Hertfordshire · TR19 inspections and grease testing
TR19 inspections and grease testing in Thorley, Hertfordshire
TR19 inspections, grease thickness testing, pre-clean surveys and post-clean verification for commercial sites in Thorley and across Hertfordshire. BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease.
- Extracts that have never been grease tested
- Sections of duct that can’t be reached
- Heavy grease suspected in the plenum or ducts
Common questions in Thorley
Can school kitchens in Thorley be cleaned in the holidays?
Yes, holiday work suits schools best. The FSA’s register shows about 14 schools and colleges with food registrations within roughly a mile and a half of Thorley. Tell us your holiday dates and we’ll book the visit for when the site is empty.
Can you come to Thorley after we close?
Yes, nights and weekends are routine for us. The site is handed back ready to open. Your opening times are the first thing we ask for.
Is there a survey before the work?
Yes. Every job is surveyed first, from your pictures and details, or with a visit where necessary. A fixed quote follows.
What do the grease readings need to be?
TR19® Grease says the mean shouldn’t exceed 200 microns between cleans, with 500 microns or more anywhere needing immediate spot cleaning.
What information do you need?
Some photos and a quick description of the system plus the address and your hours. We will ask for anything else we need.
Do you check other contractors’ cleans?
Verification means repeat readings and pictures once the clean is done. Any areas that weren’t cleaned properly are flagged.
How do you measure grease in a kitchen extract?
WFTT and DTT are the two methods for measuring grease thickness, in microns. We take readings at set points from canopy to fan.
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.
TR19 inspection for kitchens and businesses in Thorley
BESA’s minimum cleaning frequencies depend on how long the kitchen cooks each day: heavy use (12 to 16 hours a day) every 3 months, moderate use (6 to 12 hours) every 6 months and light use (2 to 6 hours) every 12 months. Grease testing shows whether your kitchen needs cleaning more often than that. Typical jobs include cleaning intervals that may not suit the kitchen and sites with gaps in their extract records, across pre-clean surveys, insurer audits and wet film thickness tests.
Work in a small place like Thorley starts with a call to agree access and timings, and the clean covers the whole system, as it would anywhere: canopy, filters, duct, fan and discharge, with a certificate and photo report at the end.
The report is your system’s health record: dated, with pictures, and showing what was done. For TR19® Grease cleans, the certificate comes through the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal and sits alongside the report.
- Place
- Thorley (CM23)
- Wider area
- Hertfordshire
- Paperwork
- Certificate plus before-and-after pictures
- Quotes
- A fixed price before any work starts
- Working hours
- Nights, weekends or holidays to suit you
- Telephone
- 0345 646 2711
- Last updated
- 30 October 2026
How the visit works
Your staff don’t need to do much on the day. Someone lets us in at the agreed time and shows us where everything is, and the rest is down to us. Afterwards, the area is left tidy and the written report follows. Somewhere like Thorley, lanes, gates and parking are worth mentioning in advance.
- Post-clean verification is booked once the clean is done.
- The same access points are opened up.
- We repeat the WFTT or DTT readings.
- We photograph each area to record how it was left.
- We report the findings and flag any areas that need more work.
How to prepare
- Let us know when the site is closed or quiet
- Have your last certificate or report to hand
- Mention any parking or loading restrictions
Ask for a quote
Some systems can be priced from pictures; others need a survey. Big or complicated sites, and systems that are hard to see in photos, get a survey first. Either way, you get a fixed price before work begins.
Advice
Why act early in Thorley
A pre-clean survey avoids surprises on the night. Missing access panels, hidden duct runs and awkward fans are found before the cleaners arrive, and the quote reflects the real job. Equipment tucked in a roof space or outbuilding near Thorley rarely gets looked at unless someone books it.
Leaving it longer rarely makes the work cheaper. Problems in a system tend to grow, and a neglected system can mean more work. If you are not sure what’s needed, give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or send us an email and we will give you an honest view and a fixed quote.
Why us?
- Member of BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease
- CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001
- A written report with pictures after every visit
- Survey first, then a fixed quote
Take a look at how cleaning jobs are priced or our accreditations and certificates.
How the job changes from site to site
Canopy and plenum
Clean-looking filters do not mean a clean plenum. That is why we test behind them.
Vertical risers
Access to risers is often limited. We record what can and can’t be reached.
When it’s something else
It’s worth knowing the limits before booking:
- Installation problems, which fall under design guidance such as DW172
- Hidden runs that need access panels first
- Fire safety duties beyond the extract system
Not sure which it is? You can give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or send us an email and we’ll tell you honestly before you book.
Where we work
- Access surveys
- Post-clean checks
- Deposit thickness tests
- Wet film thickness tests
- Insurer audits
- Pre-clean surveys
Places near Thorley
Also in Thorley
Multi-site and managed buildings
Managing agents often deal with us directly. Send the address, what’s needed and how access works, and we’ll send a fixed quote.
Landlords, managing agents and facilities managers book us, not only the businesses that use the systems. Where a system serves more than one tenant, such as a shared riser, it helps to agree who arranges the work, and we can quote for the whole system.
What TR19 inspection looks like in Thorley
According to Food Standards Agency records, there are about 6 pubs and bars across Thorley and its immediate surroundings (about a mile and a half). Where they serve hot food, their kitchen extracts need cleaning to TR19® like any restaurant’s. Kitchens in Thorley get their food hygiene inspections from East Hertfordshire council. Extraction counts as kitchen equipment, so its condition can come up on the day. Before-and-after pictures from each clean are a simple way to show the extract is in hand. Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service covers Thorley. In most workplaces, including commercial kitchens, it’s the fire and rescue authority that enforces the Fire Safety Order.
If you run a church or community hall kitchen, near Parish Church of St James the Great or elsewhere in Thorley, its extract still collects grease from every lunch and event. Bursars and site managers at schools such as Richard Whittington Primary School tend to book extract cleaning for when the kitchen is empty.
Thorley is about 1 mile south-west of Bishop's Stortford, in Hertfordshire. Thorley gets the same approach as every site we work on: a survey first, a fixed quote, work timed around your hours and a report with photos. Thorley is one of 381 towns, villages and districts in Hertfordshire we cover for TR19 inspection. Our Chelmsford page covers sites nearby, about 17 miles away.
TR19 inspection in CM23 follows the same survey, fixed quote and written report as everywhere else we cover. We also cover the places around Thorley: Thorley Street (1 mile east), Spellbrook (1 mile south-east), Bishop's Stortford (1 mile north-east), Little Hallingbury (2 miles south-east) and Allen's Green (2 miles south-west). Within a short drive, we also cover Stevenage (14 miles west), Welwyn Garden City (15 miles west), Hoddesdon (9 miles south-west), Cheshunt (13 miles south-west), Hertford (10 miles west) and Ware (8 miles west).
Local landmarks in Thorley
Around Thorley, our work takes us to kitchens and buildings near Coach And Horses Public House and The Bishop's Stortford High School. The nearest railway station is Bishops Stortford station, about 1.5 miles north-east. A little further out are Bishops Stortford Local History Museum (2.4 miles north) and Moated mound (3 miles north-west). Open spaces near Thorley include Portingbury Hills and Thorley Wash nature reserve.
What your team can do, and what needs us
Logging matters as much as cleaning. A dated log of in-house cleaning and checks shows an inspector that the system is looked after between visits, alongside our reports.
For ventilation and air handling systems, in-house care is mostly about checks: clear grilles, a log of filter changes and reporting anything odd. The inside of ducts and units needs a specialist.
Common problems we fix in Thorley
Grease in a duct is flammable fuel. A flare-up on the range can be drawn into the canopy and duct, and from there a fire can spread through the ductwork. Knowing how much there is lets you act before it becomes a hazard.
Look out for any of the following:
- Sections of duct that can’t be reached
- Confirming a clean reached the whole system
- Kitchen extract systems with no recent grease readings
- Heavy grease suspected in the plenum or ducts
Healthcare kitchens, like those at hospitals such as Herts and Essex Hospital (about 1.7 miles north-east), often cook for long hours, which puts them in BESA’s heavier-use bands.
Comparing quotes
- Whether inaccessible sections are listed on the report
- When the next visit should be, and why
- Exactly which parts of the system are covered
- What records you’ll receive afterwards