Accreditation
Checkatrade and Kitchen Extraction
Does Extractford have a Checkatrade listing?
Not yet. There is no badge on this page and no score quoted, because the company holds no listing of its own and a badge would imply one. This page explains what Checkatrade vetting actually checks, which is the company rather than the workmanship, and which checks predict the outcome of an extraction job better.
Trade directory badges are the most copied element on any contractor website and the least explained. This page sets out what the vetting behind one actually covers, what it does not, and where this company currently stands.
Where we stand today
We hold no Checkatrade listing. That is why there is no badge anywhere on this page and no score quoted: a badge is read as a listing, and putting one here while none exists would be the exact misreading the rest of this page is about. When there is a listing, it will appear here with the trade it was earned in and the date it started.
What Checkatrade vetting actually covers
It is worth knowing what the tick means, because it is frequently read as more than it is.
Checkatrade runs a set of checks when a company joins and repeats them periodically. Those checks are about the company rather than the workmanship: identity, company status, insurance in force, and whether the business is who it says it is. Alongside that it publishes reviews left by that company’s customers, which is a reputation record built by the people who paid the invoices.
What it is not is a technical audit. Nobody from a directory attends a job, opens an access panel, or measures a duct. So a listing tells you a company is real, insured and has customers who came back to write about it. It does not tell you whether an extract system was cleaned to a specification, and it was never designed to.
That distinction matters more in extraction than in most trades, because the work happens inside a duct on a roof and the customer cannot inspect it afterwards. A directory score and a grease cleaning report answer two different questions, and only one of them is about your kitchen.
How to check any trade listing, including ours
Three habits catch almost everything.
Search the directory, do not follow the badge. A badge on a company website is an image file. Anyone can place one. Go to the directory, search the company name, and read the listing there.
Match the legal name. The name on the listing should match the registered company name on your quotation and your invoice. Where they differ, and they do differ more often than you would expect, the company should be able to explain why in one sentence rather than leaving you to work it out from a footer.
Read the trade, not just the number. A high score in a different trade is a different company’s competence. It is a reasonable signal about how a business treats its customers and no signal at all about ductwork.
What we would rather be judged on
For commercial kitchen extraction, the checks that actually predict the outcome are narrower than any directory listing:
- public liability cover at a level that suits your site, on request, in writing
- work carried out to the TR19 Grease specification, and a clear statement of where that stands, which is what our BESA accreditation page is for
- a sample report from a kitchen of comparable size, redacted, before you book
- a named engineer who attends, rather than a subcontractor booked on the day
Ask for those four from anybody quoting you, including us. They take a few minutes to produce and a contractor who cannot produce them has told you something a five star average would have hidden.
You can also read what we do and do not have to show on our reviews page, which is written to the same rule as this one.
Common questions
What does a Checkatrade listing actually verify?
Checkatrade runs identity, insurance and company status checks at sign up and re-checks them periodically, then publishes reviews left by that company customers. It is a vetting and reputation service. It does not audit technical work against a specification, so it says nothing about whether a duct run was cleaned to TR19.
Should I trust a listing that was earned in another trade?
Treat it as a signal about how the business handles customers and not as evidence about ductwork. A score built on plastering or boiler work says nothing about whether anybody has opened a grease-laden duct run, so read which trade the reviews describe before you read the number.
How do I check a trade listing myself?
Search the company name on the directory rather than following a badge on the company own website, and check that the registered company name on the listing matches the name on your quotation. A badge image is a picture. The listing is the record.
Which checks matter more for extraction work?
Public liability cover at a level that suits your site, evidence of work to TR19 Grease, and a sample report from a comparable kitchen. A directory listing is a reasonable first filter and a poor final one.