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Extraction cleaning - TR19 Grease
TR19 Grease is the standard everyone in kitchen extract cleaning quotes - but it is often misunderstood. Here is what it actually is, what the law really requires, and why your insurer cares as much as the fire officer.
The short answer
TR19 Grease is the specification for cleaning grease from commercial kitchen extract systems, published by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). The standard itself is not a law - but the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places a legal duty on you to control fire risk, and TR19 Grease is the recognised way to show a greasy extract system is being managed. In practice, if you run a commercial kitchen, you need it.
What the standard is
TR19 Grease sets out how a kitchen extract system should be cleaned, inspected and verified so that combustible grease is removed from the whole system - from the canopy and filters, through the concealed ductwork, to the extract fan and discharge. It replaced the grease element of the older TR19 guidance and is now the reference insurers, fire risk assessors and environmental health officers work to.
Crucially, it is a whole-system standard. Grease is measured by deposit thickness at points across the run, and the system is cleaned back until it meets the required level and is recorded with readings and photographs. A clean that only reaches the visible canopy does not meet it, however shiny the stainless steel looks afterwards.
The legal picture
People often ask whether TR19 Grease is a legal requirement. Strictly, no - it is a standard, not a statute. What is legal is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which makes the responsible person for a premises assess and reduce fire risk. A grease-laden extract system is a recognised fire risk, so managing it is not optional.
TR19 Grease is simply the accepted way to demonstrate you have managed it - a common benchmark that a fire officer, an assessor and an insurer will all recognise. That is why, in day-to-day reality, a commercial kitchen that ignores it is exposed both legally and commercially.
Why insurers care
Most commercial insurance policies covering premises with a kitchen now require TR19 Grease cleaning at a stated frequency, with certification kept on file. It is often buried in the policy conditions rather than shouted about - which is exactly why it catches people out.
If a fire starts and the extract system has not been cleaned and certified to the agreed frequency, the insurer can reduce or refuse the claim on the grounds that a policy condition was not met. For most operators that risk, not the fire officer's visit, is the real reason to keep the paperwork current.
Does yours need it
Any commercial kitchen with a powered extract canopy over cooking equipment is in scope - restaurants, takeaways, hotels, pubs, care homes, schools, hospitals and staff canteens included. The heavier and greasier the cooking, the more often it is needed, but the principle applies wherever hot food is produced under extraction.
The way to know where you stand is a survey: we inspect the full system, measure the grease, tell you honestly what state it is in and set a frequency. If it is already compliant, you get that in writing; if it is not, you get a clear scope to put it right.
Questions
The standard itself is not a law. The legal requirement is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which makes you assess and control fire risk. TR19 Grease is the recognised way to show a grease extract system is being managed, so in practice a commercial kitchen needs it.
The whole kitchen extract system - canopy, filters, the concealed ductwork, plenum, cookline and extract fan - cleaned and verified by grease-deposit readings, not just the visible parts.
TR19 Grease is the current standard specifically for grease in kitchen extract systems. It carries forward and replaces the grease element of the older TR19 guidance.
With a dated certificate for each clean, before-and-after grease-depth readings and photographs of each section. Keep them on file and to the frequency your policy states.
Any commercial kitchen with powered extraction over cooking equipment - restaurants, takeaways, hotels, pubs, care homes, schools and canteens. Frequency rises with how heavily and greasily you cook.
Yes. A survey measures the current grease level and condition, and you get a written answer either way, with a scope to put right anything that falls short.
We will survey the full extract system, measure the grease and tell you honestly whether you are TR19 Grease compliant.
