Ductwork Cleaning Services

Ducts are conduits or passages used in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to deliver and remove air. As such, air ducts are one method of ensuring acceptable indoor air quality as well as thermal comfort. 
And if you have a commercial property, it's likely that you’ll have a network of ductwork within the walls and ceilings of your building. The importance of maintenance cannnot be understated, as it comes under specific legislation that you need to be aware of.

For example, The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 states that employers or persons concerned with the premises owe a “common duty of care” both to employees and others who may use or visit the premises. And this needs to be applied “so far as is reasonably practical”.
The Workplace Heath, Safety & Welfare Regulations 1992 states that “Effective and suitable provision shall be made to ensure that every enclosed workplace is ventilated by a sufficient quantity of fresh or purified air remains intact”.

The Approved Code of Practice gives “practical advice on how to comply with the law”. For ventilation, it states in ACOP6 (52): Regulation 6, that mechanical ventilation systems (including air conditioning systems) should be regularly and adequately cleaned. They should also be properly tested and maintained to ensure that they are kept free from anything which may contaminate the air. Evidently duct cleaning would be a way of adhering to this regulation.

The associated ACOP5 (41) Regulation 5, specifies an “efficient state” meaning that the workplace, equipment, devices and systems mentioned in these Regulations should be free of faults likely to affect the health, safety and welfare of workers and provide an adequate level of hygiene.
The Occupiers Liability Act 1984 imposes a duty of care on an occupier of premises to prevent (so far as reasonably practical) risk to others of injury, which includes any disease and impairment of physical or mental condition.

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations requires an employer to make a formal assessment of health risk from hazardous substances, which includes human pathogens or any dusts present in substantial quantities in the air. Regulation 7 (1) requires the employer to prevent exposure of his employees to substances hazardous to health, or where this is not practical, to ensure that any exposure is adequately controlled.

As you can see, there are legal requirements that you need to be aware of to ensure that you are adopting best practices within your business. And besides your legal obligations, did you know that a recent study from the Environmental Protection Agency determined showed that the air inside a building can be as much as 70 times more polluted than the air outside?

Ductwork cleaning is an essential part of property maintenance and it's the responsibility of every employer to make sure that they’re properly protecting their staff. Failing to meet those legal requirements could mean not just health issues amongst staff, but also prosecution for those responsible.

There is another serious ramification that also affects you! Because Insurance companies are now becoming increasingly interested in how employers maintain their buildings and equipment. In the event of an employee claim or fire, insurers will ask for evidence of suitable and effective maintenance. If this is not available then claims could be rejected.

Ultimately, duct cleaning is an essential maintenance task that cannot be overlooked or delayed. Make sure that you, your business, and your employees are adequately protected. Contact us now because we can ensure that you have the protection that you need.

"Poorly maintained kitchen extraction ductwork is a huge fire risk with mounting evidence that insurance companies are refusing to pay up if a fire is traced back to grease laden or incorrectly fitted ductwork." B&ES

Our fully qualified ductwork cleaning engineers work to BESA standards.

• We adhere to BESA's 'Guide to Good Practice - Internal Cleanliness of Ventilation Systems'
• We offer maintenance contracts that deliver scheduled duct and canopy cleaning regimes and 'peace of mind'
• We provide biocidal disinfection of ductwork systems and mechanical cleaning of Kitchen Extract Systems
• Our approach seeks to preserve extraction fan and ductwork functionality
• We utilise odour abatement systems

We're committed to providing a customer care and advice service that is rapid in response and effective in actions.

Bob Towse - Head of Technical and Safety - Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES)

"In many cases where a fire has been traced back to the kitchen extract system it has never been cleaned since the ductwork was installed. In such circumstances insurance companies are rejecting fire damage claims and refusing to pay out because having the extraction system cleaned is nearly always a condition of their policies.
Changes to fire regulations introduced in 2005 placed a heavy responsibility on owners, landlords and managing agents to ensure risk assessments have been carried out in their buildings, including identification of potential ignition sources; failure to do so can lead to hefty fines and possible prison sentences.
In many cases systems are only serviced, maintained and cleaned when they finally break down. This is quite simply unacceptable.
B&ES member firms are regularly called to testify as expert witnesses in cases where fires have broken out in kitchens and then spread along grease-laden ductwork to other parts of the building.
Insurance firms are using poor maintenance of ventilation extract systems as grounds for refusing to pay out because they can assert that warranties have been breached due to lack of proper cleaning regimes.
Adhering to the B&ES’s ‘Guide to Good Practice – Internal Cleanliness of Ventilation Systems’, which is endorsed by the Health and Safety Executive, and carrying out regular inspections and recommissioning is a good way to satisfy insurance companies that the right steps have been taken to properly clean kitchen extraction and ventilation systems, both to minimise fire risk and safeguard the health of employees.
We would recommend that systems are cleaned and recommissioned at least every 12 months. However, some systems may need to be cleaned even more frequently than this due to the cooking type and usage. System owners are recommended to introduce a condition survey process to establish the frequency required for their system.”

Call us now on: 01278 452 277

Order products online at: www.jfilters.com