Fire, insurance & risk
The extract system is one of the highest-risk parts of a kitchen. Here's what an assessor asks for, what they inspect, and what a gap turns into.
The short answer
A fire risk assessor treats the extract system as one of the highest-risk parts of a kitchen. They ask to see your cleaning records and TR19 certificates, check there are access panels to inspect and clean the run, trace where the ductwork travels through the building, and look at fire dampers and suppression. Missing records or no access get written up as actions for you to fix.
What they ask to see
The fire risk assessment is a legal duty under the Fire Safety Order, and the extract system is squarely within it - the government's own checklist asks whether filters and ductwork are cleaned regularly. A competent assessor starts with the evidence: post-clean verification records and TR19 certificates showing the whole system has been cleaned, at intervals matched to your use, by an accredited contractor.
No cleaning, or an ineffective regime, is recorded as a risk in its own right. The assessor also expects supporting records - grease readings, before-and-after photos, and evidence that anything flagged previously was dealt with. For catering premises they will look for cleaning records for the ductwork and filters, plus servicing of any fixed suppression system and wet-chemical extinguisher training.
What they inspect
Beyond the paperwork, the assessor traces the physical run. They follow the line of the extract ductwork through the building, noting whether it passes through other fire compartments and whether it is fire-rated or in a protected shaft where it leaves the kitchen. They check there are enough access panels - to the DW172 and TR19 pattern - to inspect and clean the whole run; if there are not, installing them becomes an action for the Responsible Person to organise through a competent person.
The canopy and plenum are treated as the highest-risk zone and checked against grease limits, with daily and weekly operator cleaning expected on top of specialist cleans. Fire dampers are checked for condition and drop-test records, and in shared buildings the assessor reviews how the landlord and tenants co-ordinate on the system.
Turning findings into actions
The assessor's observations become a written, prioritised action plan naming who is responsible and by when - install access panels here, increase cleaning frequency there, service that damper, obtain the missing certificate. Those actions are what an enforcing officer or an insurer will later expect to see closed out. An assessment that flags a problem and is then ignored is worse than none, because it shows the risk was known.
The simplest way to pass this part of the assessment is to have the extract system cleaned to TR19 Grease by an accredited contractor, keep the certificates and readings on file, and make sure the run is accessible. That answers most of the assessor's questions before they are asked.
Questions
They ask for cleaning records and TR19 certificates, check there are access panels to inspect and clean the run, trace where the ductwork travels through the building, and look at fire dampers, grease levels and any suppression system.
Yes. The extract system is one of the highest-risk parts of a kitchen and the government's fire safety checklist asks whether filters and ductwork are cleaned regularly. It is squarely within the assessment.
The assessor records it as an action. Installing access panels to a recognised pattern becomes a task for the Responsible Person to arrange through a competent person, so the run can be inspected and cleaned.
TR19 certificates and post-clean verification reports with grease readings and photos, evidence that earlier recommendations were actioned, plus servicing records for any suppression system.
They become a prioritised action plan naming who is responsible and by when. Enforcing officers and insurers later expect those actions to have been closed out.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
We clean, fit access where it's needed, and supply the certificates your assessor expects.