Food premises

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Food safety

Why is maintenance important? | Kitchen layout | Equipment and utensils

Why is maintenance important?

The lack of good maintenance to either the structure of a premises, or to equipment and utensils can result in the following:

• pests entering the premises through such things as holes in walls and defective drains
• cleaning can become more difficult and may result in a build up of food debris
• crockery, cutlery and containers may become badly worn, broken or unable to be properly cleaned and disinfected
• some utensils and equipment such as glassware may present a risk of physical contamination when cracked or broken
• defective and poorly maintained equipment, fixtures and fittings can result in the physical contamination of food
• defective or poorly maintained equipment, such as refrigerators, freezers and cooking equipment can result in inadequate temperature control. In the case of cooking equipment, this could mean that food is not cooked or reheated to the correct temperature.

Kitchen layout

• all internal surfaces must be smooth, impervious, easy to clean and in a good state of repair
• to prevent the entry of pests, the floors, walls, roof, doors and window openings must be kept in a good state of repair with no unnecessary gaps or spaces
• maintaining the structure in good repair makes it easier to effectively clean the premises
• ceilings in food preparation areas must be constructed and maintained to keep them free from the accumulation of dirt and loose particles
• drains should be kept free of leaks and blockages.

Equipment and utensils

These should be kept in a good state of repair as defective and poorly maintained equipment, fixtures and fittings can result in the physical contamination of food.

• utensils eg. crockery, cutlery, glassware and containers must be repaired or replaced as appropriate when badly worn, broken or unable to be effectively cleaned and disinfected
• all food contact surfaces and equipment must be maintained in good condition to enable effective cleaning and disinfection.

Certain equipment may need to be serviced at regular intervals, for example

Defective or poorly maintained equipment, such as refrigerators, freezers and cooking equipment could result in inadequate temperature control.

You may wish to develop a maintenance schedule that is specific to your premises and document any regular checks made. Here is a template you can use:

Maintenance policy (56kb) PDF

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