"There are at least 10 serious cooking–related fires a week in London involving restaurants or hotels. Lack of maintenance of Grease Filters is often the cause."

London Fire Brigade, 2008 See also...

AIRAH HVAC Hygiene Best Practice Guidelines

This Guideline establishes the criteria for evaluating the internal cleanliness of HVAC system components and clearly determines when cleaning is required, according to the building use.

The Guideline describes the components of HVAC systems to be evaluated, the types of contamination likely to be encountered and includes for post fire and flood damage assessments. Minimum inspection frequencies for various HVAC systems and components are specified for scheduled maintenance programs.

The Guideline also provides test methods that can be used to verify that a clean system hygiene level has been achieved following a system cleaning or restoration project.

This document also includes recommendations for creating new access openings within HVAC systems where they are required to facilitate the inspection and cleaning of the internal surfaces of system ductwork and components.

This Guideline does not include hygiene inspections or recommendations for either cooking (kitchen hood exhaust) or hazardous (i.e. laboratory, fume cupboard) exhaust systems.

This Guideline does not provide instructions on how to clean or restore HVAC systems but does provide some guidelines on the management of cleaning and restoration projects.

To purchase a copy of the AIRAH HVAC Hygiene Best Practice Guideline visit the AIRAH online store