Swiftclean UK, duct cleaning & Legionella risk experts

Air and water hygiene are two of the key factors in achieving and maintaining healthy buildings. The Swiftclean team are experts in these critical disciplines, assisting hundreds of clients in their required compliance with British Standards, building services specifications, industry guidance and codes of practice. Established over 40 years ago, Swiftclean has long been a pioneer of ductwork hygiene and has been instrumental in establishing professionalism and industry best practice. It has also been providing exemplary Legionella control services for several decades.

Clean air
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is largely dependent on the cleanliness of a building’s ventilation system. It is important that the system itself does not introduce pollutants into the incoming fresher air stream as it is drawn into the property. Therefore, the ductwork which forms the ventilation system should receive regular expert cleaning in compliance with the TR19® Air specification, issued by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). This thorough cleaning ensures that the ductwork is free from dust, dirt, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or other airborne pollutants which may settle on its interior surfaces. 

TR19® Air was issued in May 2024, as a new specification, born out of the former TR19 and TR17 ventilation hygiene guidance documents, which were also issued by BESA. This new specification puts an increased emphasis on the need for regular inspection of ventilation systems, as well as their regular cleaning to help ensure good IAQ. This relies on good access to every part of the ventilation ductwork – if you can’t access it, you can’t inspect or clean it. Swiftclean Managing Director, Gary Nicholls, is a co-author of TR19® Air. As one of the UK’s leading industry experts, he has helped to shape this document and its predecessors, TR19 and TR17, working with the BESA steering group since the 1990s. Gary is a pioneer of the Vent Hygiene Register, of which Swiftclean is a founder member. This is operated under the auspices of BESCA, the certification arm of BESA.

Only members of the Vent Hygiene Register are authorised to provide post-clean certification, which includes before and after photography of the ductwork, providing valuable evidence of compliance. This evidence is an essential protection for building managers and owners as it demonstrates compliance and helps to refute any accusation of negligence. 

Swiftclean also provides fire damper testing, laundry extract cleaning, local exhaust ventilation cleaning and indoor air quality monitoring. 

Clean water
When it comes to water system hygiene, Swiftclean also has a long, successful track record, providing Legionella prevention and control services, as a long-term member of the Legionella Control Association (LCA). Swiftclean assists hundreds of clients; particularly in the social housing, health, hospitality, food manufacturing, and education sectors; in achieving and maintaining compliance with the Approved Code of Practice L8, issued by the HSE. 

The company provides Legionella risk assessment; cleaning, flushing and sanitising; monitoring and testing; as well as water tank cleaning, remedial works, maintenance and repair. 

Grease management
Swiftclean is one of the UK’s leading providers of kitchen extract fire safety cleaning for commercial or institutional kitchens. This service is essential both for catering hygiene and as a fire safety measure. The grease deposits which accumulate in extract ductwork as a natural result of cooking are highly flammable – a thin grease film equivalent to half the thickness of an average business card can constitute a serious fire risk – so these must be removed regularly in compliance with TR19® Grease. TR19® Grease is the sister publication to TR19® Air; both arising from the former TR19. 

In 2016 AXA Insurance, as part of its Commercial Kitchen Fire Safety Service, named Swiftclean as recommended provider of fire safety kitchen extract cleaning. AXA clients receive a 10% discount from Swiftclean. 

Swiftclean also provides grease trap management for catering establishments. 

Training and professionalism
The company is at the forefront of training for the industry, being an early adopter of professional training for vent hygiene technicians. Its experts have been instrumental in formulating the new BESA training courses in ventilation hygiene, helping to raise professional standards across the board. Swiftclean Academy is one of only three BESA accredited training centres in the UK, thereby passing on knowledge and expertise to commercial rivals, as well as its own team of nationwide technicians.  

Serving the client
Swiftclean provides a truly nationwide service, with technical sales consultants, regional supervisors, service co-ordinators and compliance technicians in the field, supported by teams at its Southend HQ and regional office in Leicester. Supervisors based regionally in the field provide back up and support to technical operatives across the UK.

Swiftclean’s services can be tracked by clients via an online portal, which shows job progress and completion in real time, as well as providing access to certified post-clean documentation. Work is photographed before and after, carefully documented and reported, forming part of customers’ compliance audit trails. 

As the legal consequences of negligence can include prosecution and, in the case of a conviction for negligence, potentially, a custodial sentence, the robust evidence of compliance which Swiftclean provides helps to protect building owners, whilst delivering great peace of mind.