A food business should keep on top of six areas: electrics and equipment supplies, hot water at every hand-wash basin, extraction and ventilation, lighting including emergency lights, pest proofing such as fly screens, and floors and doors. The failures that can stop a kitchen trading are usually no hot water, no power to fridges or cooking equipment, blocked drains, failed extraction and pests. Check little and often, and fix small faults before they become closures.
What should a restaurant or café check regularly?
Think of maintenance as protecting your ability to trade. Most kitchen closures start as a small fault that was noticed and left: a dripping tap, a tripping socket, a torn fly screen.
Food hygiene law requires premises to be kept clean and in good repair, with suitable hand-washing facilities, adequate lighting and ventilation. Officers from Leicester City Council, or your local council, look mainly at cleanliness and food handling. The condition of the building and equipment can still come up. We can't say how any inspection will turn out, so treat this list as good practice rather than a guarantee, and check the Food Standards Agency guidance for the detail.
The sections below are grouped by area. Pick a quiet morning each week for a walk round and note anything that needs a repair.
What electrical checks does a commercial kitchen need?
Kitchens are hard on electrics. Heat, steam, grease, water and equipment that is moved for cleaning all wear out sockets, plugs and flexes faster than in an office.
Under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, you must keep electrical systems safe. Guidance commonly recommends an EICR every five years for many premises, but catering premises are often inspected more often, and your insurer or your last report may set a shorter interval.
- Sockets behind equipment
- Look for scorch marks, cracked fronts and grease build-up when you pull units out.
- Flexes and plugs
- No cuts, crushing or taped repairs; plugs not warm to touch.
- Isolators
- Every fixed appliance has a working, labelled isolator staff can reach.
- RCD trips
- Repeated trips often mean water or a failing element; get it traced, not reset all day.
- Extension leads
- Not used for fryers, kettles or boilers; give heavy loads their own supply.
- Distribution board
- Labelled, closed, and not used as a shelf or storage space.
Why is hot water at hand-wash basins so important?
Because you can't run a food business safely without it. Food hygiene rules require basins for hand washing with hot and cold (or suitably mixed) running water, soap and a hygienic way to dry hands. If a basin loses hot water, staff can't wash properly, and you may have to stop preparing food until it is fixed.
Many cafés and takeaways rely on a small under-sink or over-sink water heater at the hand-wash basin. These are cheap and reliable, but limescale is a common cause of failure in Leicester's hard water. Check them weekly and know where the isolating valve and switch are.
- Hot water in seconds
- Run each hand-wash basin; it should reach a comfortable warm temperature quickly.
- Taps and traps
- No drips, loose taps or leaks under basins and sinks.
- Dishwasher and glasswasher
- Hoses, valves and waste connections dry; no water on the floor.
- Backflow protection
- Commercial appliances need the right protection under the Water Fittings Regulations 1999.
- Drains
- Slow sinks and smells are early warnings; grease traps cleaned as the maker advises.
Who maintains kitchen extraction?
Canopies and ductwork over cooking equipment are specialist work. A kitchen extraction specialist designs, services and cleans them, and grease build-up in ductwork is a fire risk your insurer will often ask about. Where gas cooking equipment is interlocked with the extraction, the interlock is checked by the specialist and your Gas Safe engineer.
Smaller fans are ours. Extractor fans in staff toilets, wash-up areas, dry stores and cellars are often forgotten until they stop, and then damp and mould follow. We repair or replace these and the electrics feeding them.
- Canopy filters
- Cleaned by your staff as often as the specialist advises; usually weekly or more.
- Canopy and ducts
- Serviced and deep cleaned by an extraction specialist.
- Toilet and store fans
- Running, clean and venting outside. Us.
- Fan noise or vibration
- Report early; a failing motor often gets louder first.
What about lighting and emergency lights?
Kitchens and food stores need good, even light so staff can work safely and see what they are cleaning. Failed tubes, flickering fittings and dark corners are easy fixes that make a real difference.
In food areas, fittings should be covered or shatter-resistant so broken glass can't fall into food. Many older kitchens still have bare fluorescent tubes, and an LED upgrade with suitable enclosed fittings is a common improvement.
Emergency lights on escape routes need a monthly function test and an annual full-duration test under BS 5266-1, recorded in a logbook. Kitchens are hot and greasy, which shortens battery life, so expect emergency fittings to need batteries more often than in an office.
How do you pest-proof a restaurant or takeaway?
Close the gaps pests use to get in, and keep them closed. Pest control itself is a specialist job, but much of the proofing is building maintenance.
- Fly screens
- On every window that opens in a food room; repair tears straight away. We fit these.
- Doors
- Rear doors closed or screened; brush strips on the bottom edge.
- Pipe and cable gaps
- Holes where pipes and cables pass through walls sealed up.
- Drains and gullies
- Covers in place; no broken grates outside the back door.
- Bin areas
- Kept clean, lidded and away from doors where possible.
What should you check on floors and doors?
Floors and doors take a beating in a busy kitchen, and damaged ones cause slips, trips and hygiene problems.
- Door closers
- Fire doors and toilet doors close fully on their own.
- Kitchen doors
- Kick plates fixed; swing doors not catching or sticking.
- Locks and security
- Rear and cellar doors lock properly; keys accounted for.
- Walls and ceilings
- Cracks, peeling paint and loose panels repaired so they can be cleaned.
Which failures can force a kitchen to close?
A handful of faults can stop you trading the same day. Know who to call for each one before it happens, and keep the numbers on the wall.
- No hot water at hand-wash basins
- A water heater or supply fault. Us.
- Power loss to fridges or cooking
- A tripped circuit, failed supply or damaged socket. Us.
- Blocked drains or sinks
- Waste backing up into food areas. A drainage specialist for main drains.
- Failed extraction
- Can stop gas cooking where interlocked. Extraction specialist and Gas Safe engineer.
- Gas fault
- Gas Safe engineer only. For a suspected leak, call 0800 111 999.
- Refrigeration breakdown
- A refrigeration engineer, unless it is the power supply.
- Pest activity
- Your pest control contractor, then proofing repairs.
Can maintenance be done outside trading hours?
Yes, within our hours of 8am to 8pm, every day. Many cafés and takeaways book work for an early start before opening, the gap between lunch and evening service, or the day they are closed.
Most repairs need no shutdown at all. Where a circuit or water supply has to be turned off, we agree the time with you first and keep it short. Several jobs, such as a socket, a fly screen, a water heater and a toilet fan, can go on one request and one visit, with one fixed price agreed before work starts. If we find something unexpected, we stop, show you, and price it separately.
Questions
Can I use a domestic water heater for a hand-wash basin?
Small point-of-use heaters are common in cafés and takeaways and are often fine, as long as they deliver enough hot water quickly for busy periods. Check the maker's rating for commercial use and how many basins it serves.
Do I need a dedicated hand-wash basin in the kitchen?
Food hygiene rules require suitable hand-washing facilities, and guidance generally expects basins used only for hand washing, separate from food and equipment sinks. Your council's food safety team can advise on your layout.
How often should a takeaway have an electrical inspection?
There is no single fixed interval. Many guides recommend more frequent inspections for catering premises than for offices, and your insurer or last EICR may set the date. Check your report's recommended next inspection.
Do you clean kitchen extraction canopies?
No. Canopy and ductwork cleaning is specialist work. We handle smaller extractor fans, the electrics supplying them where the specialist specifies, and general repairs around the kitchen.
What should I keep on file for my kitchen?
Your latest EICR, emergency lighting logbook, gas safety records, extraction cleaning certificates, pest control reports, PAT records and invoices for repairs. Keeping them together makes inspections and insurance claims easier.
Can one visit cover electrical and plumbing jobs together?
Yes. Send a list with photos and we price everything as one fixed price. A typical visit might cover a damaged socket, a water heater, a leaking trap and a torn fly screen.