A commercial kitchen cleaning checklist works best when it splits tasks by who does them. Kitchen staff clean and sanitise food contact surfaces and equipment during and after service. A contract cleaner handles floors, walls, drains, amenities and front of house after close. Specialist contractors clean exhaust canopies, ducts and grease traps on a schedule. The checklist below follows that split, then shows how to turn it into a cleaning schedule an inspector can follow.
The most common gap in a commercial kitchen is a task each party thinks belongs to someone else: the kitchen team assumes the night cleaner degreases behind the fryers, the cleaner's scope says "floors only", and nobody has booked the canopy clean. Writing down who owns each task closes that gap.
Food businesses in NSW must keep premises, fixtures, fittings and equipment clean, and clean and sanitise food contact surfaces and utensils, under the Food Standards Code. Since 8 December 2023, Standard 3.2.2A has also required many food businesses to have a certified food safety supervisor and trained food handlers (NSW Food Authority). Food service businesses handling unpackaged, potentially hazardous food must be able to show they manage key risks, including cleaning and sanitising, and records kept for this must be held for at least three months (Food Standards Australia New Zealand).
Food safety training often asks what a good cleaning schedule includes details about. In practice, every line of a kitchen cleaning schedule should answer six questions:
Some NSW councils publish blank food premises cleaning schedule charts in this format, such as Camden Council. Use one, or copy the columns into your own sheet.
A contract cleaner handles the heavier, non-food-contact cleaning that kitchen staff don't have time for at the end of a shift.
| Task | Who | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Exhaust canopy, filters and ductwork | Kitchen exhaust specialist | Grease build-up is a fire risk. Frequency depends on cooking volume; your insurer, landlord or fire safety requirements may set it. |
| Grease trap pump-out | Licensed liquid waste contractor | Usually required under your water authority's trade waste agreement. |
| Pest control | Licensed pest controller | Regular treatments and monitoring; keep the reports. |
| Refrigeration and equipment servicing | Equipment technicians | Seals, coils and drains affect hygiene as well as performance. |
Keep a register of when each specialist last attended and when they're next due. Our guide to pest control costs for businesses explains how commercial pest programs are priced.
| Task | Kitchen team | Night cleaner | Specialist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benches and food contact surfaces | Every shift | – | – |
| Fryers, grills and ovens | Nightly | – | – |
| Kitchen floors and drains | Spills during service | Nightly degrease, weekly machine scrub | – |
| Walls and tiles | – | Splash zones nightly, full walls weekly | – |
| Canopy filters and ducts | – | – | On the agreed schedule |
| Dining room and toilets | – | Nightly | – |
Review the split whenever your menu, trading hours or cleaning contractor changes, because each one moves tasks between columns.
B&K Services cleans restaurants and cafes across Sydney, Wollongong and Nowra after close or before prep, covering dining areas, floors, amenities and the kitchen areas agreed in the scope. Kitchen equipment, exhaust and canopy cleaning are specialist services outside our scope, so we'll tell you what to book separately. For a quote, send us your trading hours, kitchen size, floor type, number of toilets and the time cleaning must finish. See restaurant cleaning in Sydney, Wollongong or Nowra, or request a quote.