Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration
Commercial Duct Cleaning
Dust, debris, and microbial growth build up inside ventilation ductwork over time, restricting airflow, driving up energy costs, and lowering the quality of the air a building circulates. For most commercial premises, keeping ductwork clean is part of your duty to provide a safe, healthy working environment, and insurers increasingly expect a record of it.
Robinsons Facilities Services coordinates commercial HVAC duct cleaning to the BESA TR19 Air standard across Yorkshire and the Humber. We arrange certified specialist engineers, manage the process, and issue the certificate and documentation you need to evidence compliance.
From £2+VAT/m² | Small offices from £400+VAT | Mid-size systems £500 to £1,500+VAT
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Prefer to speak to someone? Call us on 01423 226578 →
Commercial duct cleaning is the cleaning and decontamination of a building’s ventilation ductwork to the BESA TR19 Air standard, which governs the internal cleanliness of general ventilation systems. It removes dust, debris, and microbial growth to protect indoor air quality and airflow. How often it is needed depends on the building and how quickly contamination builds up.
TR19 Air or TR19 Grease: which do you need?
There are two BESA TR19 specifications, and they cover different systems. Getting the right one matters, because they are separate services.
TR19 Air
TR19 Air covers general HVAC and ventilation ductwork in offices, schools, hospitals, and commercial buildings. Its focus is indoor air quality and occupant health. This is the standard for the duct cleaning on this page.
TR19 Grease
TR19 Grease is a separate specification covering kitchen extraction ductwork, where grease build-up is a fire risk. If you need your kitchen extract system cleaned, that’s a different service, see our commercial kitchen extraction system and commercial kitchen duct cleaning pages.
What duct cleaning involves
A TR19 Air duct clean follows a structured process, with documentation at each stage:
- Inspection: the system is surveyed, often with cameras, to assess contamination levels against TR19 Air cleanliness classes
- Preparation: the system is safely shut down and access panels, grilles, and diffusers are removed where needed
- Cleaning: brushing, HEPA-filtered vacuuming, and compressed-air agitation remove dust and debris, with anti-microbial treatment where required
- Verification: cleanliness is checked against the standard, with before-and-after evidence recorded
- Certification: a TR19 Air certificate and report are issued
Why duct cleaning matters
Contaminated ducts restrict airflow, which forces the fans to work harder and pushes up energy use. At the same time they circulate dust, mould spores, and bacteria through every space the system serves, which in laboratories, food production, and care settings is a direct risk to the people in the building.
Keeping ductwork clean is therefore both an energy and a health matter, and, as covered in the FAQs below, it is how you meet your legal duties and satisfy building insurers.
How often should ductwork be cleaned?
TR19 Air does not set a single fixed interval. Frequency is risk-based, determined by the building’s use and how quickly contamination builds up.
In practice, most commercial HVAC systems are inspected annually, with cleaning scheduled according to what the inspection finds. Higher-risk or heavily used systems, and settings such as hospitals and food production, need cleaning more often than a low-use office.
We assess your system, tell you which TR19 Air cleanliness class applies, and recommend a schedule that keeps you compliant without over-servicing.
Pricing
Duct cleaning is priced mainly by the size and layout of the system, which is why the industry-standard unit is a rate per square metre of ductwork. A larger, more complex, or harder-to-access system takes longer and costs more.
As a worked example, a 300m² system at £2/m² works out at around £600+VAT.
Per square metre: from £2+VAT/m²
The standard unit for HVAC duct cleaning. We measure the ductwork and confirm a fixed price before any work begins.
Get a quote for duct cleaning →
Small offices: from £400+VAT
A typical entry point for a small commercial HVAC system, including inspection, cleaning, and TR19 Air certification.
Get a quote for duct cleaning →
Mid-size systems: £500 to £1,500+VAT
Covers typical commercial HVAC cleaning across schools, offices, and hospitals, depending on the size and complexity of the ductwork.
Get a quote for duct cleaning →
For sites that want scheduled, proactive cleaning rather than reactive, we also offer duct cleaning as part of a PPM and compliance contract, from £385+VAT/year.
What you receive
Every TR19 Air duct clean we arrange includes the documentation you need to evidence compliance:
- TR19 Air certificate confirming the system meets the standard
- Before-and-after photographs of the cleaned ductwork
- A report on system condition and any issues found
- Damper inspection as part of the survey
How we support you
We coordinate specialist TR19 Air certified engineers, manage scheduling and access, and give you a single point of contact for the job. For a one-off clean, we quote quoted works with a fixed price up front. For scheduled cleaning across a portfolio, we build it into a compliance contract.
Robinsons Facilities Services is SafeContractor approved and holds UKAS ISO 9001 certification. We manage ventilation hygiene alongside the wider building services we look after for commercial clients across Yorkshire and the Humber.
Get a quote for duct cleaning →
Prefer to speak to someone? Call us on 01423 226578 →
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Commercial Duct Cleaning FAQs
Commercial HVAC duct cleaning is usually priced per square metre of ductwork, from £2+VAT per square metre. A small office system typically starts from £400+VAT, and mid-size commercial systems run £500 to £1,500+VAT depending on size, layout, and access. As a guide, a 300m² system at £2/m² works out at around £600+VAT. We measure your ductwork and confirm a fixed price before we start.
TR19 Air is the BESA standard for the internal cleanliness and hygiene of general ventilation systems, released in April 2024. It sets measurable cleanliness levels and inspection guidance for HVAC ductwork in offices, schools, hospitals, and commercial buildings. It is separate from TR19 Grease, which covers kitchen extraction. Meeting TR19 Air is how building owners demonstrate they are managing ventilation hygiene.
There is no single fixed interval. TR19 Air sets risk-based frequencies, with annual inspection the typical baseline for most commercial systems and cleaning scheduled according to what the inspection finds. Heavily used systems and higher-risk settings need cleaning more often than a low-use office. We assess your system and recommend the right schedule.
The clearest signs are visible dust around grilles and diffusers, a musty or stale smell when the ventilation runs, and staff complaints about stuffiness or allergy symptoms that ease away from the building. Rising energy bills with no other explanation can also point to restricted airflow. The only reliable way to confirm is an inspection, which measures contamination against the TR19 Air cleanliness classes and tells you whether a clean is due.
It depends on the size and layout of the system, but most commercial cleans are completed in a day or less, and larger or multi-zone systems over a few days. The ventilation is shut down for the sections being worked on, so we plan the work around your operating hours, out of hours or in phases where needed, to keep disruption to a minimum. We confirm the expected timescale when we quote.
Yes. Every clean we arrange concludes with a TR19 Air certificate confirming the ductwork meets the standard, supported by before-and-after photographs and a report on the system’s condition. This is the documentation insurers and auditors ask to see, so it is worth keeping on file as your compliance record.
TR19 Air is a standard, not a law in itself. However, keeping ductwork clean is how you meet legal duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and, where fire risk applies, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. A valid TR19 Air certificate is also increasingly required by building insurers as a condition of cover.
They are governed by different BESA standards. HVAC and ventilation duct cleaning follows TR19 Air and focuses on air quality. Kitchen extract cleaning follows TR19 Grease and focuses on fire risk from grease build-up. For kitchen extraction, see our commercial kitchen extraction system page, which is the right service for that work.
Last updated: 23/07/2026
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