Guide - Fire Safety - UK-Wide
Grease in the canopy and duct is fuel - which makes it a fire risk assessment matter, not just a cleaning one. Here is how the clean, the certificate and your assessment fit together under the law.
The short answer
Grease in a canopy, filter set and duct is fuel, and fuel is exactly what a fire risk assessment exists to find and control. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 the responsible person must keep that risk managed - and the extract system is part of it:
An assessment that ignores the canopy and ductwork is not suitable and sufficient. Cleaning to TR19 Grease, and holding the certificate, is how you close that gap.
Why the duct is the hazard
A flare-up at a fryer or chargrill is, on its own, a contained event. What turns it into a building fire is the path it can take. A grease-coated duct gives flame a continuous fuel source running from the cookline, through the ceiling void, and out to the roof fan - so a moment's ignition at the pass can travel where neither staff nor extinguishers can reach it. This is precisely why the standard for kitchen extract cleaning is built around fire risk rather than appearance.
A fire risk assessment is meant to identify hazards like this and confirm they are controlled. For a commercial kitchen that means the assessor will look at the extract system and expect to see evidence it is cleaned on a sensible, risk-based schedule. The canopy and filters that staff can see are only the start - the hazard that matters most sits in the ductwork and the fan, out of sight, which is why a wipe-down of the visible canopy is not the same thing as managing the risk.
What the assessor expects
The fire risk assessment and the extract clean are two halves of the same duty. The assessment, carried out by a competent person, identifies the grease risk; the clean controls it; and the certificate is the evidence that links the two. An assessor reviewing your premises will typically want to see:
Why it matters
The Fire Safety Order is enforced. Failures to manage fire risk can lead to enforcement notices, prohibition notices and, in serious cases, unlimited fines and imprisonment. A grease-laden extract system that has been ignored is the kind of identifiable, avoidable hazard that makes an enforcement case straightforward - and the kind of thing an insurer will point to if a claim follows a kitchen fire.
None of that requires anything heroic. It requires the extract system to be treated as what it is - a fire-safety asset that has to be cleaned on a risk-based schedule and documented. Get the clean and the certificate right, and the canopy and ductwork stop being the weak point in your fire risk assessment and become evidence that you are managing the risk properly.
Questions
To be suitable and sufficient it should. Grease in the canopy and ductwork is a recognised fire hazard, so an assessment that ignores it has missed a significant risk. Assessors expect to see the extract system cleaned on a risk-based schedule and evidenced by a certificate.
It gives a flare-up at the cookline a continuous fuel path running through the ceiling void to the roof fan, so a contained ignition can travel to where it cannot be reached or fought. Controlling that fuel is the whole point of cleaning the system to a fire-safety standard.
No. The canopy and filters are only the visible part. The hazard that matters most sits in the ductwork and the extractor fan, out of sight, which must be cleaned on the risk-based interval. A canopy-only wipe does not control the fire risk or satisfy an assessor.
A current TR19 Grease certificate with micron readings, before-and-after photographs, a clear scope and a dated next-due interval. That document is what links the clean to the assessment and shows the responsible person is managing the risk.
Under the Fire Safety Order, failures to manage fire risk can lead to enforcement notices, prohibition notices and, in serious cases, unlimited fines or imprisonment - and a neglected greasy system is exactly the kind of avoidable hazard that makes an enforcement case or an insurance dispute straightforward.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
We clean the whole extract system to TR19 Grease and issue the measured certificate your assessment needs as evidence. No-obligation quote, UK-wide.