In a regional town centre, the pool of specialist grease cleaning contractors available is really quite small. When a council deadline is looming or the insurance renewal date is just around the corner, you can bet the pressure to get someone out ASAP is really building up. The thing is, though, a cleaning certificate from some unqualified contractor won’t cut it; no matter what it says, it’s a document that looks right but offers zero protection.
The Difference Between Qualifications Which Are Purely Formalities and Ones That Really Matter
Cleaning kitchens involves a lot of high-risk activities like work at height, confined space entry and having to access the roof to clean the exhaust fan. Technicians need to hold up-to-date working at heights certification, confined space certification and first aid qualifications at a bare minimum. These aren’t just a bunch of formalities; they’re there to stop you from getting seriously hurt while cleaning. Reputable grease cleaners Glenn Innes carry all required certifications and safety data sheets as a matter of course.
Choosing the right chemicals is just as important as certification. Industrial-strength degreasers are a whole different beast to your average household cleaning products, designed for polymerised grease rather than the odd stain on the kitchen floor. If a contractor can’t even tell you what chemicals they’re using, or provide the safety data sheets for the products they’re using inside a food business, they’re just not up to scratch.
What a Certificate That Actually Counts Must Include?
This is where the difference between a proper compliance certificate and a worthless bit of paper really comes home. A proper AS 1851-compliant post-clean certificate is going to include:
- The date the service was done and the operative’s name and qualifications.
- Measurements of the pre-clean grease residue thickness at all the test points that are defined.
- Post-clean measurements to confirm the residue is within allowed limits.
- Photos of the system condition before and after the clean.
- The recommended next service date based on a cooking volume assessment that was done during the visit.
Certificates that leave out the grease thickness measurements or don’t have any photos, or just have a signature and a date, won’t cut it if you need to pass a fire authority inspection or deal with an insurer who’s looking into a claim.
What Sets a Proper Full-System Clean Apart from a Partial One?
A proper service will cover the whole duct run from the canopy connection right up to the exhaust fan on the roof, including all the bends and the motor casing, and not just the bits you can see like the filter rack and the inside of the canopy. It’s not just some quick clean of the bits that are visible.
Ductwork in old commercial buildings often has gaps where you’d want access panels; a proper contractor will spot this sort of thing during the pre-service inspection and will install the access panels you need as part of the service. If a contractor simply notes the access limitations but then carries on anyway, you can be pretty sure they’re only doing a half-baked job and the certificate they issue isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
Questions to Ask Before Engaging Any Contractor
Operators need to verify before they sign the service contract:
- Does the contractor carry current public liability insurance, and are they willing to provide the certificate if requested?
- How do they access every section of the ducting run in buildings they have never worked with before?
- Do they do an inspection prior to providing their quote to determine the system requirements and the frequency of cleaning required, or are they giving you a price based on not seeing the kitchen?
- Do they have referrals from other commercial kitchens in the region of NSW?
If they won’t answer those questions, then don’t bother with them.
After the Service: The Action Items for Operators
The certificate must be stored electronically, and a copy needs to be sent to the building owner, the venue’s insurers, and the person who manages the Annual Fire Safety Statement. The future service date must be booked in the forward calendar, well before the filing season, as a reminder.
If any problems come up during the service (gaps in access panels, faulty fans, or unusually high accumulation at the start of cleaning), these must be documented separately as action items. Professional contractors include all this information in their inspection report along with the certificate. If the report consists solely of the certificate without anything else, then no inspection was done.
