Kitchen extract cleaning for restaurants and pubs

Cleaned overnight, never lose a service

A restaurant or pub kitchen earns its money during service, so that is the one time we never want to be in it. We clean when you’re closed: after the last covers, overnight, early in the morning or on the day you shut. The range is switched off and left to cool, the line is sheeted, and waste grease and water are contained and taken away. By the time your team comes in for prep, the kitchen is handed back clean and ready.

Every job starts with a survey. We look at the system from your photos and details, or on a site visit, so we know where the duct runs, where the access panels are and how heavy the grease is. Then you get a fixed quote, usually within one working day, and a date that suits your trade.

What a restaurant or pub kitchen needs

Most kitchens need more than a wipe of the canopy. A full TR19® Grease kitchen extract clean covers:

• Canopy and hood, inside and out, and the plenum behind the filters
• Grease filters, cleaned or swapped on a regular exchange
• Ductwork and risers, through access panels
• The extract fan and its housing, and the discharge
• Grease traps under sinks and dishwashers
• Kitchen deep cleans of walls, floors, ceilings and cooking equipment
• Fire damper testing where the duct passes through a fire-resisting wall or floor

If the fan is noisy or struggling, we can look at extract fan repair at the same time. Where smells are a problem for neighbours, odour control maintenance keeps carbon filters and ESP units working.

How often: cooking hours and the BESA bands

BESA’s guidance on kitchen extract cleaning sets minimum cleaning intervals by how many hours a day the kitchen cooks:

A restaurant open for lunch and dinner every day often sits in the moderate or heavy band. A pub that cooks lunch and evening food on most days usually lands in the moderate band, and a quiet pub serving a short menu may be light. Cooking style matters too: grills, woks, fryers and charcoal produce more grease and smoke than a kitchen that mostly steams and bakes.

These intervals are minimums. The real interval should come from a risk assessment backed by grease thickness readings. BESA says grease should not exceed a mean of 200 microns between cleans, and 500 microns or more at any point needs immediate spot cleaning. Our guide on how often to clean a kitchen extract explains more.

The responsible person, insurers and the law

TR19® is not law. It is BESA’s specification and the benchmark that insurers, fire officers and EHOs look to. The law is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which makes the “responsible person” assess and reduce fire risk. In a kitchen, that means keeping grease in the extract under control. In a restaurant or pub that is usually the owner, the operator or the licensee, and in a leased pub the lease often splits the duty between landlord and tenant. GOV.UK explains the responsible person’s duties.

Many insurance policies ask for proof of regular cleaning to TR19, and an insurer can refuse or reduce a claim without it. A fire that starts on the range can be drawn into the canopy and duct, where built-up grease gives it fuel to spread. Cleaning on schedule, and keeping the paperwork, protects the building and the business. See who is responsible in a leased kitchen.

EHO visits and your food hygiene rating

Environmental health officers from your council inspect food businesses, and they look at the cleanliness of the premises and equipment, extraction included. A greasy canopy, dripping filters or a sticky ceiling around the hood are easy to spot. Your score is published on the Food Standards Agency’s food hygiene ratings site, where customers can look it up.

A clean extract, a recent certificate on file and a deep-cleaned kitchen make for an easier visit. Read more in what EHOs look for in kitchen extraction.

Certificates and photo reports

We are a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. After every clean you get a TR19® certificate issued through the BESCA VHE portal, and a photo report with before and after pictures of the system. The report lists what was cleaned, the grease readings, any section we couldn’t reach and the recommended date for the next clean. If parts of the duct can’t be reached, we can fit new access panels so the next clean covers the whole run. Think of it as a clean bill of health for the kitchen.

Pubs, older buildings and hidden ductwork

Many pubs are old buildings, and their kitchens were often added long after the pub was built. The extract may run through a cellar, up the back of a chimney breast, across a roof void or out through a flat roof above the bar. Ducts like that can be long, with bends and few access panels, and parts of them may not have been cleaned for years. Restaurants in converted shops and basements have the same problem: the canopy is easy to see, but the duct is hidden behind ceilings and boxing.

Our survey finds the whole route before we quote. If there are sections we can’t reach, we tell you, record them on the report and can fit access panels so the next clean covers them. A canopy-only clean leaves the grease in the duct, which is where a fire can spread. Our guide on canopy-only cleaning versus a full clean explains why the whole system matters. Signs it is overdue include grease dripping from the canopy, filters that clog quickly, a fan that sounds laboured and smells that linger after service; see signs your extract needs cleaning.

Groups and multi-site scheduling

If you run several restaurants or a group of pubs, we can put every site on one maintenance contract, with 3, 6 or 12-monthly cleans set by each kitchen’s cooking hours. Each site gets its own certificate and photo report, so area managers and insurers can see exactly where every kitchen stands. We cover London and the South East, and we have a 24/7 emergency line for the night something goes wrong.