Ductwork & ductwork cleaning
www.heatingandventilating.net
Ductwork cleaning – clearing the air
After installation, ductwork cleaning is a vital necessity for fire safety, indoor air quality and hygiene. Gary Nicholls, managing director of Swiftclean, tracks the development of ductwork hygiene principles from guidance to specification, and looks forward to a new TR19® Air, currently under review
S
ince the publication of TR17 in 1998, much of the industry has looked to the BESA, or the HVCA as it was then, for guidance on the best
approach to regular ventilation ductwork cleaning. TR17 was the result of the pooled expertise and experience of a number of specialist ductwork cleaning providers, Swiftclean among them. TR17 set out guidance for the regular cleaning of ductwork for ventilation and kitchen extract systems. This successful guidance document was followed in 2005 by TR/19, with a revised version being issued in 2013. These documents laid out the
18 February 2022
importance of cleaning ductwork for both hygiene and safety purposes. In the case of kitchen extract ductwork this was largely for fire safety in addition to hygiene, while in general ventilation ductwork, the concern was more for indoor air quality and the health benefits for occupants. Tables indicating the frequency at which ductwork
was to be cleaned in accordance with its purpose and usage were introduced. TR/19 also introduced a requirement to classify ductwork systems according to the use of the buildings which it served as high, medium or low, recognising more clearly that clean ductwork is essential for better quality indoor air
and the health of those who use the premises. The importance of clean kitchen extract ductwork was thrown most sharply into focus with the introduction in 2019 of TR19® Grease, the new specification which concentrated solely on the cleaning of kitchen extract systems for fire safety and hygiene purposes. The build-up of grease caused by airborne fat, oil and grease which arises naturally from cooking, represents a severe fire hazard if not controlled adequately. Common perception was that this would need to be a severe build-up, whereas, in reality, anything over an average of 200 microns – a thin film of grease
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