Greater London · Kitchen extract cleaning
Kitchen extract cleaning in Southwark, Greater London
Need kitchen extract cleaning in Southwark? We survey first, give you a fixed quote and work around your opening hours, then sign off with a report and photos.
- Poor airflow at the canopy
- Rancid smells from grease in the duct
- A TR19 certificate needed for the insurer
Part by part
Restaurant and pub kitchens
Busy restaurant and pub kitchens often cook for long hours, frying and grilling, which can put them in BESA’s 3 or 6-monthly bands. Cleans are done after close, overnight or before opening.
Canopy and plenum
Whether it’s one hood or a long island canopy, each section is cleaned and photographed before and after.
Commercial kitchen extraction cleaning in Southwark
A kitchen extract system is far more than the canopy you can see. Behind it sit the plenum and grease filters, then the ductwork, risers, extract fan and discharge, and grease settles in every one of them. Our clean follows the air from canopy to discharge, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. Common call-outs are for ductwork thick with old, hardened grease and a new tenancy or takeover with no cleaning history, on canopies and hoods, vertical risers and extract fans. If you need a kitchen extract clean in Southwark, you get one team and one number for every site, wherever you are in Greater London.
Most kitchens in Southwark fall into one of BESA’s three bands: every 3 months for 12–16 hours, every 6 months for 6–12 hours and every 12 months for 2–6 hours, adjusted by what the grease readings show.
London kitchens are often tucked into basements or the back of a building, with extract ducts that can climb several floors to discharge at roof level. For a kitchen in Southwark, that typically means a longer system to clean and more access panels to plan around.
Our accreditations include CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, and we are fully insured. We’re also a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease, and we have been trading since 2009.
- Location
- Southwark (SE1, SE11)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Reporting
- TR19® certificate and photo report
- Quotes
- A fixed price before any work starts
- Working hours
- When your site is closed, plus a 24/7 line
- Phone
- 0345 646 2711
- Updated
- 30 October 2026
Do you need kitchen extract cleaning in Southwark?
The reason for all this is fire. A flare-up on the range can be drawn up into the canopy and duct, and once grease in the duct catches, fire can spread through the building’s ductwork. For a kitchen in Southwark, keeping that fuel under control is part of the fire risk assessment.
Common reasons sites call us include:
- Missing paperwork after a change of operator
- A kitchen with no current TR19 certificate
- Grease dripping from the canopy or filters
- A TR19 certificate needed for the insurer
If you run a church or community hall kitchen, near Borough Welsh Congregational Chapel or elsewhere in Southwark, its extract still collects grease from every lunch and event.
What to look for in a quote
- Whether the whole system is included, or only the parts that are easy to reach
- Whether the quote shows VAT
- Whether the price is fixed
- Whether the work can be done while the site is closed
Towns and villages near Southwark
Also in Southwark
What kitchen extract cleaning can’t fix
An honest diagnosis matters more to us than a booking, so here’s what kitchen extract cleaning won’t do:
- Faulty fire dampers in the duct
- Fat blocking the kitchen drains
- A fan motor that has burnt out
If in doubt, call 0345 646 2711 or send us an email and we will say what we think before you book.
Parts of the system we cover
- Extract fans
- Canopies and hoods
- Horizontal duct runs
- Vertical risers
- Plenums and filters
- Discharge points
The process
The first job on site is protection: sheeting goes over floors and surfaces close to the work. After that, the system is made safe and the work begins. The work on site takes anything from a few hours to a full night, depending on the size of the system, and we clear up before we go. In Southwark, as across London, we normally work overnight or at weekends and hand the site back ready to open.
- First the diagnosis: a survey of the whole system and its access points.
- Grease readings set the baseline, and a fixed quote follows.
- We arrive after close, protect the area and contain the waste.
- Heavy deposits are scraped by hand and the system degreased to TR19® Grease.
- Then the clean bill of health: readings, a TR19 certificate and a photo report with the next date.
Preparing for the visit
- Mention any sign-in, permit or induction we need
- Arrange a key holder or contact on site
- Agree a time when the area can be out of use
Ask for a quote
To get a fixed quote, phone us on 0345 646 2711 or use the quote form with the site type, your trading hours and a short description of the system. Photos and the last report, if you have one, make the quote quicker. You’ll typically have a quote within one working day.
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Common questions in Southwark
Do you do school kitchen extract cleaning in Southwark in the summer holidays?
Yes. Half-terms and the summer break are the natural time for school work. Around Southwark, the Food Standards Agency lists about 93 schools and colleges with registered kitchens within a mile and a half or so. Tell us your holiday dates and we will book the visit for when the site is empty.
Which council inspects kitchens in Southwark?
In Southwark, it’s Southwark council that carries out food hygiene inspections. Ratings are published by the Food Standards Agency, so a clean extract and good records are worth keeping up.
Are you accredited for kitchen extract cleaning?
We’re a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001 sit alongside that, and we are fully insured.
How much notice do you need?
The more notice, the better, especially for out-of-hours work. We normally quote within one working day, and emergencies are covered by our 24/7 line.
What if parts of the system can’t be reached?
They’re listed in the report, never skipped quietly. You’ll know exactly which parts weren’t reached and why, and we can quote to improve the access.
How much does kitchen extract cleaning cost in Southwark?
There’s no set price, as it depends on the job: how big it is, what state it’s in, how we reach it and the working hours. We fix the price before any work starts.
What do you do with what you remove?
We take it away when we go. During the work, it’s contained so the area stays clean.
What’s the right cleaning interval for a kitchen extract?
BESA guidance sets minimums by daily cooking hours: 3-monthly for heavy use, 6-monthly for moderate use and 12-monthly for light use. Grease readings can show a shorter interval is needed.
Landlords, agents and facilities managers
Facilities teams in offices, schools and healthcare sites book us too in Southwark and across Greater London. Larger estates can be phased building by building around the people who use them.
We regularly work with managing agents. Tell us the site, the work and the access arrangements and we will come back with a fixed quote.
Why deal with it now?
If your kitchen in Southwark is past its cleaning date, it’s worth booking now. It takes as long as the system needs, from a few hours to several planned visits, and we fit around your opening hours. Every extra month adds grease. Leaving it on a busy London site only adds to the work.
You will not find a price list here, because the cost depends on the site in front of us. For a fixed quote, call us on 0345 646 2711 or send us an email, and we’ll talk you through it.
Why choose Duct Doctor in Southwark
- Fixed quotes from a survey or pictures
- Accredited under CHAS and SafeContractor, with ISO 9001
- In business since 2009
- Work around your opening hours, with 24/7 emergency cover
See what affects the cost and our accreditations and certificates.
Kitchen extracts in Southwark
Look up Southwark on the FSA’s food hygiene register and you’ll find about 2,326 cafés, restaurants and staff canteens and about 809 sandwich bars and takeaways in Southwark and the streets around it, up to about 1.5 miles out. Those that fry, grill or roast under a canopy need their extracts cleaned at intervals set by how long they cook. London Fire Brigade covers Southwark. The Fire Safety Order puts the duty on whoever runs a kitchen to control its fire risk, and a greasy duct is fuel. Food hygiene inspections in Southwark are the job of Southwark council’s environmental health team. A greasy canopy or dripping filters are the sort of thing an inspection can pick up. Our report lists what was cleaned and when, which is useful to have ready.
If you run a café or takeaway near Elephant & Castle station, early starts and late finishes leave little time to clean, so overnight extract cleaning suits. Kitchens that cook twelve hours or more a day, as some healthcare kitchens do, fall into BESA’s three-monthly minimum; Surrey Dispensary is the nearest hospital to Southwark, about under half a mile south-east.
Southwark is about 0 miles north-west of London, in Greater London. Anywhere in SE1, we can take on kitchen extract cleaning. Across Greater London, we cover 764 places, and Southwark is one of them.
Postcode districts we cover here for kitchen extract cleaning: SE1 and SE11. Local streets include Borough Square, Trinity Church Square and Merrick Square, and we cover them all for kitchen extract cleaning. You will find Southwark on the A300 and B240, which makes it straightforward for our technicians to reach for out-of-hours visits. Other places close to Southwark include Tower Hill (1 mile north-east), City of London (1 mile north), Aldgate (1 mile north-east), Bishopsgate (1 mile north-east) and Barbican Estate (1 mile north). Within a short drive, we also cover City of Westminster (3 miles west), Kensington (5 miles west), Walthamstow (7 miles north-east), Hampstead (5 miles north-west), Ruislip (14 miles west) and Brompton (3 miles west).
What’s near Southwark
We work in commercial kitchens and buildings around London School of Musical Theatre, Little Dorrit's Playground and St Mary-at-Hill, among other places. You will also find Ark Globe Academy (less than half a mile south-east), The BFI Reuben Library (0.9 miles north-west) and The Gladstone Arms (under half a mile north-east). The nearest railway station is Elephant & Castle station, roughly 0.5 miles south of the centre. A little further out are Gabriel's Wharf (0.7 miles north-west) and Baynard's Castle (0.8 miles north). Green spaces nearby include Ludgate Hill and Bellenden Road Nature Garden.
In-house cleaning or a specialist?
Some jobs should never be done in-house: opening up ductwork, cleaning fans, drop testing fire dampers and measuring grease call for the right kit, training and safe access. Leave those to us.
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.