Guide - TR19 Grease - UK-Wide
A compliant clean ends in an evidence document, not a sticker. Here is what a TR19 Grease certificate has to contain - the readings, photos, scope and signatory that make it stand up.
The short answer
A TR19 Grease certificate is not a sticker that says the job is done - it is an evidence document. To stand up with an insurer, a fire risk assessor or an environmental health officer, it has to show what was cleaned, to what measured standard, and when the next clean is due:
Anything less - a one-line invoice that says "extract cleaned" with no readings, no photos and no scope - is not the document your insurer will want to see when it matters.
What is in it
A proper post-clean report, sometimes called a Post-Clean Verification Report, ties the certificate to measured fact. The pieces that give it weight are:
Why it carries weight
The strongest certificates are registered, not simply printed on a contractor's letterhead. Compliant cleans can be logged on the industry register so the certificate is traceable to a recorded job, with the date, the location and whether the system was fully or partially cleaned. That registration is what turns a piece of paper into evidence an insurer or enforcing authority can rely on.
This matters because the certificate is the document other people use to make decisions about your business. A fire risk assessor folds it into the assessment as evidence the extract risk is being managed. An environmental health officer treats a clean, well-documented system as a point in your favour. And an insurer, at renewal or after an incident, will ask to see it - a current, measured certificate is the difference between a straightforward claim and an argument about whether you met your obligations.
The test to apply
The simplest way to judge a certificate is to ask whether it would help you in the moment it is needed - sitting across from a loss adjuster after a fire, or an EHO during an inspection. If it carries micron readings, photographs, a clear scope, a competent signatory and a measured next-due date, the answer is yes. If it is a bare line on an invoice, it will not do that work, however much you paid for the clean.
Getting the certificate right is not paperwork for its own sake. It is the proof that the clean happened, that it brought the system back inside safe limits, and that you know when it is due again - which is exactly what everyone who matters will ask you to demonstrate.
Questions
Micron readings confirming the system is back below 50 microns after the clean, before-and-after photographs at canopy, ductwork and fan, a clear statement of what was and was not cleaned, a dated next-due interval and a competent signatory holding the BESA Grease Hygiene Technician qualification.
Usually not. A one-line invoice with no readings, photos or scope does not evidence that the system was brought back inside safe limits. Insurers and fire risk assessors look for a measured post-clean report, which is what makes the certificate useful after an incident.
Where access panels are missing or sections cannot be reached, only part of the system can be cleaned. An honest certificate records that as a partial clean rather than implying the whole system was done, and usually recommends fitting access so the next clean can be complete.
By measuring residual grease with a Deposit Thickness Test or Wet Film Thickness Test at points through the system and confirming the mean is below the 50-micron post-clean threshold, with photographs recording the before-and-after condition.
Yes. Under TR19 Grease the person carrying out and signing off the work should hold the BESA Grease Hygiene Technician qualification. A certificate from an unqualified contractor may not satisfy an insurer, because the document is only worth as much as the competence behind it.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
Measured verification, before-and-after photos, clear scope and a dated next-due interval - signed off to TR19 Grease. No-obligation quote, UK-wide.