03 Aug 2026 · Cleaning & Compliance
Before signing a kitchen exhaust service contract in Singapore, verify that the contractor handles cleaning, repairs, and compliance reporting in-house; confirm service frequency matches your grease load; check that chemical methods are NEA-compliant; and ensure 24/7 breakdown response is written into the agreement — not just promised verbally.
We get called in a fair amount to sort out problems that started with a badly chosen service contract. The kitchen owner signed something that looked reasonable on paper — monthly visits, competitive price, a company name they recognised — and months later they're facing a grease fire risk, a failed NEA inspection, or a bill for "extra works" that weren't in the original scope. So before you put pen to paper, here's what we'd want you to check.
This is the first question we'd ask any competitor. A lot of service contracts in Singapore are held by companies that sub-contract the actual cleaning and maintenance out. That means the person turning up at your kitchen may have no relationship with the company you signed with, limited accountability, and no access to proprietary parts or chemicals if something goes wrong mid-job.
We do everything in-house — cleaning, repairs, fabrication, control panel work, fan servicing. When you call us, the team that shows up is our team. That matters when there's a fault at 11 pm on a Friday before a Saturday lunch service.
What to ask: "Do you sub-contract any part of this work?" If the answer is vague or qualified, push harder.
A standard "quarterly clean" sounds sensible until you realise your kitchen is running wok stations twelve hours a day, six days a week. High-heat, high-volume cooking — especially Asian cuisine heavy on deep-frying and wok-hei — produces grease accumulation at a rate that can make quarterly servicing dangerously inadequate.
On the other hand, a light-use café or staff canteen with one or two cooking sessions a day doesn't need the same frequency. The contract should reflect your kitchen's actual usage profile, not a one-size-fits-all schedule that suits the contractor's logistics.
When we assess a kitchen before quoting, we look at:
From that, we recommend a cleaning interval that's actually grounded in fire risk — not a number pulled from a standard template.
Not all degreasers are equal, and in a commercial kitchen the wrong chemical can damage stainless steel canopy surfaces, leave residues that attract more grease, or simply not cut through heavy carbonised buildup at all. We formulate and supply our own BC Air chemical series specifically for kitchen exhaust degreasing, so we know exactly what's going into the system and what the outcome should look like.
You should also ask whether the contractor uses hot water pressure washing for the ductwork interior, manual scraping for heavy deposits, or a combination. Steam cleaning can be effective in certain configurations. What you want to avoid is a contractor who essentially wipes down the visible surfaces and ticks a box — leaving the duct runs themselves loaded with grease that no one ever sees until it ignites.
Ask to see a sample cleaning report from a previous job. A proper report should document before-and-after conditions, areas accessed, grease thickness observations, and any defects noted.
NEA and SCDF have requirements around exhaust system maintenance, and your tenancy agreement or building management may have additional stipulations. A good service contract should make clear who is responsible for maintaining records, issuing certificates of cleaning, and flagging any conditions that require remediation to remain compliant.
We always confirm the exact regulatory requirements with the relevant authority before quoting, because rules do get updated and we'd rather flag a change proactively than leave a client exposed. What you don't want is a contract where the cleaning is covered but the documentation that proves compliance isn't — leaving you scrambling for paperwork during an inspection.
Check the contract for:
This is where a lot of contracts fall apart in practice. "24/7 support" written in bold on the front page of a proposal can mean almost anything. It might mean a phone line that logs a call and dispatches someone the next business day. It might mean a WhatsApp group that goes quiet after 9 pm.
Our 24/7 standby is exactly that — we run round-the-clock availability because kitchens don't break down on schedule. An exhaust fan that trips at 6 am before a hotel breakfast service is just as much of an emergency as one that goes down on a weekday afternoon. We stock our own motors, MV fans, variable speed drives and control panels, so we're not waiting on a parts order to get your system back online.
What to ask: "What is your guaranteed response time for a breakdown call, and what parts do you carry on hand?" If they can't answer clearly, assume the worst.
Some service contracts cover labour for routine cleaning but exclude any repair work entirely — even if the fault is discovered during a contracted visit. Others include parts at inflated mark-ups that only become visible when the invoice arrives.
Read the exclusions section carefully. Ask specifically about: motor replacement, fan blade repairs, damper and control panel faults, filter replacement, and UV system servicing if you have one. A transparent contractor will price these clearly upfront or include a schedule of rates in the contract itself.
It depends heavily on your cooking volume and method. High-volume kitchens running wok stations or deep fryers may need monthly cleaning to stay within safe grease accumulation limits. Lower-intensity operations might manage with quarterly servicing. We assess each kitchen individually before recommending a frequency — a flat "quarterly" schedule isn't appropriate for every setup, and getting it wrong creates real fire risk.
A proper cleaning certificate should identify the premises, the date of service, the scope of work carried out (which sections of duct and canopy were cleaned), the condition observed before and after, any defects noted, and the name of the contractor. We issue these after every visit as a matter of course. If a contractor can't show you a sample certificate before you sign, that's a concern.
You can, but in our experience it creates gaps in accountability. If a fault develops — say a fan bearing that's been running rough for months — the cleaner can say it's a maintenance issue and the repair contractor can say they weren't informed. Using a single contractor for both means one point of responsibility. We handle cleaning, repairs, fabrication and compliance reporting for our clients precisely because that joined-up approach catches problems earlier.
The consequences can range from a notice to rectify within a set timeframe to more serious enforcement action, depending on the nature and severity of the non-compliance. We always advise clients to treat any inspection finding as urgent — not just for regulatory reasons but because the underlying issue (typically grease accumulation or a faulty fire damper) usually represents a genuine safety risk. We can assist with both the rectification work and the supporting documentation for follow-up inspections.
Not always — but the risk is real. We've gone into kitchens where the previous contractor was cheap for a reason: they weren't accessing the full duct run, weren't using effective chemicals, and weren't reporting defects. The client saved a few hundred dollars a quarter and then faced a significant rectification bill — or worse, a fire. Our advice is to compare scope, not just price. A contract that covers less isn't cheaper if you're paying for the gaps elsewhere.
If you're reviewing a contract now — or looking to switch contractors — we're happy to walk through it with you and give you an honest assessment of what's covered and what isn't. Get in touch for a no-obligation quotation, and remember our 24/7 standby team is always available if you have an urgent situation that can't wait.
We design, clean, repair and maintain commercial kitchen exhaust systems across Singapore — on 24/7 standby.