By sector / Mobile & street food
A food van or trailer plays by a restaurant's rules in miniature - a canopy, a flued fan, LPG and grease, packed into a few square metres that make them harder to reach.
A restaurant in miniature
A food van or trailer looks nothing like a restaurant, but it plays by the same rules in miniature. It has a cooking range, a canopy, a flue with an extract fan, filters and a grease trap, LPG, and a food business registration - all packed into a few square metres.
That compression is the whole story of a mobile deep clean: the same fire and hygiene risks as a fixed kitchen, in a space that makes every one of them harder to reach. Register with your council 28 days before trading, and expect inspection by other authorities wherever you pitch.
Extraction, scaled down
Councils recommend a canopy connected to a flued mechanical extract fan with filters and a grease trap above any frying or cooking range - the same components as a restaurant hood, scaled down. And they load up the same way: burgers, loaded fries and doughnuts shed grease that bonds to the flue and filters.
A short flue is still a fire path. Because the fan and flue are compact and often out of sight, they are easy to neglect - which is exactly when a grease fire starts. A mobile deep clean strips the canopy, filters, fan and flue and clears the grease trap, on the same TR19 principle that governs a full-size kitchen, even at small scale.
What makes a van different
Two things set a mobile unit apart. First, LPG: cylinders live in a sealed, ventilated compartment with at least 30 minutes' fire resistance, accessed only from outside, and the whole installation needs an annual CP44 gas certificate from a Gas Safe engineer qualified for mobile catering. Modern units interlock the gas to the ventilation, so the burners will not light unless the extract fan is running - which makes a clean, working fan a safety item, not just a hygiene one.
Second, water: a trailer carries limited fresh water and stores its waste, so cleaning has to be efficient and the waste handled properly, piped to sealed containers and emptied to a foul drain. The cramped interior means surfaces, seals and corners get missed unless the clean is genuinely thorough.
What the clean covers
A mobile unit deep clean degreases the canopy, filters, fan and flue, clears the grease trap, and sanitises the compact prep and cooking surfaces a tight interior hides. It keeps the extract - and therefore the gas interlock - working.
What it does not replace is the CP44 gas certification, the integrity of the LPG compartment, and the daily clean-as-you-go a small unit lives or dies by. The deep clean handles the grease and the reach; gas safety and daily discipline stay their own certified jobs.
Questions
If it fries or cooks under a canopy and flue, yes - the fan, filters and flue collect grease and become a fire path exactly like a restaurant hood, just smaller and easier to overlook.
On modern units, yes - the gas often interlocks with the ventilation, so burners will not light unless the extract fan is running, which makes a clean, working fan a safety component and not just a hygiene one.
It is the annual gas safety certificate for mobile catering LPG installations, issued by a Gas Safe engineer qualified for mobile units - separate from, and not replaced by, a deep clean.
Limited fresh water, stored waste water and a cramped interior mean surfaces, seals and corners are easily missed, so a thorough method matters more, not less.
By grease load and use - a busy frying trailer needs it far more often than an occasional coffee unit. Frequently-used gas appliances also move to a six-month service interval.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
We degrease the canopy, fan, filters and flue, clear the grease trap and keep your gas interlock working - scaled to a van or trailer. Tell us your setup.