Hertfordshire · TR19 inspections and grease testing
TR19 inspections and grease testing in Baldock, Hertfordshire
Need TR19 inspection in Baldock? We survey first, send you a fixed quote and work around your opening hours, then sign off with a report and pictures.
- Ductwork where grease may be over the TR19 limits
- Missing TR19 certificates or history
- Insurers asking for TR19 evidence
TR19 inspection in Baldock, done properly
After a clean, post-clean verification checks the result, with fresh grease readings, photos and a look at the areas that were cleaned. It gives you evidence of how the system was actually left. The work covers pre-clean surveys, insurer audits and wet film thickness tests, and common reasons people get in touch are confirming a clean reached the whole system and systems that need surveying before cleaning.
In a smaller place like Baldock, many kitchens sit in older buildings or later extensions, with the duct running through a roof space or up an outside wall. Long horizontal runs like that hold grease and need access panels to reach.
It’s worth checking any contractor’s accreditations. Ours are BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite membership, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease, plus CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, with full insurance on top.
- Where
- Baldock (SG7, SG6)
- Wider area
- Hertfordshire
- Records
- Certificate and photo report
- Price
- A fixed quote up front
- Hours
- When your site is closed, plus a 24/7 line
- Call
- 0345 646 2711
- Updated
- 30 October 2026
Between visits
Good habits slow the build-up between visits. Our tips:
- Keep canopy edges and gutters wiped down
- Have the latest report ready for insurance renewals
- Diary the next grease test and clean
- Clean or swap grease filters as often as the kitchen needs
Keep the verification report next to the certificate it relates to. Together they show the system was cleaned and checked.
Revisit the cleaning interval whenever the menu or hours change. A quick grease test answers the question.
Questions from Baldock
Do you work in villages like Baldock?
Yes. Baldock is within the area we cover across London and the South East. Photos of the system and directions to the site help us plan the visit.
Do you clean school canteen extracts around Baldock out of term?
Yes, holiday work suits schools best. Around Baldock, the Food Standards Agency lists about 6 schools and colleges with registered kitchens within a mile and a half or so. Just call us on 0345 646 2711, or email photos with your term dates and we’ll plan around them.
Do we have to follow TR19 by law?
No. TR19® isn’t law; it’s BESA’s specification. The law is the Fire Safety Order 2005, under which the responsible person must manage fire risk, and insurers, fire officers and EHOs look to TR19® as the benchmark.
What happens if you can’t reach some of it?
We record them on the report, with a note of where it is, and we tell you what would make it reachable, such as extra access panels in ductwork.
Can you quote from pictures?
Yes, for many jobs. Send a few wide photos plus close-ups of panels, filters or grilles, and a fixed quote typically follows within one working day. If photos are not enough, we will survey first.
How often should grease be tested?
Enough to be sure grease stays within the TR19® Grease figures between cleans. The readings themselves tell you if the interval needs to change.
Can we book visits on a schedule?
Yes. Scheduled maintenance plans are part of what we do, set at the interval the system needs. Each report recommends when the next visit should be.
What should I send you?
Only a few details: the address, the site type, your opening hours and how we reach the system. Photos and the last report help too. After that, simply ring 0345 646 2711 or email us.
In-house cleaning or a specialist?
When your team notices a problem between visits, such as dripping grease, a noisy fan, a smell or a filter that will not come clean, it’s best reported rather than tackled in-house. We will take a look and give you a fixed quote.
Good housekeeping makes our visits easier, not unnecessary. Regular in-house cleaning slows the build-up, but the parts you can’t see still need a specialist at the right interval.
Different parts, different methods
Vertical risers
Access to risers is often limited. The survey shows exactly what access there is.
Extract fan and discharge
Grease builds up on the fan blades and inside the housing. We check and test them as part of the inspection.
When something else is needed
TR19 inspection can’t fix everything, and we will tell you before any work starts. It does not solve:
- Hidden runs that need access panels first
- Fan breakdowns, which need a repair visit
- Removing the grease, which is a separate clean
If in doubt, give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or send us an email and we will say what we think.
What we work on in Baldock
- Post-clean checks
- Wet film thickness tests
- Access surveys
- Pre-clean surveys
- Insurer audits
- Deposit thickness tests
Also near Baldock
More services for Baldock
TR19 inspection in Baldock: the local picture
The FSA’s food hygiene register includes about 12 pubs and bars in and around Baldock, up to about a mile and a half out. Any of them serving cooked food has an extract to keep clean, from canopy to discharge. Fire safety in Baldock falls to Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. Grease in a kitchen extract is a recognised fire risk, and the fire authority enforces the law on managing it in most commercial premises. Food hygiene inspections in Baldock are the job of North Hertfordshire council’s environmental health team. Extraction counts as kitchen equipment, so its condition can come up on the day. Keeping each certificate and photo report on file helps show the extract is looked after.
Volunteers running a hall kitchen near Church of St. Mary the Virgin, or anywhere in Baldock, may not know when the extract was last cleaned, and a grease test settles it. Commuter trade near Baldock station can mean long cooking hours, and long hours put a kitchen into BESA’s more frequent cleaning bands.
Baldock is about 2 miles north-east of Letchworth, in Hertfordshire. Across the SG7 area, we can carry out TR19 inspection at your premises. Across Hertfordshire, we cover 381 places, Baldock among them. For sites nearby, see our Milton Keynes page, about 25 miles away.
Every address in SG7 and SG6 is within our area for TR19 inspection, from the main roads to the quietest streets. Local streets include High Street, Station Road and London Road, all of which we cover for TR19 inspection. Main roads around Baldock include the A507 and B197, which makes travel easy for TR19 inspection. Other places close to Baldock include Clothall (2 miles south-east), Weston (2 miles south), Wallington (3 miles east), Rooks Nest (4 miles south) and St Nicholas (5 miles south). Larger places within reach include Stevenage (6 miles south), Welwyn Garden City (13 miles south), Harpenden (14 miles south-west), Hitchin (5 miles south-west), Hertford (14 miles south) and Ware (14 miles south-east).
Around Baldock
In Baldock, that means kitchens and buildings near Norton School, The Knights Templar School and The White Lion Public House and the streets around them. There’s a railway station in Baldock itself: Baldock station. A little further out are Fairfield Hospital (2.8 miles west) and First Garden City Heritage Museum (1.8 miles south-west). For a walk, there’s Purwell Ninesprings.
Multi-site and managed buildings
For anyone managing more than one site, we can plan visits across the whole estate and price them together. Every building has its own written report, so records stay tidy.
Managing agents often deal with us directly. Tell us the site, the work and the access arrangements, and we will send a fixed quote.
How the visit works
The visit has three parts: getting the area ready, doing the work and signing it off. Getting ready means protecting surfaces and switching off what needs to be off, and the sign-off is a written report with photos. Most of the time goes on the work itself, and that takes a couple of hours for a typical kitchen extract system. A site near Baldock normally has room to park, so the questions are about access to the system and your hours.
- We agree a time when the kitchen is closed or quiet.
- The system is checked from canopy to discharge.
- Grease readings are taken at set points using WFTT or DTT.
- We photograph the test points and record any sections we cannot reach.
- You get a report with readings, photos and recommendations.
Getting ready for the visit
- Dig out any earlier paperwork for the system
- Let us know about parking and loading
- Arrange a key holder or contact on site
How to get a quote
Photos are enough for some jobs, while others need a look on site. Larger sites, and anything hidden behind walls, ceilings or floors, are normally surveyed first. Either way, you get a fixed price before we start.
Read more
Common problems we fix in Baldock
You can’t judge grease thickness by eye. A system can look clean at the filters and be heavily coated further in, so readings are the reliable guide.
Any of these means the system needs a check-up:
- Kitchen extract systems with no recent grease readings
- Checking the result of a recent clean
- Heavy grease suspected in the plenum or ducts
- Cleaning intervals that may not suit the kitchen
If you look after a school kitchen, at a school such as Hartsfield Junior Mixed and Infant School or anywhere near Baldock, the holidays are the usual time for a TR19® clean.
Before you book anyone
- Whether a survey comes first
- What happens if part of the system cannot be accessed
- Whether a written report and pictures are included
- Which accreditations they hold, and whether you can check them