Schools and Universities — Kitchen Extract Cleaning in Edinburgh

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 Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Forth Valley. An independent specialist provider does the work and issues the certificate.

All children in primary 1 to 5 at schools run by their local council in Scotland can get free school lunches in term time, and mygov.scot says free breakfast clubs will be available for all primary pupils from August 2027. More meals and earlier service can mean more cooking hours, which is what sets the TR19 interval.

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 lets may be moderate use and six-monthly. 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 safety and insurance

The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 apply to schools, colleges and universities as to any other premises: the duty holder must assess fire risk and act on it, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) enforces those duties. Scottish Government guidance for non-residential premises, which includes educational buildings, says grease and fat deposits should be removed from kitchen equipment, including extraction equipment. In a council school the kitchen sits in a council building, and at a college or university a contract caterer may run an outlet in a building the institution owns. Where duties are shared, the Regulations require everyone involved to co-operate and co-ordinate, so confirm who books the clean and who holds the certificate. 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 readings are taken before and after, and you receive a certificate with before-and-after photographs for your estates file. In older buildings the duct route may never have been drawn, so an inspection report can map it first.

Booking into holidays and quiet weeks

Holidays are the obvious window. In Edinburgh, schools break up for the summer at the end of June and go back in mid-August, with a mid-term break in October, so check your own council's dates. For universities the summer vacation is not always quiet in the capital, because some University of Edinburgh buildings host events during the International Festival and the Fringe every summer. Book summer dates early.

Councils, colleges and campus estates

If you manage several schools for a council, or several catering outlets across a campus, we can arrange one quote covering every kitchen. Each kitchen gets its own interval and certificate, scheduled across the holidays. Large residences need the same planning. Pollock Halls, beside Holyrood Park, is the University of Edinburgh's largest residence hall and houses over 2,000 students in term time. The cost guide explains what drives the price.

Schools, colleges and universities we arrange quotes for

The patch takes in several universities. The University of Edinburgh, which opened in 1583, has its Central Area in Southside. Heriot-Watt, founded in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, has its main campus at Riccarton in south-west Edinburgh, and Edinburgh Napier has campuses at Merchiston, Craiglockhart and Sighthill. Queen Margaret University began in 1875 as the Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy and moved to its campus near Musselburgh in 2007. The University of St Andrews, founded in 1413, is the oldest in Scotland, and the University of Stirling was founded in 1967. Schools and colleges are covered from Livingston, Dalkeith and Haddington to Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Falkirk.

Where we see these kitchens most

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

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