Landlord or Tenant: Who Pays for Kitchen Extract Cleaning?
Who is responsible for the canopy, the ductwork and the roof fan in a leased commercial kitchen — and the three clauses to check.
Short answer: in almost every commercial lease the tenant is responsible for cleaning the kitchen extract system, because it is part of keeping the premises in repair and because the tenant is the one cooking. The exceptions are shared ductwork and roof-level fans in multi-occupied buildings, where the landlord often retains the common parts. The lease decides, so here is what to look for.
The three clauses that settle it
- Repair and maintenance. A full repairing lease puts the whole demise on the tenant, and the extract system inside the demise with it. An internal repairing lease may leave the duct run through the roof void or the external fan with the landlord.
- Statutory compliance. Most leases oblige the tenant to comply with all statutes affecting the premises. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 makes the person in control of the premises the "responsible person" for fire risk, and a grease-laden duct is a fire risk. That clause alone usually puts extract cleaning on the tenant.
- Service charge. In a food hall, shopping centre, hotel with a concession kitchen or a building with several kitchens on one riser, the landlord may clean the common ductwork and recharge it. Check what the service charge covers before you pay twice.
Tied and leased pubs
Pubco agreements almost always place kitchen extract cleaning on the tenant, and the pubco increasingly asks for certificates at inspection or rent review. If you took over a pub with a grease-caked system, get an inspection report now — it is your evidence that the condition predates you.
Taking over a kitchen
The previous tenant's grease is now your fire risk and your insurance problem. Before you open, have the system cleaned or at least inspected and photographed, and keep the report with the lease. If the ductwork has no access hatches, raise it with the landlord in writing — fitting them is often treated as an improvement rather than a repair.
Handing a kitchen back
Dilapidations claims for extract systems are common and expensive. A certificate and photographs from a clean shortly before the end of the term is the cheapest defence there is.
Whichever side you are on
The insurer, the fire-risk assessor and the environmental health officer do not care whose name is on the lease. They want a certificate for the kitchen that is cooking. We arrange TR19-focused extract cleaning quotes for tenants, landlords and managing agents across Swansea Bay — request a quote and say which you are.
Related: Pubs & bars · Restaurants · What a clean costs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is kitchen extract cleaning the landlord's responsibility?
Usually not. Most commercial leases put it on the tenant through the repair and statutory-compliance clauses. Landlords typically retain only shared ductwork or roof fans in multi-occupied buildings, often recharged through the service charge.
The landlord says the ductwork was clean when I took the lease. How do I prove otherwise?
An inspection report with grease-depth readings and dated photographs, taken as soon as possible after you move in. Without it, the dilapidations claim at the end of the term is your word against theirs.
Can I make the landlord fit access hatches?
Not usually, but you can ask in writing. Hatches are a one-off cost that makes every future clean cheaper, and many landlords agree because it protects their building.
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