Cafés — Kitchen Extract Cleaning in Hertfordshire

Café kitchens are easy to underestimate. Hours can be shorter than a restaurant's, but a breakfast grill, a fryer or a flat-top used every day still sends grease into the canopy and duct. We arrange TR19 extract cleaning quotes for cafés and tea rooms across Hertfordshire, North London, Luton, Bedford and Harlow. An independent specialist provider carries out the clean and issues the certificate.

Café culture runs deep on the patch. Green Lanes is full of cafés, from the independently owned ones on the Palmers Green shopping parade to the Turkish bakeries and cafés of Harringay. In Letchworth, the world's first garden city, residents voted against a licensed pub in 1907. The Skittles Inn opened that year as the 'pub with no beer', and the town centre had no licensed pub until the Broadway Hotel opened in 1962. A village café has the same fire safety duties as a busy high-street coffee shop.

Which TR19 frequency band cafés fall into

TR19 Grease sets minimum cleaning intervals by daily cooking hours: every twelve months for 2 to 6 hours a day, every six months for 6 to 12 hours and every three months for 12 to 16 hours. A café cooking breakfasts and lunches for a few hours usually sits in the light, annual band. One serving hot food from early morning into the afternoon is moderate use and six-monthly. If you fry, the provider's grease readings may justify a shorter interval than hours alone suggest. The TR19 compliance guide explains more.

Fire risk assessment, insurance and hygiene

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to assess and reduce fire risk, and a greasy canopy and duct is a hazard the assessment should cover. London Fire Brigade guidance says every catering kitchen extract needs cleaning at least once a year unless the fire risk assessment recommends otherwise, so a small menu is no reason to skip it. Insurers may refuse a claim if a fire is traced to a poorly maintained system. Your food hygiene rating is set separately, through the scheme the Food Standards Agency runs with local councils, and in England display is encouraged but not a legal requirement.

What a full clean covers

Even a small café extract has the same parts. The provider cleans the canopy and filters, the full ductwork run to the discharge and the extract fan, with access panels fitted where needed. Grease-depth readings are taken before and after, and TR19 Grease sets 200 microns as the limit between cleans. You receive a certificate with before-and-after photographs. Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service advises degreasing hoods and filters daily or as the manufacturer recommends, which your staff can do between professional cleans.

Fitting the clean around opening hours

If you close by late afternoon, an evening clean is straightforward and costs no trading time. If you trade from a listed building, a shopping parade or a garden centre, tell us when you enquire so the provider can plan access to the roof or rear yard. If you are not sure of the duct route, an inspection report will map it.

Café groups and several sites

If you run more than one café, we can arrange one quote for all of them. Each site gets its own certificate, and dates are spread so no two sites are affected at once. The cost guide shows what affects the price.

Cafés we arrange quotes for

We arrange quotes for cafés in Letchworth, Welwyn Garden City, Hitchin, Royston, St Albans, Harpenden, Berkhamsted, Tring and Ware. In North London we cover Palmers Green, Southgate, Muswell Hill, Finchley and Wood Green.

Where we see these kitchens most

Services: TR19 extract cleaning · canopy cleaning · ductwork · filters · what it costs

Frequently Asked Questions