Commercial kitchen deep cleaning
Canopy and filters in the deep clean; plenum, duct and fan as their own TR19 scope. Two jobs, two certificates - and knowing the line matters for fire safety and insurance.
Short answer
In a kitchen deep clean the canopy and its filters are usually cleaned as part of the visit. But the plenum behind the filters, the ductwork, the fan and the discharge are a separate scope - cleaned to the BESA TR19 Grease standard, by a qualified technician, and certificated on their own. Knowing where the line falls matters for fire safety and insurance.
The canopy hood, inside and out, and the grease filters are normally cleaned as part of a kitchen deep clean. Filters can be soaked, run through a dishwasher or cleaned off-site, and they are the one part of the extraction your own team can - and should - clean weekly between professional visits. Cleaning the visible canopy and filters keeps airflow up and slows how fast grease reaches the ductwork. But it only addresses what you can see and reach.
Behind the filters the system becomes specialist work. The plenum behind the filters, the risers, the full length of the horizontal ductwork, the extract fan and its housing, fire dampers and the discharge point are all TR19 Grease scope. This is the largest hidden fire load in most kitchens, and reaching it needs access panels along the duct run, specialist equipment and proper safety controls - it cannot be done with a cloth from the canopy. Around 70% of commercial-kitchen fires start in the extract system, which is why this part is treated so seriously. The wider service is covered on the kitchen extraction cleaning hub.
TR19 work has its own competency requirement: the technician holds the BESA Grease Hygiene Technician qualification, and only a qualified technician takes the grease readings and signs off the result. The system is verified to a mean grease deposit below 50 microns, measured at set points - behind the filters, one and three metres along the duct, midway, upstream of the fan and at the discharge - using a Deposit Thickness Test or Wet Film Thickness Test. The deliverable is a post-clean verification report and certificate with before-and-after photos: the document your insurer or fire risk assessor asks to see, and the reason the extraction is quoted and signed off separately from the kitchen deep clean. The split is also visible in what a deep clean includes, surface by surface and in the report you should receive.
So book both by all means - they are often done in the same visit - but expect two scopes and two pieces of paper. Cleaning the canopy resets what you can see; only a TR19 clean of the duct addresses the hidden fire load, as the hidden grease a daily wipe never reaches makes plain. And neither replaces your own weekly filter cleaning - the deep clean and the TR19 clean reset the system; your routine keeps it down between visits.
Questions
Usually yes - the canopy hood inside and out and the grease filters are cleaned as part of the deep clean. But the ductwork, plenum behind the filters and the fan are a separate TR19 Grease scope, cleaned and certificated on their own.
Because it needs specialist access, equipment and safety controls, a qualified technician, grease readings and its own certificate. The duct holds the largest hidden fire load and cannot be reached from the canopy with a cloth.
The technician should hold the BESA Grease Hygiene Technician (GHT) qualification. Only a qualified technician should take the deposit thickness readings and issue the post-clean verification report that insurers and fire risk assessors rely on.
TR19 Grease verifies a mean grease deposit below 50 microns, measured at set points along the system - behind the filters, along the duct, upstream of the fan and at the discharge - using a Deposit Thickness or Wet Film Thickness Test.
You can and should clean the visible canopy and filters weekly - it keeps airflow up and slows grease reaching the duct. But it does not address the hidden ductwork, which is specialist TR19 work and not a substitute for a professional clean.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
Phoenix cleans the canopy and filters with your deep clean and the duct, fan and plenum to TR19 Grease - each certificated. Quoted on survey, signed off on completion.