EC Cleaners Network · From Requirement to Evidence
Most kitchen extract enquiries do not start with a specification. They start with a problem, a deadline or a request from somebody else.
You may have an overdue system, a kitchen that is not clearing smoke, an insurer or landlord asking for evidence, a site about to open, or a portfolio with inconsistent reports and unresolved actions. Start with what is actually happening. EC can help organise the information, scope and contractor route so the next step is clearer.
Send the problem as you have received it
You do not need to turn it into a technical specification first. Send the site details and, if you have them, the report, certificate, quotation, insurer email, landlord request, photographs or previous contractor information. Those documents often show what is known, what is missing and what needs to happen next.
Search and Submit Ltd uses your details to respond and coordinate the enquiry, including sharing relevant information with appropriate independent specialists. Read our Privacy Policy. Please omit unrelated personal or sensitive information.
What has brought you here?
Choose the situation that is closest to what you are dealing with. Each section below takes you to the practical checks that matter before work is booked or a requirement is closed.
The system may be due for cleaning
You need to know whether the current interval still makes sense and what evidence should determine the next clean.
The extraction is not performing properly
Smoke, heat, smells, weak pull, noise or repeated faults need the cause understood before the work is scoped.
Someone has asked you to take action
An insurer, landlord, fire risk assessor or local authority has raised a requirement and you need to close it properly.
You are opening, taking over or changing a kitchen
You need to understand the inherited system before a new menu, new equipment or an opening date turns into a last-minute problem.
You are responsible for several sites
You need control of due dates, reports, contractors, access issues and open actions without turning the programme into more administration.
You do not need to diagnose the problem before asking for help
Commercial kitchen extraction often crosses more than one discipline. Grease contamination may need specialist cleaning. Poor extraction may involve the fan, controls or replacement air. An inaccessible duct may need enabling work. A third-party request may be about evidence rather than another clean.
EC helps organisations make the requirement clearer before the work is placed. That means keeping the original trigger visible, identifying the system involved, understanding what evidence already exists and separating different workstreams where necessary.
A certificate can be part of the answer. It should not become a substitute for understanding what was required and what was actually completed.
Cleaning and scheduling
Cleaning is due, or you are not sure when it should be done
You may have inherited a six-monthly date, found an old certificate or been told that the system is overdue. The useful starting point is the current kitchen, its operating pattern and the evidence from previous inspections and cleans. A remembered rule is not a substitute for understanding the condition and use of the system.
Start with the cleaning frequency guide: How Often Should Commercial Kitchen Extraction Be Cleaned?
Useful checks when deciding what should happen next
Poor performance and faults
The kitchen is hot, smoky, smelly or the fan is not performing
Poor extraction does not automatically mean the ductwork simply needs cleaning. Contamination may be relevant, but fan condition, controls, replacement air, obstructions, kitchen changes and other technical issues can produce similar symptoms. The aim is to separate a hygiene problem from a ventilation or mechanical problem before the wrong work is ordered.
Start with the system problem guide: Commercial Kitchen Extraction Not Working Properly: What Should You Check?
Choose the symptom that best matches what is happening
Smoke not clearing from the kitchen
Kitchen extraction smells
Grease leaking or dripping from ductwork
Grease returning quickly after cleaning
Extract fan noisy or vibrating
Kitchen too hot even with extraction running
Extract fan keeps cutting out or stopping
Kitchen extraction has stopped completely
Third-party requirements
An insurer, landlord, fire risk assessor or local authority has asked for action
Keep the original wording of the request. A third party may be asking for a clean, evidence, access improvements, further investigation or close-out of a previous finding. If the requirement is reduced too quickly to ‘get a TR19 certificate’, work can be completed while the original action remains unresolved.
Start with what has been requested: We Have Been Told to Get the Kitchen Extraction Cleaned: What Happens Next?
Guidance for the most common external triggers
Openings, takeovers and refits
You are taking over, reopening or refitting a commercial kitchen
An old certificate tells you something about the past. It does not tell you whether the inherited extraction system suits the kitchen you are about to operate. Before opening, bring together the records, current system condition, access, fan and ventilation information, and any changes to menu, equipment, layout or operating hours.
Start with the takeover checklist: Taking Over a Restaurant? What Should You Check About the Kitchen Extraction?
Useful checks before the kitchen returns to normal operation
Multi-site and estates control
You manage several kitchens and need control, not more paperwork
The challenge is not simply booking cleans. It is knowing what each property has, when each system is due, what was actually completed, which evidence has been returned and what remains unresolved. A strong portfolio process keeps the management method consistent while preserving the real differences between individual sites.
Start with the multi-site management guide: How Should Multi-Site Organisations Manage Kitchen Extract Compliance?
Practical controls for estates, FM and multi-site teams
Check reports and certificates across the portfolio
Manage overdue actions and exceptions
Set cleaning frequencies across different sites
Add newly acquired sites to the programme
Change kitchen extract contractors without losing the history
Manage refits, rebrands and temporary closures
Plan multi-site kitchen extraction procurement
Once the requirement is clearer, the work usually falls into one of these areas
Some clients need physical cleaning. Others need ventilation hygiene, access work, document review, contractor assurance or a clearer way to submit a requirement across one or several sites.
When you need to define or challenge the scope
These guidance pages are useful when a quotation, report or contractor proposal is too vague, when parts of the system are inaccessible, or when you need to know what evidence should come back after the work.
Commercial kitchens are not all managed in the same way
A restaurant, care home, hospital, school, hotel, food-production site and national estate can all have similar extraction systems but very different operating pressures. Access, continuity, insurer expectations, procurement, shutdown windows and evidence requirements can change the way the job needs to be planned.
Real systems rarely fit into one neat box
A site can be overdue for cleaning and also have inaccessible ductwork. A takeover can reveal poor records and a fan problem. A portfolio can contain routine cleans, partial completions, missing reports and properties waiting for another trade.
The useful approach is to keep those issues connected to the same site and system while giving each one the right next action.
Historic EC Cleaners project imagery is used to illustrate commercial kitchen extraction context. It is not presented as a technical finding about any current enquiry.
Questions clients often ask before they contact us
Do I need to know exactly what service I need before I contact EC?
No. Send the problem or requirement as you have received it. A report, insurer email, landlord request, quotation, certificate or photographs can help separate what is known from what still needs checking.
Does every kitchen extract problem need a TR19 clean?
No. Some problems involve grease cleaning, while others may involve ventilation performance, fan or control faults, access, remediation, evidence or another specialist discipline.
What if several issues are mixed together?
Keep the original trigger visible and separate the workstreams. For example, a site can be overdue for cleaning and also have inaccessible ductwork or a fan fault. Those issues may need different contractors or different evidence.
Can we send several sites at once?
Yes. Multi-site requirements can be considered together while keeping each property, system, due date, evidence pack, access issue and open action separately identifiable.
Is this only for restaurants?
No. The same approach can support hotels, care homes, healthcare, education, food production, workplace catering, facilities management, franchises and other commercial kitchens.
Send us the requirement as you have it
Tell us where the site is, what has happened, who has asked for action and what deadline you are working to. If documents already exist, send those too.
EC can help organise the requirement and identify the information needed before the appropriate independent contractor or specialist is approached.
Responsibility statement:
EC Cleaners Network is operated by Search and Submit Ltd. Search and Submit Ltd does not inspect, clean, test, survey, design, remediate, certify or technically approve kitchen extraction or ventilation systems. Independent appointed contractors and competent professionals remain responsible for technical assessment, safe working, quotations, physical delivery, reporting, certification and professional conclusions within their appointed scope.
TR19® Grease and TR19® Air are BESA specifications. References are descriptive and no BESA endorsement of or affiliation with EC Cleaners Network is claimed.