BlueTick Extraction Hygiene · 07840 992 246 · bluetickhygiene.co.uk
TR19 kitchen extract checklist
For owners and managers of commercial kitchens: how often the extraction should be cleaned, what a proper clean covers, what the report should prove and what to keep on file. TR19 Grease is BESA guidance, not law; the legal duty to manage fire risk comes from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
1. Know your cleaning interval
- Work out how many hours a day the kitchen cooks. BESA TR19 Grease sets the interval from that: 12–16 hours a day, every 3 months; 6–12 hours, every 6 months; 2–6 hours, every 12 months.
- Read the cleaning condition in your insurance policy. Some policies set their own interval or wording; note it next to the TR19 interval and follow whichever is stricter.
- Put the next due date in your diary and in your fire risk assessment records.
2. Before the clean
- Agree a time when the kitchen is not cooking. Early morning, evening or overnight cleans avoid lost trading.
- Confirm access to the extract fan, whether it is on the roof, an outside wall or in a plant room, and any keys or permits needed.
- Ask whether access panels will be needed. Without them only the first stretch of duct can be reached.
- Clear worktops under the canopy and tell staff and neighbours if the roof or a shared yard will be used.
3. What should be cleaned
- Canopy interior and underside, back to bare metal.
- Grease filters, removed and degreased (or replaced if warped or split).
- The plenum, the void behind the filters where grease collects out of sight.
- Every reachable section of ductwork, through access panels.
- The extract fan: impeller and housing.
- The discharge point, where it can be reached safely.
4. What the report should show
- Grease thickness measured before and after the clean, at stated points in the system.
- Dated before-and-after photographs of each part cleaned.
- A list of any section that could not be reached, and why.
- The name and qualification of the person who did the work.
- A recommended date for the next clean.
- A certificate you can show an insurer, environmental health officer or fire officer, ideally with a number that can be checked online.
5. Between cleans
- Degrease baffle filters regularly: weekly, or daily in a busy fryer kitchen.
- Wipe the visible canopy surfaces and check drip trays and grease cups.
- Watch for grease weeping from duct joints or the fan: it means the system is loading faster than the interval assumes.
- Keep the extract running while cooking; it is part of the fire safety system.
6. Keep on file
- The last certificate and the full post-clean report.
- The cleaning condition from your insurance policy.
- Your fire risk assessment, with the extract cleaning noted.
- Your next due date.
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