Schools and Universities — Kitchen Extract Cleaning in the Midlands

Education kitchens run to the calendar. A primary school kitchen may cook for a couple of hours a day in term time, while a university food outlet or hall of residence can cook from breakfast until late. We arrange TR19 extract cleaning quotes for schools, colleges and universities across Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. An independent specialist provider does the work and issues the certificate.

Schools and universities have one advantage over most kitchens. The holidays leave the kitchen empty, so the whole system can be cleaned without affecting a single meal.

Which TR19 frequency band applies

TR19 Grease sets minimum intervals by daily cooking hours: every twelve months for 2 to 6 hours a day, every six months for 6 to 12 hours and every three months for 12 to 16 hours. A school kitchen serving lunch usually falls in the light band and needs at least an annual clean. Schools running breakfast clubs, after-school provision or community lettings may be moderate use and six-monthly, and university outlets and halls with long opening hours can reach the quarterly band. The provider's grease readings confirm the right interval for each kitchen, and the TR19 compliance guide explains the bands.

Responsibility, fire risk assessment and insurance

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, enforced by your local fire and rescue service, requires the responsible person to assess and reduce fire risk, and the kitchen extract belongs in the fire risk assessment. In education the kitchen and the building can have different owners. A council, an academy trust or a university may own the premises while a contract caterer or a council catering service runs the kitchen. In Birmingham, for example, Cityserve, the food division of Birmingham City Council, was reported in 2017 to provide around 70,000 meals every school day across the city. Government guidance says that where there is more than one responsible person they must work together, and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service notes that requirements to cooperate and coordinate were increased in October 2023 for buildings where the occupier and owner are not the same. Agree who books the clean and who holds the certificate, because insurers may refuse a claim if a fire is traced to a poorly maintained duct.

What a full clean covers

The provider cleans the canopy and filters, the full ductwork run to the discharge and the extract fan, fitting access panels where needed. Grease depth is measured before and after, and you receive a certificate with before-and-after photographs for your estates file. In older school buildings the duct route may never have been drawn, so an inspection report can map it first.

Booking into holidays and quiet weeks

Half-terms and the summer holiday are the obvious windows for schools, and the Christmas and Easter breaks work for many too. For universities, vacations are better than term time, and outlets that stay open for conferences or summer schools can be booked around those events. Book summer dates early.

Trusts, councils and campus estates

If you manage several schools in a multi-academy trust, a council catering contract or a number of outlets across a campus, we can arrange one quote covering every kitchen. Each kitchen gets its own interval and certificate, and the work is scheduled across the holidays. The cost guide explains what drives the price.

Schools, colleges and universities we arrange quotes for

The patch takes in the University of Birmingham, Aston University and Birmingham City University in Birmingham, the University of Wolverhampton in Wolverhampton, and Coventry University, whose main campus is in the centre of Coventry. The University of Warwick's campus lies on the edge of Coventry, close to Earlsdon. In the East Midlands there are the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University in Nottingham, the University of Derby in Derby, the University of Leicester and De Montfort University in Leicester, and Loughborough University in Loughborough. Schools and colleges are covered from Sutton Coldfield and Edgbaston to Rugby. Whatever the size of the kitchen, we arrange the quote and the provider issues the certificate.

Where we see these kitchens most

Services: TR19 extract cleaning · canopy cleaning · ductwork · filters · what it costs

Frequently Asked Questions