Greater London · Extract fan cleaning
South Kensington extract fan cleaning
Extract fan cleaning across South Kensington and nearby, booked around your opening hours and signed off in writing with photos.
- A fan coated in grease inside its housing
- A motor area thick with grease
- Grease stains around the discharge
How the job changes from site to site
Impellers and blades
A clean impeller shows any damage: chips, distortion or wear. Anything we see goes on the report.
Kitchens with long cooking hours
In a busy kitchen, the fan rarely gets a rest, so grease and wear build up together. Cleaning on time helps keep it running.
About our extract fan cleaning in South Kensington
The fan is cleaned as part of every full TR19® Grease clean, but some fans need cleaning between full cleans, for example when it’s noisy or vibrating. Where only the fan is cleaned, the report says so. If you have burning smells from the fan area and a motor area thick with grease, we can help, from axial fans, discharge points and in-line fans onwards.
London kitchens are often tucked into basements or the back of a building, and the duct may run up through several floors before it discharges at the roof. In South Kensington, as elsewhere in the capital, a long duct run means more access points to open and more grease to remove.
The report is your system’s health record: a dated account with pictures of everything we did. For TR19® Grease cleans, the certificate comes through the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal and sits alongside the report.
- Location
- South Kensington (SW3, SW7, SW10)
- Region
- Greater London
- Records
- Certificate and photo report
- Quotes
- A fixed price before work begins
- When we work
- Evenings, overnight and weekends; 24/7 emergencies
- Phone
- 0345 646 2711
- Updated
- 30 October 2026
What extract fan cleaning looks like in South Kensington
There are about 1,261 restaurants, cafés and works canteens and about 120 takeaways and sandwich shops across South Kensington and its immediate surroundings (about a mile and a half), according to the Food Standards Agency’s register. Where they cook under a canopy, an extract fan is pulling grease-laden air through its blades every service. In South Kensington, food businesses are inspected by environmental health officers from Kensington and Chelsea council. They look at how clean the premises and equipment are, and the kitchen extract is part of that. Our report lists what was cleaned and when, which is useful to have ready. South Kensington is covered by London Fire Brigade. Its fire safety officers can audit commercial kitchens, and grease in the extract is part of a kitchen’s fire risk.
Church and community hall kitchens, near Chapel of St Luke or anywhere around South Kensington, are easy to forget, but their extracts collect grease like any other. Bursars and site managers at schools such as Our Lady of Victories RC Primary School tend to book extract cleaning for when the kitchen is empty.
South Kensington is about 1 mile south-east of Kensington, in Greater London. We carry out extract fan cleaning for commercial premises of every kind in South Kensington and the rest of Greater London. We cover 764 places across Greater London, from busy centres to quieter spots.
All of SW3, SW7 and SW10 is covered for extract fan cleaning, from the main roads to the quietest streets. We cover sites on King's Road, Fulham Road and Museum Lane and the roads around them. South Kensington sits on or near the A3217, which makes travel easy for extract fan cleaning. Close by, we work in Little Chelsea (1 mile south), Chelsea (1 mile east), Brompton (1 mile north-east), World's End (1 mile south) and Earl's Court (1 mile west). Further out, we also cover London (4 miles east), St Pancras (4 miles north-east), Shoreditch (5 miles north-east), Walthamstow (9 miles north-east), Hoxton (5 miles north-east) and Whitechapel (5 miles east).
What’s near South Kensington
We work in commercial kitchens and buildings around London School of Dramatic Art, Burton’s Court and Anglesea Arms and the streets around them. Nearby too are Natural History Museum Library and Archives (within half a mile north) and Collingham College (0.5 miles west). The closest station to South Kensington is West Brompton station, roughly 0.8 miles west. Nearby you will also find Victoria and Albert Museum Spiral (under half a mile north) and Baynard's Castle (3.6 miles north-east). Not far away are Serpentine and Campden Hill.
What we are called out for in South Kensington
A fan on a roof or hidden in a ceiling void is easy to forget. If it wasn’t included in past cleans, it may hold years of grease, and the report will show it.
Any of these means the system needs a check-up:
- Hot, greasy smells near the fan
- Thick grease on the impeller and casing
- A fan that no longer moves enough air
- A fan left out of previous cleans
If you run catering at a healthcare site, such as a hospital like Royal Marsden Hospital about less than half a mile east, the extract may need cleaning more often than a part-time kitchen.
What to look for in a quote
- What hours they’ll be on site
- Which accreditations they hold, and whether you can check them
- What happens if part of the system cannot be accessed
- Whether the quote is based on a survey or pictures
What affects the quote in South Kensington
There’s no set price list, because no two systems are the same. The quote depends on:
- Whether it’s a one-off visit or part of a schedule
- How many systems or sites are involved
- The condition we find in the survey
- Any permits to work or inductions
Kitchens, offices, schools and hospitals are all priced the same way: how much there is, how we reach it, what state it’s in and when we can work. Ask for a fixed quote and we’ll go through it with you.
What to send for a quote
We can often survey from pictures. Try to include:
- The postcode and the type of business
- Your opening hours and when the area is out of use
- How we’d reach plant on a roof or in a plant room
- Any symptoms, from odd noises to smells or leaks
Some systems can be priced from photos; others need a survey. Larger sites, and anything hidden behind walls, ceilings or floors, are normally surveyed first. Either way, you get a fixed price before we start.
Nearby places to South Kensington
What else we do in South Kensington
For landlords and multi-site operators
When the building owner and the occupier are different, it’s worth checking the lease for who maintains the systems. We’re happy to deal with either side and send the paperwork to whoever needs it.
Keeping records across a portfolio is half the battle. Each visit produces a dated report with photos, ready to show insurers, fire officers or EHOs.
In-house cleaning or a specialist?
In-house cleaning and specialist cleaning do different jobs. A daily filter wipe and a weekly filter wash keep grease down at the front of the system, but grease that has passed the filters is out of reach. Reaching it takes a specialist with the right equipment.
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. Leave those to us.
How the visit works
Everything the job needs comes with us, from protective sheeting to tools and access equipment. You only need to give us clear access and switch off what needs to be off. On site, the work takes a couple of hours per fan, depending on its size and the build-up. Getting kit into a London building takes planning, so let us know where we can load and park in South Kensington.
- We find the fan and check how it’s reached and how it’s isolated.
- The fan is isolated so it cannot start while we work.
- Grease is scraped from the impeller blades and the inside of the housing.
- We degrease the fan and housing, taking care around the motor.
- It’s closed up, run and checked, and pictures go into your report.
Before we arrive
- Make sure someone can let us in and lock up afterwards
- Let us know about permits to work or site inductions
- Allow time for equipment near the work to be turned off and cool down
Getting a quote
There’s no standard price list, because no two systems are the same. Instead, we look at your site first, from photos or a survey, and then give you a fixed quote. To get going, call 0345 646 2711, or send details by email.
Read more
Why it’s worth doing now in South Kensington
The fan is part of the fire path. A TR19 clean that left out the fan wouldn’t cover the whole system, and insurers asking for TR19 cleaning expect the full system. A booked night’s work in South Kensington costs you no trading time; an unplanned closure does.
When the work has to happen, how we reach it and how big the site is all affect the cost. Each of those is built into the quote, and the price is fixed before work begins.
Why choose Duct Doctor in South Kensington
- One number for every site across the South East and London
- Ventilation hygiene specialists since 2009
- Fixed quotes from a survey or photos
- Fully insured
FAQs for South Kensington
Can school kitchens in South Kensington be cleaned in the holidays?
Yes, out-of-term visits are normal for schools. There are about 61 schools, colleges and universities on the FSA’s food hygiene register within about 1.5 miles of South Kensington. You can phone us on 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line with the dates the site is empty.
Is parking a problem for work in South Kensington?
Parking and loading in London need planning, so tell us about bays, permits and building rules when you book. If the building has a loading slot system, we’ll book into it.
What does extract fan cleaning cost?
The cost depends on the size of the system, its condition, access and timing. Call for a fixed quote, typically ready within one working day.
Can you fix a fan that’s worn out?
A fan that needs repair is noted on the report, with what we found. We can repair or replace it, and if it fails outright, our 24/7 emergency line is there.
Who has the legal duty for fire safety?
The Fire Safety Order 2005 calls them the responsible person: often the employer, owner or occupier. In shared or managed buildings, a landlord, facilities manager or managing agent can share the duty.
Do you offer maintenance contracts?
Yes. Regular plans can run on 3, 6 or 12-monthly cycles, to suit the system and how it’s used.
Does the law say we must follow TR19?
No, not in itself. Insurers, fire officers and EHOs look to TR19® as the benchmark, and many insurers ask for proof of cleaning to it. The legal duty sits in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in England and Wales.
What accreditations do you have?
Our accreditations are CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, alongside BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite membership, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. Vent Hygiene Elite is run by BESCA and independently audited.