Everyone accepts that kitchen ventilation is health and safety driven. However, as Steve McMahon, managing director of S&S Northern, insists: there are plenty of anomolies in the way BS6173:2001 is being interpreted and it needs sorting before someone is injured or killed
THERE are certain things that send a shiver down your spine. It may be the noise of a dentist’s drill, or the sound of someone’s nail scraping down a blackboard. It could even be you’ve just missed your anniversary and you know you will be made to pay for it. In the heating and ventilating industry it could be the mention of BS6173:2001.

The standard for ventilating commercial kitchens was introduced some five years ago and still the industry waits for clarification of some points.

The logic behind the standard is understandable and commendable. It is health and safety driven. Commercial kitchens are often cold, especially first thing in the morning. Catering staff were opening up in the morning and turned on hobs and ovens to warm up. The fans were not turned on because it would defeat the object of heating the kitchen. However this meant staff were breathing in gas fumes and the implication for their health was serious.

Bring on BS6173:2001. The bare bones are any new commercial kitchens, which are fitted out after 2001, or any kitchens which have had a major refurbishment after 2001, should have an interlock with the ventilation system to ensure gas cannot be turned on if the fans are not operational. It also requires that if any of the catering appliances do not have a flame failure device fitted, a gas pressure proving system should be installed. There are a number of points which have yet to be clarified.

First, when is a commercial kitchen not a commercial kitchen? Is it down to gas usage? Is it dependent upon the number of meals being prepared? Or is it down to the fact that “commercial catering appliances” are fitted in the kitchen? The majority agree that if commercial catering appliances are fitted there is no doubt it should be treated as a commercial kitchen.

However S&S Northern is working with a number of councils which are building “Surestarts”. These are buildings where mums leave the children during the day so that they can go to work or train for new careers. In the kitchen there is a four- or six-ring hob and an electric oven, like those found in most homes in the country. Some local authorities insist these kitchens are commercial as they are feeding members of the public. They then ensure an interlock system is fitted to comply with BS6173:2001.

In others, the local authority states: “as the appliances are domestic the kitchen is not commercial and as such does not have to comply with BS6173:2001”.

Another area which caused confusion in the past is how to monitor whether the fans are working or not. Initially CORGI would accept only air pressure differential switches as a means of monitoring airflow.

True, they do confirm when there is airflow and in an ideal world they would be, well, ideal.

However, the H&V industry exists in the real world. In kitchen applications there is rarely sufficient ducting to locate the air Pd switch correctly and it is usually impossible to measure both sides of the fan.

Lack of maintenance can cause the air Pd switches to become greased up and ineffective. This means the least expensive piece of equipment on an interlock system causes most problems. Fortunately CORGI has seen this as a problem area and now accepts current monitoring to be an acceptable alternative to air Pd switches.

The most controversial area from a maintenance perspective is overrides. In the past most interlock panel manufacturers have built an override facility into their system. This allows gas to be made available for a limited period if an engineer establishes the fans are working correctly but the gas has been turned off by the interlock system because of, say, a faulty Pd switch. This allowed the kitchen to carry on operating while the air Pd switch was replaced. CORGI initially accepted overrides were acceptable.

Earlier this year after consultation CORGI said it would advise that overrides would not be acceptable on interlock panels and should not be fitted after this month (September). Now CORGI has changed its mind again and accepted that for the time being overrides are acceptable. S&S Northern has its own views on this but will go with whatever CORGI advises. Just let us know and we can make it.

S&S Northern is here to help with BS6173:2001 but we cannot help when someone has forgotten their wedding anniversary.