Care homes in Wales sit under a different regulator from those in England. If your compliance paperwork or a supplier's marketing mentions CQC, it is not talking about you — Welsh care homes are registered with and inspected by Care Inspectorate Wales under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016.
Two duties, not one
Kitchen fire safety in a Welsh care home sits at the intersection of two separate obligations:
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This is the law. It places a duty on the responsible person to carry out and maintain a fire-risk assessment and to manage the risks it identifies. Grease accumulation in a kitchen extract system is a recognised ignition and fire-spread hazard, so it belongs in that assessment.
CIW registration. This is the inspection regime. The responsible individual and manager must be able to demonstrate that the premises are safe for residents. An inspector looking at fire safety will expect to see a current fire-risk assessment, alarm and emergency-lighting servicing records, evacuation planning — and, where the kitchen is commercial, evidence that the extract system is being maintained.
Why the kitchen is the sharp end
Grease fires in extract systems are among the most common causes of serious fire in catering premises, and they spread through the ductwork into the structure of the building. In a care home that structure contains people who cannot self-evacuate. Progressive horizontal evacuation — the standard approach in care settings — depends on the fire being contained where it starts, and a grease-laden duct run is a direct route past those compartments.
What a good evidence pack looks like
After each clean you should hold:
- A TR19 post-clean certificate naming the premises and the date.
- Before-and-after photographs, including inside the ductwork.
- Grease-depth readings at measured points along the system.
- A written note of any section that could not be accessed, with a recommendation.
- A recommended next-service date.
That last item matters more than people expect. A certificate with no next-service date makes it very hard to show you have a system rather than a one-off.
What the loss adjuster asks for
After a fire, the questions are narrow and factual: when was the extract system last cleaned, to what standard, by whom, and can you show the report. If the answer is a canopy wipe-down by a general cleaning contractor with no readings and no photographs, the claim gets difficult. If it's a dated TR19 pack with duct-interior photographs, the conversation is short.
The access problem nobody mentions
A lot of older care home kitchens — particularly in converted buildings, which the Swansea and Gower area has plenty of — have ductwork with almost no access panels. That means large sections cannot be inspected or cleaned. An honest report says so and recommends fitting panels. A dishonest one certifies the whole system as clean. If your last report didn't mention access at all, it's worth asking why.
More on how this works in practice on our care home kitchen cleaning page, or see accreditations and standards.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does CIW specifically ask for TR19 certificates?
CIW doesn't mandate a named technical standard, but it does expect the responsible individual to demonstrate that fire risk is being managed. TR19 is the recognised UK benchmark for extract cleanliness, so a TR19 pack is the clearest available evidence.
We're a Welsh care home — why do suppliers keep mentioning CQC?
Because a lot of marketing copy is written for the English market and never localised. CQC regulates England. In Wales your regulator is Care Inspectorate Wales, and the legislation is the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016.
What if our ductwork has no access panels?
It should be recorded on the report as an access limitation, with a recommendation to fit them. Sections that can't be reached can't be certified clean — and knowing that is far more useful than a certificate that quietly ignores it.