Essex · TR19 inspections and grease testing
TR19 Inspection in Littlebury
Our technicians work in Littlebury on TR19 inspections, grease thickness testing, pre-clean surveys and post-clean verification. Fixed quotes, work around your opening hours and photo reports on every job.
- Parts of the system left out of past cleans
- Heavy grease suspected in the plenum or ducts
- Kitchens taken over with no cleaning records
What the work involves, part by part
Extract fan and discharge
Grease builds up on the fan blades and inside the housing. They’re included in the readings and pictures.
Horizontal duct runs
Grease can gather thickly at bends and along long runs, out of sight of the kitchen.
TR19 inspection for kitchens and businesses in Littlebury
A grease test measures how thick the grease is inside a kitchen extract system. We use the Wet Film Thickness Test (WFTT) or the Deposit Thickness Test (DTT), taking readings at set points. The results show whether the system needs cleaning and how soon. Common call-outs are for kitchens taken over with no cleaning records and heavy grease suspected in the plenum or ducts, on pre-clean surveys, insurer audits and wet film thickness tests.
Rural kitchens often have long, low duct runs through a roof space or along an outside wall, and those horizontal sections are where grease settles. Access, parking and timings are agreed before the day.
Duct Doctor has been trading since 2009, as a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001 are in place too, and we carry full insurance.
- Location
- Littlebury (CB11)
- Wider area
- Essex
- Reporting
- Certificate plus before-and-after pictures
- Quotes
- A fixed price before work begins
- Hours
- After hours by arrangement; emergencies any time
- Telephone
- 0345 646 2711
- Checked
- 30 October 2026
Managing agents and facilities teams in Littlebury
Records are where multi-site compliance often slips. Each visit produces a dated report with photos, ready to show insurers, fire officers or EHOs.
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 each one has its own record.
Littlebury: your questions answered
Do you do school kitchen extract cleaning in Littlebury in the summer holidays?
Yes, holiday work suits schools best. Food Standards Agency records list about 4 schools, colleges and universities with registered kitchens within about a mile and a half of Littlebury. You can call 0345 646 2711, or send details by email with the dates the site is empty.
Who would carry out a food hygiene inspection at a kitchen in Littlebury?
Food hygiene inspections in Littlebury are carried out by Uttlesford council. It helps to keep the extract cleaning records with your food safety paperwork, so they’re ready if asked for.
Which kinds of sites do you work on?
Restaurants and pubs, hotels, schools and colleges, hospitals and care homes, offices and retail, plus food production and leisure sites.
Is TR19 cleaning the law?
No. TR19® is a specification, not a statute. Without TR19 records, an insurance claim can be reduced or refused, so following it is the sensible course.
Can you quote from photos?
Yes, if we can see what we need. If not, a site survey comes first, then a fixed quote.
What is a WFTT or DTT grease test?
We measure the grease at set points with a WFTT or DTT test, and set against the TR19® Grease figures.
How long does grease testing take?
As a guide, it takes an hour or two for a single kitchen, longer for a large or complex system. The size of the system and the access make the difference.
Will you produce a report for our insurer?
Yes. We inspect the system and produce a report with grease readings, pictures and any inaccessible areas. It’s set out for your insurer or broker.
The process
We work around your opening hours, not the other way round. Most visits are booked for when the area is out of use, such as evenings, overnight, early mornings or weekends. Once we’re in, the area is sheeted and anything that has to be off is turned off and cooled, and the job takes around an hour or two per canopy and duct system. In a small place like Littlebury, the journey is planned ahead and the visit arranged around the site’s hours.
- The visit is arranged for when the kitchen isn’t busy.
- We look over the canopy, plenum, ducts, fan and discharge.
- We take WFTT or DTT readings at set points along the system.
- Photos are taken at each point, and access gaps noted.
- We send a report setting out the readings, photos and next steps.
Preparing for the visit
- Agree a time when the area can be out of use
- Clear the space around the work
- Mention any locked doors, roof access or ceiling voids
Ask for a quote
The quickest way to a quote is to send pictures: the system from a couple of angles, plus any access panels or hatches. Tell us what kind of site it is and when it’s open, and we can price many jobs without a visit.
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Why it’s worth doing now in Littlebury
Finding a hotspot early means a targeted spot clean rather than a bigger problem later. Left alone, grease keeps building between cleans. A planned visit to Littlebury is easier to arrange than an emergency callout.
What you pay depends on how big the system is, what state it’s in and how easy it is to reach. We give you a fixed price before we start, so you know where you stand.
Why us?
- Full insurance on every job
- Ventilation hygiene specialists since 2009
- Out-of-hours work and a 24/7 emergency line
- One number for every site across the South East and London
Take a look at how cleaning jobs are priced and our accreditations and certificates.
Between visits
Good habits slow the build-up between visits. A few tips:
- Do not box in or cover duct access panels
- Keep canopy edges and gutters wiped down
- Look out for grease drips round the canopy edge
- Book the next test on the date in the report
You get a report with the grease readings, where they were taken and photos of each point. File it alongside your TR19 certificates.
When cooking hours or the menu change, check the interval still fits. Fresh readings show whether it needs to change.
TR19 inspection in Littlebury: the local picture
The FSA’s food hygiene register includes about 4 pubs, bars and clubs in Littlebury and the streets around it, up to about 1.5 miles out. A pub or hotel kitchen that cooks every day builds up grease in its extract like any other. Kitchens in Littlebury get their food hygiene inspections from Uttlesford council. A greasy canopy or dripping filters are the sort of thing an inspection can pick up. A TR19® certificate and photo report after each clean gives you a record to show an inspector. Fire safety in Littlebury falls to Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. Its fire safety officers can audit commercial kitchens, and grease in the extract is part of a kitchen’s fire risk.
A hall kitchen that only cooks for events, whether near Church of the Holy Trinity or elsewhere in Littlebury, still needs its extract cleaned, just less often. Kitchens that cook twelve hours or more a day, as some healthcare kitchens do, fall into BESA’s three-monthly minimum; Saffron Walden Community Hospital is the nearest hospital to Littlebury, about 2.1 miles east. Historic houses near Littlebury, such as Audley End House about 1.1 miles south-east, are a reminder that older buildings with event kitchens can have long, awkward duct routes.
Littlebury is about 2 miles north-west of Saffron Walden, in Essex. Wherever you are in the CB11 postcode area, we cover TR19 inspection for commercial sites. Our area takes in 644 places across Essex, large and small. Chelmsford is in our area too, around 24 miles away.
Work in CB11 follows the same survey, fixed quote and written report as everywhere else we cover. Streets in the area include High Street, Walden Road and Cambridge Road, all of which we cover for TR19 inspection. If your site is just outside Littlebury, we cover Audley End (1 mile south), Little Chesterford (1 mile north), Saffron Walden (2 miles south-east), Wendens Ambo (2 miles south) and Little Walden (2 miles north-east). Within a short drive, we also cover Great Dunmow (13 miles south-east), Stansted Mountfitchet (9 miles south), Elsenham (8 miles south), Church End (13 miles south-east), Thaxted (8 miles south-east) and Newport (3 miles south).
What’s near Littlebury
We work in commercial kitchens and buildings around Queens Head Inn, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Great Chesterford station, roughly 1.9 miles north of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Saffron Walden Community Hospital (2.1 miles east) and Saffron Walden Museum (1.5 miles south-east). Green spaces nearby include Hales and Shadwell Woods.
What TR19 inspection can’t fix
It’s worth knowing the limits before booking:
- Parts of the duct nobody can reach yet
- Ductwork that was designed or installed badly
- Mechanical faults in the extract
If in doubt, ring 0345 646 2711 or email us and we’ll say what we think.
Where we work
- Insurer audits
- Deposit thickness tests
- Wet film thickness tests
- Pre-clean surveys
- Post-clean checks
- Access surveys
How we price TR19 inspection
Your quote is based on your site. We consider:
- Parking and loading at the site
- The scale of the work
- Any permits to work or inductions
- Whether several sites go on one quote
What you pay reflects the actual work. That’s why every job is surveyed first, and why the quote is fixed before we start.
Helping us quote
The more you tell us, the more accurate the quote. When you get in touch, it helps to send:
- The roof, plant room or outside wall the system runs to
- Photos showing the whole system and its surroundings
- Close-ups of filters, grilles, hatches or access panels
- Any symptoms, from odd noises to smells or leaks
We don’t publish a price list, because no two systems are the same. We look at your system first, from pictures or on a visit, then send a fixed quote. To get going, call 0345 646 2711 or use the quote form.