Home / Duct Cleaning / Guide
Duct cleaning - fire safety
There is no legal number - the Fire Safety Order deliberately avoids one. What it requires is that the assessment stays valid, which means reviewing it regularly and whenever something significant changes. Here is how to read that in practice.
The short answer
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 does not set a fixed review interval. It requires the responsible person to review the fire risk assessment regularly, and in particular whenever there is reason to think it may no longer be valid or there has been a significant change to the premises or the activities in them. Common practice is an annual review, with a fuller reassessment after any significant change - but the real test is validity, not the calendar.
What the law says
The Fire Safety Order treats a fire risk assessment as a living document, not a one-off exercise. Rather than naming an interval, it requires the responsible person to keep the assessment up to date - reviewing it regularly, and specifically where there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid, or where there has been a significant relevant change to the premises or the activities carried on there.
That deliberate absence of a fixed number is risk-based by design. A small, unchanging premises and a large, evolving one should not be on the same clock. The duty is to make sure the assessment still reflects reality, which is a matter of judgement rather than a diary entry - though as a matter of good practice, most responsible persons review at least annually.
The triggers that force a review
The more important trigger is change. A significant relevant change means the assessment should be revisited regardless of when it was last done: a change of use, an alteration to the building or its layout, a change in occupancy or the number of people present, new equipment or processes, or a near-miss or fire that reveals something the assessment missed.
The point is that the assessment was valid for the premises as they were. Change the premises or what happens in them and the old assessment may no longer describe the real risk - so the change, not the anniversary, is what makes a review due. Waiting for an annual date to catch a change that happened months earlier leaves a gap the Order expects you to close sooner.
Where ductwork comes in
Fire risk assessments in catering and industrial premises routinely identify grease-laden extract ductwork and dust- or lint-laden ventilation as significant risks - combustible build-ups in concealed runs that can carry a fire through the building. That means the state of the ductwork is part of what the assessment relies on, and the cleaning regime is part of how the identified risk is managed.
So a change that affects the ductwork - a new cookline, heavier trading, an added extraction run - is exactly the kind of significant change that should prompt a review, and a current cleaning certificate is part of the evidence that the risk the assessment flagged is being kept under control. The assessment and the cleaning cycle are linked, not separate.
A sensible regime
In practice a workable regime is to review the assessment at least annually as a matter of course, carry out a fuller reassessment whenever a significant change occurs, and keep the evidence that the risks it identifies are being managed in between - including cleaning certificates for extract and ventilation ductwork. That satisfies the duty to keep the assessment valid without waiting for it to drift.
The reviewer should also be competent for the premises. A simple, unchanging site may be reviewed in-house against a sound original assessment; a complex or higher-risk one benefits from a competent fire risk assessor advising on the right frequency. Either way, the aim is the same - an assessment that always reflects the building as it actually is.
Keeping the record
Fire safety law increasingly expects the assessment, and its reviews, to be recorded. A dated assessment, dated reviews, and the supporting evidence - including the cleaning and maintenance records for the systems it identifies as risks - together show that the duty is being met continuously rather than claimed after the fact.
That record is also what protects you if the assessment is ever tested by an inspector or after an incident. A history of regular reviews and up-to-date supporting evidence demonstrates a managed approach; a single old assessment with no reviews and no evidence does not. Reviewing regularly, and keeping the proof, is the whole of the duty.
Questions
The Fire Safety Order sets no fixed interval. It must be reviewed regularly and whenever there is reason to think it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change. Common practice is at least an annual review, with a fuller reassessment on any significant change.
A change of use, an alteration to the building or layout, a change in occupancy or numbers, new equipment or processes, or a fire or near-miss that reveals something the assessment missed.
Because the approach is risk-based. A small, unchanging premises and a large, evolving one should not be on the same clock. The duty is to keep the assessment valid, which is a matter of judgement.
Grease and dust-laden ductwork is often identified as a significant fire risk, so the cleaning regime is part of how that risk is managed, and a change affecting the ductwork can itself trigger a review.
A person competent for the premises. A simple site may be reviewed in-house; a complex or higher-risk one benefits from a competent fire risk assessor advising on frequency.
Increasingly, yes. A dated assessment, dated reviews and supporting evidence - including cleaning and maintenance records - show the duty is being met continuously and protect you if it is ever tested.
We clean and certify the ductwork your fire risk assessment identifies, and provide the records that support each review.
