West Sussex · TR19 inspections and grease testing
TR19 inspections and grease testing in Balcombe Lane, West Sussex
One call covers TR19 inspection in Balcombe Lane: survey, fixed quote, work and sign-off. Fully insured, with CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001.
- Post-clean verification after another contractor’s clean
- Extracts that have never been grease tested
- Parts of the system left out of past cleans
How we handle TR19 inspection in Balcombe Lane
Under TR19® Grease, the mean grease thickness should stay at or below 200 microns between cleans, and 500 microns or more at any point needs immediate spot cleaning. Grease testing shows which side of those lines you are on. If you’re dealing with systems cleaned on a calendar with no measurements and insurers asking for TR19 evidence, we can help, from access surveys, insurer audits and deposit thickness tests onwards.
Work in a small place like Balcombe Lane starts with a call to agree access and timings, and the clean itself is the same full TR19® job as in any town: canopy to discharge, then a TR19® certificate and a photo report.
The report is your system’s health record: dated, with pictures, and showing what was done. Grease extract cleans are also certificated to TR19® Grease through the BESCA VHE portal and sits alongside the report.
- Place
- Balcombe Lane (RH17)
- Wider area
- West Sussex
- Paperwork
- TR19® certificate and photo report
- Price
- Fixed quote, normally within a working day
- Working hours
- Overnight and weekend work, 24/7 emergency callout
- Call
- 0345 646 2711
- Reviewed
- 30 October 2026
What TR19 inspection looks like in Balcombe Lane
The FSA’s food hygiene register includes about 3 pubs and bars within roughly a mile and a half of the centre of Balcombe Lane. Any of them serving cooked food has an extract to keep clean, from canopy to discharge. Food hygiene inspections in Balcombe Lane are the job of Mid Sussex council’s environmental health team. The cleanliness of the kitchen and its equipment, extraction included, is part of what they check. Before-and-after photos from each clean are a simple way to show the extract is in hand. Balcombe Lane sits within the area of West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. In most workplaces, including commercial kitchens, it’s the fire and rescue authority that enforces the Fire Safety Order.
Kitchens that cook twelve hours or more a day, as some healthcare kitchens do, fall into BESA’s three-monthly minimum; Crawley Hospital is the nearest hospital to Balcombe Lane, about 4.1 miles north-west. If you run a church or community hall kitchen, near The Parish Church of St Mary or elsewhere in Balcombe Lane, its extract still collects grease from every lunch and event.
Balcombe Lane is about 4 miles south-east of Crawley, in West Sussex. Anywhere in RH17, we cover TR19 inspection for commercial sites. Balcombe Lane is one of 371 towns, villages and districts in West Sussex we cover for TR19 inspection. You can also see our page for Brighton, roughly 17 miles from Balcombe Lane.
Postcode districts we cover here for TR19 inspection: RH17. We also cover the places around Balcombe Lane: Balcombe (1 mile south), Worth Abbey (2 miles north-east), Furnace Green (2 miles north-west), Pease Pottage (3 miles west) and Staplefield (3 miles south-west). Within a short drive, we also cover Crawley (4 miles north-west), Horsham (8 miles west), Haywards Heath (5 miles south), Burgess Hill (8 miles south), East Grinstead (6 miles north-east) and Broadfield (4 miles north-west).
What’s near Balcombe Lane
Around Balcombe Lane, our work takes us to kitchens and buildings near Oriel High School and the streets around them. Balcombe Lane’s nearest station is Balcombe station, roughly 1.3 miles south of the centre. Nearby you will also find Crawley Museum (3.9 miles north-west) and Waterbury Castle (4.8 miles south-east). Open spaces near Balcombe Lane include Blunts Wood and Paiges Meadow and Tilgate Lake.
Landlords, agents and facilities managers
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.
Records are where multi-site compliance often slips. Every visit ends with a dated report and pictures, ready to show insurers, fire officers or EHOs.
Questions from Balcombe Lane
Which fire authority looks after Balcombe Lane?
Balcombe Lane is in the area of West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. If a fire safety officer visits a commercial kitchen, they may ask about the fire risk assessment and how the extract is kept clean.
Do you do school kitchen extract cleaning in Balcombe Lane in the summer holidays?
Yes. The holidays are the usual time for school work. There are about 2 schools, colleges and universities on the FSA’s food hygiene register within about 1.5 miles of Balcombe Lane. Just ring 0345 646 2711 or use the quote form with your term dates and we will plan around them.
What information do you need?
Where the site is, what it is and when it’s open, along with a few pictures and any previous report.
Is there a survey before the work?
Yes, every time. We diagnose before we treat: the survey tells us what the system needs and how to reach it and the fixed quote is built on it.
What do the grease readings need to be?
Under TR19® Grease, the mean thickness should not exceed 200 microns between cleans. 500 microns or more at any point calls for immediate spot cleaning.
Can you inspect our extract for our insurance company?
Yes. Our TR19 audits cover readings, pictures, access and a recommended cleaning interval. It’s set out for your insurer or broker.
What types of premises do you cover?
Any commercial site with kitchens or ventilation, from a single café to a large school. We work with hotels, schools, care homes, offices, retail and leisure sites.
Can you verify a clean after it’s been done?
It’s an inspection after cleaning, to show what state the system was left in, whoever did the clean.
Looking after it afterwards
So the system stays in good health:
- Report grease dripping from the canopy
- Mention new equipment or longer hours at the next test
- Clean grease off the canopy between professional cleans
- Store grease readings where your insurer can see them
You get a report with the grease readings, where they were taken and photos of each point. Keep it with your fire safety and TR19 records.
Keep certificates, reports and readings in one place so you can produce them quickly.
What we are called out for in Balcombe Lane
TR19® is the benchmark that insurers, fire officers and EHOs refer to. TR19® itself is not law, but the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to assess and reduce fire risk, and grease in the extract is part of that risk.
These are the problems we see most often:
- Kitchens whose menu or hours have changed
- Sections of duct that cannot be reached
- Systems cleaned on a calendar with no measurements
- Heavy grease suspected in the plenum or ducts
If you run catering at a historic house or estate in the area (Tyes Place is about 3 miles south-west), event kitchens in older buildings often have awkward duct runs that need planning.
Questions to ask before booking
- Whether VAT is included
- Whether the figure could change on the day
- Their accreditations, such as BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite, CHAS or SafeContractor
- What hours they’ll be on site
How it works
The first job on site is protection: sheeting goes over floors and surfaces close to the work. Then we make the system safe and start. It takes anything from an hour for a small canopy and short duct to a good part of a day for a large site, and the area is cleaned down before we leave. Somewhere as small as Balcombe Lane, the date and timings are agreed with you well before the day.
- First we look at the system’s cleaning history, if there is one.
- We follow the extract from canopy to discharge.
- We note where access panels are and where more are needed.
- We measure the grease and photograph each point.
- We report back with readings and a fixed quote.
Preparing for the visit
- Name a contact who can let us in at the agreed time
- Move anything stored near the system
- Let us know about permits to work or site inductions
Ask for a quote
To get a fixed quote, give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or use the quote form with the site type, your trading hours and a short description of the system. A few pictures and your last certificate or report help a lot. You’ll usually have a quote within one working day.
Related advice
Honest limits
Not every problem is solved by TR19 inspection, and we’d rather say so up front. It does not solve:
- Design faults in the extract system
- Mechanical faults in the extract
- Fire safety duties beyond the extract system
If in doubt, give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or use the quote form and we will say what we think.
What the work covers
- Wet film thickness tests
- Post-clean checks
- Deposit thickness tests
- Insurer audits
- Access surveys
- Pre-clean surveys
Also near Balcombe Lane
Other services in Balcombe Lane
What the work involves, part by part
Schools, hospitals and care homes
We fit testing around service times and school holidays so meals are not affected.
Extract fan and discharge
The extract fan and its housing collect grease too. They’re included in the readings and pictures.
What affects the cost of TR19 inspection
We do not publish a price list, because no two systems are the same. The quote depends on:
- What state the system is in
- Site rules, permits and inductions
- How many systems or sites are involved
- The size of the system
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. Call for a fixed quote and we will go through it with you.
Helping us quote
To speed up the quote, send us:
- Close-ups of filters, grilles, hatches or access panels
- A few general shots of the system
- The paperwork from the last visit, if you have it
- When the site is open and when it’s quiet
The quickest way to a quote is to send photos: the system from a couple of angles, plus any access panels or hatches. Add the site type and your opening hours, and many jobs can be priced from that alone.