South Shields · TR19 Grease
We clean the full commercial duct run - grease, dry and laundry ductwork, canopy to roof fan - for kitchens, offices and industrial sites across South Shields, and certify it to the TR19 Grease standard your insurer expects.
South Shields
South Shields rates around 1,177 food premises, and behind a large share sits an extract duct a canopy clean never reaches - plus the dry ductwork and air-handling that keep its offices and public buildings running.
The city's kitchens sit in tight, mixed stock - Ocean Road, King Street, Laygate - with long concealed duct runs up to roof fans. We clean the full run to the TR19 Grease standard, canopy to fan, including the horizontal and vertical sections a canopy-only clean leaves coated.
The same crews clean dry ventilation and air-handling ductwork in offices, schools and civic buildings, plus the combustible lint runs behind hotel and care-home dryers. High-turnover sites - South Tyneside College, the South Tyneside District Hospital, Mariners Park and the seafront hotels - build grease fastest in the concealed lengths where flame spreads.
The standard
TR19 Grease is the benchmark South Shields insurers and fire risk assessors expect - measured across the whole extract run, not just the visible mouth of the canopy.
Because the standard is written around film thickness, it sets the depth that triggers a clean and re-test. In the mixed roof spaces around Ocean Road and Laygate, a canopy-and-filter wipe leaves the duct interior - where grease piles up and a fire runs - completely alone. We reach the whole South Shields run through existing hatches and new ones we cut, clean back to bright metal, take before-and-after grease-depth figures at set points, and certify it to TR19 Grease with those depths on the record.
By system
The fire risk. Fried-food extract coats duct walls in combustible grease; cleaned canopy to fan and certified to TR19 Grease.
Supply and general extract in offices and public buildings, carrying dust and debris that throttles airflow and loads the air-handling unit; cleaned to TR19.
The hidden one. Tumble-dryer ducting packs with lint - highly combustible - in South Shields hotels, care homes and gyms.
On the ground in South Shields
We are in South Shields's ductwork and plant every week. The proof is the jobs, not the stock photos.
A communal apartment block in South Shields had decomposing food waste, stagnant liquid and a strong foul smell coating the lower five storeys of its refuse chute. We lowered a high-pressure hot-water wash with a chemical rotating head and a strong bactericidal sanitiser, leaving the chute clean and odour-free and clearing the pest risk. We worked with the concierge to lock the access hatches on every floor during the wash.
When it is due
Ductwork rarely warns you politely. In a busy South Shields kitchen these are the tells.
Watch for steam that hangs in the room, cooking smells creeping back over the tables, a canopy weeping onto an Ocean Road line, grease crusting at the filter rims, or a South Shields insurer or fire assessor calling for a TR19 certificate you do not hold. How often it needs doing rides on the cooking load - a hard-frying King Street kitchen far more than a quiet daytime cafe - and the certificate fixes that interval, so the next clean is planned, not chanced.
How it runs
Inspect the full South Shields run, find the access gaps in the concealed sections, agree scope and frequency.
Fit inspection hatches where the run is sealed - common in the older Laygate conversions - and protect the kitchen.
Canopy to roof fan, down to bare metal, with before-and-after grease-depth evidence.
TR19 Grease certificate, grease-depth record and next-due date for your South Shields fire logbook.
Why it matters
Three duties push every South Shields operator to keep ductwork clean, and they reinforce one another.
Fire safety law. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person for a South Shields premises must assess and manage fire risk. A grease-laden duct is one of the most serious risks in any catering building, because a flare-up on an Ocean Road cookline can travel the ductwork and spread fire through concealed voids. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the HSE reinforce the same duty of care.
Insurance. A live TR19 Grease certificate is what a South Shields insurer treats as evidence the system is maintained. Miss it and a fire claim may be reduced or refused - an expensive surprise once the damage is done.
Hygiene and environmental health. South Tyneside Council food hygiene inspections assess the physical condition of premises, ventilation included. A grease-clogged system can count against the rating an Environmental Health Officer awards, quite apart from the smell and the falling extract performance your staff have to work in.
It is set by cooking hours under TR19 Grease - roughly every three months for heavy use of 12 to 16 hours a day, every six for moderate, every twelve for light. A hard-frying Ocean Road kitchen sits in a tighter band than a daytime King Street cafe. We measure the grease load and confirm your interval.
A dated TR19 certificate, before-and-after photographs of each section, and an access report for your fire logbook - the evidence an Ocean Road operator's insurer and fire risk assessor expect.
We fit compliant access panels where the ductwork has none, so every internal section can be reached, cleaned, inspected and certified - common in the older Laygate conversions where the run was boxed in with no hatches.
The full run, canopy through the concealed horizontal and vertical ductwork to the roof fan - the hidden sections a canopy-only clean leaves loaded, which matters in the tight stock around Ocean Road and Laygate where the runs are long and awkward.
Yes. We clean the dry ductwork and air-handling in South Shields offices, schools and public buildings, and the lint-heavy laundry ducts in the Tyne and Wear hotels and care homes, alongside kitchen grease ducts.
Yes. The fan at the top of a Laygate or city-centre riser is where grease throws off the blades and the run ends - we degrease it and its housing, because a loaded fan is what finally stops a system pulling.
Yes - from Ocean Road and King Street kitchens to the offices, schools and industrial units across South Shields and the wider Tyne and Wear.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
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