Cost & commercial
The price of an LEV thorough examination is not plucked from the air - it is the sum of a handful of measurable factors. Understanding them tells you why your quote is what it is, and where a genuinely cheaper number is quietly leaving something out.
The short answer
The price of an LEV thorough examination is not plucked from the air - it is the sum of a handful of measurable factors. Understanding them tells you why your quote is what it is, and where a genuinely cheaper number is quietly leaving something out.
The detail
Point count comes first. Because every hood and capture point is tested individually for velocity and static pressure, the examiner's time rises with the number of points, and time is the main thing you are paying for. The number of separate systems is the next lever, since each fan and its ductwork is a distinct examination producing its own readings and label.
Complexity and access adjust the total. Long or heavily branched ductwork, points at height or behind machinery, and testing around live production all lengthen the job. So does the state of the records: where there is no commissioning data to benchmark against, the examiner has to establish one by retrospective commissioning, and against HSG258 that judgement takes real time.
Three more factors round it out. Location adds travel where a provider has no local cover. Test frequency changes the annual bill, because while fourteen months is the legal ceiling, some higher-risk processes must be examined every six months or even monthly under COSHH and HSG258. And report quality sits behind the price: a full benchmarked report with schematics, photographs and a logbook entry is more work than a bare certificate, and it is the document that actually protects you in an inspection.
Two smaller factors are worth naming. The condition of the system affects the work, because a neglected unit with damaged ducting or clogged filters takes longer to assess and document than one kept in good order. And the scope you ask for matters: bundling interim checks, an airflow-indicator review or a maintenance visit with the statutory examination changes the figure, usually for the better per item, but it is a fuller product than the bare test and should be quoted as one.
What it means for you
Once you can see the drivers, a quote stops being a mystery. If one price is far lower, ask which driver it has shrunk: fewer points measured, no benchmarking where data is missing, or a one-page certificate in place of a report. Each of those is a real reduction in what you receive, not a discount on the same job.
The examination you want is the one priced honestly against these factors and delivered by a P601 examiner. That is the version that stands up when an inspector asks for the whole report, and the one that turns a routine cost into genuine protection rather than a box ticked.
It is also worth separating the one-off from the recurring. Establishing a benchmark on a system with no records is a cost you pay once; the routine examination that follows is cheaper because the reference already exists. Framing that first test as an investment in a benchmark, rather than a like-for-like comparison with later visits, makes the numbers behave sensibly year on year.
The service behind the guide
Sibling guides
How points affect the cost · Budgeting a multi-machine site · Why DIY rigs rarely pass
Questions
The number of extraction points. Each is measured individually, so the examiner's time and the price rise with the point count.
Without commissioning data the examiner must establish a benchmark by retrospective commissioning before the readings can be judged against HSG258.
Yes. Fourteen months is the legal maximum, but some higher-risk processes need testing every six months or monthly, raising the yearly total.
Yes. A full benchmarked report with schematics and a logbook is what the HSE expects to see and what protects you if the control is questioned.
Only by genuine efficiencies such as grouping systems into one visit, not by cutting points measured or dropping the report.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
Give us the detail of your systems and we will show you exactly which factors set your price.