed, the visit fitted around trading and everything written up afterwards.
What ductwork cleaning looks like in Southborough
Food Standards Agency records list about 104 cafés, restaurants and staff canteens and about 44 takeaways in Southborough and the streets around it, up to about 1.5 miles out. Behind every canopy among them is a run of ductwork that collects grease out of sight. Overnight is the normal time to clean a London kitchen extract, so trading is not affected. Southborough sits within the area of London Fire Brigade. In most workplaces, including commercial kitchens, it’s the fire and rescue authority that enforces the Fire Safety Order.
Volunteers running a hall kitchen near St Augustine's Church, or anywhere in Southborough, may not know when the extract was last cleaned, and a grease test settles it. Bursars and site managers at schools such as Southborough Primary School tend to book extract cleaning for when the kitchen is empty.
Southborough is about 2 miles south-east of Bromley, in Greater London. Every kind of commercial site in Southborough, ductwork cleaning is something we can help with. We can work out of hours so the site keeps running. Southborough is one of 764 towns, villages and districts in Greater London we cover for ductwork cleaning. Our London page covers sites nearby, about 10 miles away.
Every address in BR2 and BR1 is covered for ductwork cleaning, from the main roads to the quietest streets. You’ll find streets such as Pope Road, Crown Lane and Union Road, all of which we cover for ductwork cleaning. If your site is just outside Southborough, we cover Bromley Common (1 mile south-west), Petts Wood (1 mile east), Locksbottom (2 miles south-east), Shortlands (2 miles west) and Crofton (2 miles south-east). Within a short drive, we also cover London (10 miles north-west), City of Westminster (12 miles north-west), Marylebone (12 miles north-west), Kensington (13 miles north-west), St Pancras (12 miles north-west) and Shoreditch (11 miles north-west).
Landmarks near Southborough
Typical jobs here are in premises near Bishop Justus CofE School, Jubilee Country Park and The Chequers Public House, among other places. Southborough’s nearest station is Bickley station, about 0.7 miles north of the centre. Nearby you will also find Bethlem Museum of the Mind (0.9 miles south-west) and Bridgeways Day Hospital (less than half a mile south). The countryside around Southborough includes Summer Hill and Downham Woodland Walk.
Between visits
A little care between visits keeps the system in better shape. We recommend:
- Run the extract fan throughout service
- Consider fitting panels where the report shows gaps
- Store the certificate with the fire risk assessment
- Book the next clean before the recommended date
When the duct is cleaned as part of a full TR19® Grease clean, a TR19 certificate is issued through the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal. It shows when and where the clean was done and by whom.
Some signs mean the duct needs attention sooner: drips from the ductwork, stale smells or a noisy fan. Testing will show whether any section has reached 500 microns.
Staff cleaning versus specialist work
A few tasks are always specialist work: opening up ductwork, cleaning fans, drop testing fire dampers and measuring grease need training, the right equipment and safe access. That’s our job.
For ventilation and air handling systems, in-house care is mostly about checks: clear grilles, a log of filter changes and reporting anything odd. Cleaning inside ducts and units is specialist work.
Your questions about ductwork cleaning in Southborough
Do you work overnight in Southborough?
Yes, out-of-hours work is a big part of what we do. That way a site in Southborough does not have to lose a day’s trading. Your opening times are the first thing we ask for.
Can parking be tricky for a job in Southborough?
A loading bay, a visitor permit or off-street space near the site in Southborough makes the visit easier to plan. Working overnight, as we often do in London, typically makes it simpler.
Will we have to shut during the visit?
Usually not. Booking the work out of hours means the site can carry on as normal. Bigger sites can be done in stages to keep things running.
How often does extract ductwork need cleaning?
BESA guidance sets minimum intervals by daily cooking hours: every 3 months for 12 to 16 hours, 6 months for 6 to 12 hours and 12 months for 2 to 6 hours. Measured grease sets the real interval.
Is TR19 cleaning required by law?
Not in itself. TR19® is the benchmark insurers, fire officers and EHOs check against, and many insurers ask for proof of cleaning to it. The law behind it is the Fire Safety Order 2005 in England and Wales.
How do you protect the area?
Protection goes down first: sheeting over floors, worktops and anything close to the work. The area is left tidy, with our waste taken away.
What if part of the duct can’t be reached?
We clean everything we can reach and record what we can’t. Extra panels can be installed, and we can do that for you.
How long will the duct clean take?
It depends on the length of the duct, the number of access panels and how much grease there is. As a guide, it takes anything from a few hours to several visits, depending on the length of duct.
Do you need ductwork cleaning in Southborough?
Damaged or poorly fitted filters let more grease into the duct. More grease reaches the ductwork than it should and it fills faster.
These are the problems we see most often:
- Fat dripping from the ductwork
- Duct runs that can’t be reached
- High readings at a recent grease test
- A rancid smell from the extract duct
Healthcare kitchens cannot easily close, so their extracts are cleaned overnight or between meal services; the nearest hospital to Southborough is Bridgeways Day Hospital, about under half a mile south.
Questions to ask before booking
- When the next visit should be, and why
- What records you will receive afterwards
- How areas they cannot reach will be recorded
- Whether the figure could change on the day