Kent · TR19 inspections and grease testing
Lower Hartlip TR19 inspection
Specialist TR19 inspection for Lower Hartlip: a survey, a fixed price, careful work and proper paperwork. Call for a fixed quote.
- Kitchen extract systems with no recent grease readings
- Cleaning intervals that may not suit the kitchen
- Confirming a clean reached the whole system
Grease, kitchens and Lower Hartlip
At about 3 miles from the coast, Lower Hartlip is close enough for sea air to matter. Near the sea, the fan and discharge at the top of a kitchen extract corrode faster than they would inland. The FSA’s food hygiene register shows about 9 cafés, restaurants and staff canteens and about 3 takeaways and sandwich shops within about 1.5 miles of central Lower Hartlip. Each kitchen extract among them can be measured for grease to set the right cleaning interval. Lower Hartlip is covered by Kent 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.
If you run a church or community hall kitchen, near Church of St Michael or elsewhere in Lower Hartlip, its extract still collects grease from every lunch and event. Healthcare kitchens, like those at hospitals such as Medway Maritime Hospital (about 5 miles north-west), often cook for long hours, which puts them in BESA’s heavier-use bands. If you look after a school kitchen, at a school such as Hartlip Endowed Church of England Primary School or anywhere near Lower Hartlip, the holidays are the usual time for a TR19® clean.
Lower Hartlip is about 3 miles south-east of Gillingham, in Kent. We carry out TR19 inspection for businesses, landlords and public buildings in Lower Hartlip and the rest of Kent. Lower Hartlip is one of 922 places in Kent we cover for TR19 inspection. For sites nearby, see our Maidstone page, about 8 miles away.
Every address in ME9 is within our area for TR19 inspection, from the main roads to the quietest streets. Local streets include Lower Hartlip Road, Grainey Field and Old House Lane, all of which we cover for TR19 inspection. Other places close to Lower Hartlip include Hartlip (1 mile west), Breach (1 mile north-east), Newington (1 mile east), Moor Street (1 mile north-west) and Meresborough (1 mile west). Within a short drive, we also cover Maidstone (8 miles south-west), Sittingbourne (4 miles east), Gravesend (13 miles north-west), Faversham (11 miles east), Northfleet (14 miles north-west) and Minster (8 miles north-east).
What’s near Lower Hartlip
Around Lower Hartlip, our work takes us to kitchens and buildings near Foxburrow Wood and Leigh Academy Rainham and the streets around them. The closest station to Lower Hartlip is Newington station, roughly 1.1 miles north-east. Well-known places in the area include Court Hall Museum (3.8 miles east) and Bayford Court (4.3 miles east). Open spaces near Lower Hartlip include Detling Hill and Bishop Saltings.
How we handle TR19 inspection in Lower Hartlip
BESA’s minimum cleaning frequencies depend on how long the kitchen cooks each day: every 3 months for heavy use of 12 to 16 hours a day, every 6 months for moderate use of 6 to 12 hours, and every 12 months for light use of 2 to 6 hours. Those are minimums, and grease readings help set the real interval. Typical jobs include post-clean verification after another contractor’s clean and surveys needed before quoting a full clean, across insurer audits, access surveys and pre-clean surveys.
For a kitchen in or near Lower Hartlip, the visit is planned around opening hours and the journey, and the clean covers the whole system, as it would anywhere: canopy to discharge, then a TR19® certificate and a photo report.
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.
- Where
- Lower Hartlip (ME9)
- Region
- Kent
- Reporting
- TR19® certificate and photo report
- Quotes
- A fixed quote up front
- When we work
- After hours by arrangement; emergencies any time
- Call
- 0345 646 2711
- Last updated
- 30 October 2026
Towns and villages near Lower Hartlip
Also in Lower Hartlip
What your team can do, and what needs us
Good housekeeping makes our visits easier, not unnecessary. Clean filters and tidy surfaces slow the build-up, but the parts you cannot see still need a specialist at the right interval.
Day-to-day cleaning is something your team can do: wiping down canopy surfaces, cleaning filters and keeping a simple log. What they cannot safely do is clean inside the ductwork, the fan or the risers, which is where we come in.
FAQs for Lower Hartlip
Will you come out to Lower Hartlip?
Yes, Lower Hartlip is part of our area, however small the site. A survey first, from pictures or a visit, means we arrive with the right kit.
Which fire service covers Lower Hartlip?
Kent Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service for Lower Hartlip. A recent cleaning certificate and a note of the next clean date show that grease in the extract is being managed.
Can you look after several sites?
Yes. One number covers all your sites across London and the South East, with visits on a regular schedule.
What grease levels does TR19 allow?
TR19® Grease says grease should not go over a mean of 200 microns between cleans. 500 microns or more at any point calls for immediate spot cleaning.
How do you measure grease in a kitchen extract?
The Wet Film Thickness Test (WFTT) and Deposit Thickness Test (DTT) measure how thick the grease is at a given point. Readings are taken at set points through the system.
Do we have to follow TR19 by law?
No, TR19® is not legislation. But the responsible person must assess and reduce fire risk under the Fire Safety Order 2005, and grease in the extract is part of that. Many insurers also expect TR19 cleaning.
What do you do to protect the area?
With sheeting and covers, before anything else happens. We keep the work contained and clean down when we finish.
Why survey before a clean?
It’s a look at the whole extract before it’s cleaned, with readings and photos. We can work from pictures and details, or visit, as suits the job.
How we price TR19 inspection
You will get a fixed price before any work starts. It takes into account:
- Whether several sites go on one quote
- The condition we find in the survey
- Site rules, permits and inductions
- Whether we need access equipment or extra panels
No two sites are the same, so each one gets its own fixed quote. The size of the job, how we reach it, its condition and the working hours all make a difference.
What we need to know
The more you tell us, the more accurate the quote. When you get in touch, it helps to send:
- Any access panels or hatches you can see
- How we’d reach plant on a roof or in a plant room
- Your opening hours and when the area is out of use
- Any symptoms, from odd noises to smells or leaks
Quoting starts with a diagnosis, either from pictures and details you send or from a site visit. After that, you get a fixed price for the work, before we start.
How the visit works
Protection comes first: floors, worktops and anything near the work are covered. Then we make the system safe and start. It takes a couple of hours for a typical kitchen extract system, and we clear up before we go. Photos of the system and how to reach it help us plan a visit to Lower Hartlip.
- First we book a time that won’t disrupt cooking.
- 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.
- You get a report with readings, pictures and recommendations.
Before we arrive
- Let us know when the site is closed or quiet
- Let us know about permits to work or site inductions
- Tell us about access, such as roof hatches, plant rooms, ceilings or locked areas
How to get a quote
Want a quote for TR19 inspection? Please phone us on 0345 646 2711, or email photos with a few details about the site. We will explain what we’d do and send a fixed quote before you commit to anything.
Read more
Landlords, agents and facilities managers
From a single site to a large estate, the standard is the same: the system surveyed, the price fixed, the visit fitted around trading and everything written up afterwards.
We work for landlords, managing agents and facilities managers as well as the people running the site. Where a system serves more than one tenant, such as a shared riser, it helps to agree who arranges the work, and we’re happy to quote for all of it.
How the job changes from site to site
Canopy and plenum
Behind the filters, the plenum catches plenty of grease. We take readings there and photograph it as part of every survey.
Schools, hospitals and care homes
Hospital and care home kitchens can cook all day, every day. Readings show if cleaning is frequent enough.
Why deal with it now?
If a kitchen in Lower Hartlip has been cleaned on the same calendar for years, there’s no way to know if that interval is right without measuring. Testing gives you the evidence to set it properly. It’s worth booking a check, because nobody sees inside a duct day to day.
One small site or a whole estate, we price it on the same basis: what needs doing, how we get to it and when. You will have a fixed price before work begins.
Why Lower Hartlip businesses choose us
- Fixed quotes from a survey or pictures
- Ventilation hygiene specialists since 2009
- Every job surveyed first
- One number for every site across the South East and London
Read our cost guide and our accreditations.
Looking after it afterwards
Think of this as the after-treatment advice, in brief:
- Flag oily drips near the extract
- Keep access panels clear and unpainted
- Send TR19 audit reports to your insurer on request
- Keep TR19 certificates, readings and reports together
Readings of 500 microns or more are highlighted as needing immediate spot cleaning, and we can quote to do it.
Test grease regularly instead of relying on the calendar. It shows if build-up is speeding up.