How to set up a cleaning schedule with a contractor

Agree the frequency (matched to your cooking), the scope and standard (whole system, to TR19 Grease), the dates and how you'll be reminded, and that each clean is recorded - turning cleaning into a reliable routine. Setting up a schedule means agreeing a proper recurring arrangement up front, rather than cleaning ad hoc. Agree: the frequency - how often, set to your cooking (the grease loading), so it's cleaned often enough to control the fire risk (your contractor can advise, ideally from a survey); the scope and standard - the whole system (canopy, filters, ductwork, fan) cleaned to TR19 Grease each time; the dates and reminders - when the cleans happen and how you'll be prompted so none is missed; and the records - that each clean is documented (report, photographs, certificate). With these agreed, the cleaning happens reliably, on time, to standard and provably. So agree the frequency, scope, standard, dates and records. So set the frequency, scope, dates and records. This is general commentary.

At the frequency matched to your cooking - the grease loading - so it's cleaned often enough to keep the fire risk controlled; a busy or heavy-cooking kitchen more often than a light one, per the risk-based approach. The right interval depends on how fast your kitchen loads the extraction with grease, which is driven by your cooking (type and volume). Heavy, greasy or solid-fuel cooking loads the system fast, needing frequent cleaning; light cooking needs it less often. So the schedule's frequency should be set to your actual cooking (risk-based, per TR19 Grease), not a default - too infrequent leaves the system grease-laden (a fire risk), too frequent is wasteful. Your contractor can advise the right interval based on your cooking, ideally informed by a survey of your system and its grease loading. So the schedule should clean at the risk-based interval matched to your cooking. So at the frequency your cooking needs. This is general commentary; the frequency should be risk-based.

The whole system - canopy, filters, ductwork throughout, and fan - cleaned to the TR19 Grease standard, so every scheduled clean is a proper whole-system clean, not a partial one. Agree the scope and standard as part of the schedule: each clean should cover the whole extraction system (the canopy, the grease filters, the ductwork along its length, and the extract fan - not just the visible parts), cleaned to the recognised TR19 Grease standard. This ensures every clean in the schedule delivers real, complete cleaning (controlling the fire risk in the hidden parts), rather than a token partial visit. Defining the scope and standard up front, as part of the schedule, means you know what each scheduled clean consists of - a proper whole-system clean every time. So each scheduled clean should cover the whole system to TR19 Grease. So the whole system, to standard, each time. This is general commentary.

Agree a reminder mechanism - the contractor prompting you ahead of each due date, a booking system, or your own diarising - because a schedule with no reminders can still be forgotten. A schedule only works if the cleans actually happen, so the reminder mechanism is crucial. Agree how you'll be reminded ahead of each due clean: often the contractor manages this (prompting you before each due date, or booking the next clean at the last one - a good contractor does this); or a booking/reminder system; or your own diarising of the dates. Without a reminder, even a set schedule can be forgotten (the due date passing unnoticed). So build the reminders into the arrangement - so each clean is prompted and booked, not left to be remembered. This is what makes the schedule reliably happen. So agree a reminder mechanism (often the contractor's) so none is missed. So set up reminders, often via the contractor. This is general commentary.

So the cleaning is provable as well as done - each clean's records (report, photographs, certificate) build an evidence trail showing the system is cleaned at the right frequency to standard, for your fire risk assessment and insurers. Agreeing that each scheduled clean is documented (a report, before-and-after photographs of the hidden parts, and a TR19 Grease certificate) means you accumulate a complete, ongoing record of your extraction cleaning. This matters because the cleaning needs to be provable, not just done: your fire risk assessment should reference it, and insurers typically require evidence the extraction is cleaned to standard. A schedule that produces records each time gives you an up-to-date evidence trail demonstrating the fire risk is being managed. So recording each clean turns the schedule into a documented, provable regime (as covered in building an extraction cleaning schedule you can prove). So record each clean to make the regime provable. So to prove the cleaning, not just do it. This is general commentary.

They overlap - a cleaning contract usually sets up a recurring schedule - but the schedule is specifically the agreed frequency, scope, dates and records; you can set up a schedule within a contract or arrangement, the key being it's agreed and reliable. A cleaning contract (an ongoing agreement with a contractor) typically includes a schedule - the recurring arrangement for when and how the system is cleaned. So they're closely related: setting up a schedule is often done as part of agreeing a cleaning contract or ongoing arrangement. The schedule specifically is the agreed frequency (matched to your cooking), scope and standard (whole system, TR19 Grease), dates and reminders, and records. Whether formalised in a contract or a simpler recurring arrangement, the essential thing is that the schedule is agreed and reliable (with reminders and records), so the cleaning happens dependably. So a contract usually contains a schedule; the schedule is the recurring cleaning arrangement itself. So a schedule is the recurring arrangement, often within a contract. This is general commentary.