- Will I have to close?
- No. Cleans are booked overnight, after your last service, and finished before morning prep. If no night slot is free before your deadline, we tell you straight away.
- Will they accept it?
- A full-system clean to TR19® Grease, with the certificate and post-clean report a fire safety officer asks to see.
- How much?
- London kitchens typically pay £495–£1,200 for a small café, takeaway or pub and £1,200–£2,500 for a restaurant, plus VAT (market ranges, September 2026). A photo gets you a price for yours.
- Who does the work?
- An independent VHR-registered TR19® contractor. Nightshift arranges and manages the job, and the contractor issues your certificate.
- Will I get chased by five companies?
- No. You send one message. Your details go only to the contractor doing your clean.
What does “clean the extraction” on my fire risk assessment mean?
Your assessor found that the kitchen extract system isn't being cleaned, or that you couldn't show evidence it is. Fire risk assessments often ask a question like this one, from a published council assessment:
“Filters changed and extractors and ductwork cleaned regularly in accordance with the industry specification TR19?”
The Home Office checklist for small premises asks the same thing in fewer words: “Are filters and ductwork subject to regular cleaning?” A “no” becomes an action point. The fix is a full clean of the system to TR19® Grease, then the report filed with the assessment.
It isn't paperwork for its own sake. In May 2026, London Fire Brigade put out its ducting advice again after a fire at a Lee Green restaurant with homes above, which was “caused by a build up of grease in the ducting”.
Who can make me do it: the EHO, the fire brigade or my assessor?
Three different people, under three different sets of rules.
| Who | Which law | What they can do | How long you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your fire risk assessor | None: not an enforcer. Carries out the risk assessment the Fire Safety Order says you must have (article 9). | Writes the action point and its priority. | Whatever the assessment sets. |
| London Fire Brigade fire safety officer | Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The fire and rescue authority is the enforcer (article 25). | Asks to see your cleaning records. Can send an informal letter, an enforcement notice (article 30) or, if the risk is serious, a prohibition notice (article 31). | Enforcement notice: at least 28 days, can be extended. Appeal within 21 days. |
| Environmental health officer (your council) | Food hygiene law, and workplace health and safety, which councils enforce in catering businesses. | Can serve a hygiene improvement notice about dirty or poorly maintained premises, including ventilation. Scores cleanliness for your food hygiene rating. | Hygiene improvement notice: at least 14 days. |
An EHO doesn't enforce the Fire Safety Order; in London that's the fire brigade. But a greasy canopy and filters are also a food hygiene and workplace issue, so either visit can flag them.
Is cleaning kitchen extraction actually the law?
The duties are law. TR19® is the standard used to show you've met them, but it isn't law itself (more on TR19).
| Kind | What it says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Law: fire | Whoever runs the premises must take general fire precautions (article 8), assess the fire risk and keep a written record of the findings and the measures taken (article 9). | Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 |
| Law: food hygiene | “Food premises are to be kept clean and maintained in good repair and condition.” Ventilation filters and other parts that need cleaning must be “readily accessible”. | Regulation (EC) 852/2004, Annex II |
| Law: workplace | Mechanical ventilation must be “maintained (including cleaned as appropriate) in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair”. | Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, reg. 5 |
| Official guidance | “Any filters or ducts, over cooking appliances, should be cleaned on a regular basis to avoid the build-up of flammable deposits.” | Home Office guide for small premises |
| Official guidance, London | Extract systems need “annual cleaning as a minimum, unless the fire risk assessment recommends otherwise”, and cleaning should meet the TR19® Grease standard for post-clean checks. | London Fire Brigade GN86 |
| Industry and insurer practice | TR19® Grease: a mean grease reading over 200µm means a clean is due; over 500µm at any point needs cleaning straight away. Insurers write their own cleaning conditions into policies. | BESA; insurance policy wordings |
This is general information, not legal advice. Check your own policy or lease, or ask your broker or solicitor.
What should I do now?
- Find the deadline. It's on the assessment, the letter or the notice. An informal letter has no deadline in law but can be used as evidence if things go further. An enforcement notice gives at least 28 days.
- WhatsApp a photo of the canopy and the deadline. We come back with a price and the next overnight slot.
- Get the whole system cleaned, canopy to discharge, after close. A canopy-only clean won't close an action about ductwork.
- File the report with your fire risk assessment and record the action as done. The Fire Safety Order requires the assessment's findings, and the measures taken, to be recorded.
- Send a copy to whoever raised it: your assessor, the fire safety officer or the EHO.
- Can't make a notice deadline? Ask the fire brigade for more time before it runs out; they can extend an enforcement notice. If you think a notice is wrong, you have 21 days from the day it was served to appeal to the magistrates' court.
What evidence closes the action?
London Fire Brigade's guidance says the fire safety officer will ask to see post-clean verification of cleanliness records. It lists what that post-clean report shall include:
- The system(s) cleaned
- Pre and post clean measurements
- Pre and post clean photographic records
- COSHH data on any chemicals used
- Recommendations for future cleaning requirements
- A certificate summarising the cleaning works completed
- A sketch or schematic of the system indicating access panels and testing locations and clearly highlighting any un-cleaned/inaccessible areas with an explanation as to why the area could not be accessed/cleaned
Check any report against that list before you send it on, whoever did the clean.
Will dirty extraction affect my food hygiene rating?
It can. Part of your rating is a score for compliance with “structural requirements (including cleanliness, layout, condition of structure, lighting, ventilation, facilities etc.)”, judged by the officer on the day. Grease on the canopy and filters is visible on any inspection.
There is no fixed points deduction for a missing TR19 certificate, whatever some websites say. What gets scored is what the officer sees and how well the business is managed.
What if parts of the duct can't be reached?
HSE guidance says there should be “suitable access to the ductwork to allow regular cleaning”, and TR19® expects access panels at most every 2 metres and at each change of direction. Where a system doesn't have them, the report has to show which sections weren't cleaned and why, and recommend where panels should go. Expect your assessor to ask about those sections, so mention long runs, risers and roof fans when you send the photo. More on duct cleaning.
Sources
- Crawley Borough Council, Fire risk assessment (published example) (April 2019).
- Home Office, A guide to making your small non-domestic premises safe from fire (updated 20 January 2025).
- London Fire Brigade, Fire at a restaurant, Lee Green (10 May 2026).
- legislation.gov.uk, The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (articles 5, 9, 17, 22, 25, 30, 31, 35).
- Home Office, Fire Safety Order: enforcement and sanctions for non-compliance (updated 3 July 2026).
- London Fire Brigade, Fire Safety Guidance Note GN86: Catering kitchen extract systems (Rev 3, 1 May 2022).
- legislation.gov.uk, Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Annex II, Chapter I (food premises).
- legislation.gov.uk, Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, regulation 6 (hygiene improvement notices).
- legislation.gov.uk, Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, regulations 5 and 6.
- legislation.gov.uk, Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998, Schedule 1 (catering services).
- Food Standards Agency, Food Hygiene Rating Scheme Brand Standard (2026).
- HSE, Catering Information Sheet No 10: Ventilation in catering kitchens (2017).
- BESA, Kitchen extract system cleaning (TR19® Grease limits) (5 January 2026).
All sources read on 27 October 2026.