What Does A Catering Engineer Do?
A catering engineer is a professional who has a great deal of responsibility for the installation and maintenance of all gas, electric, and plumbing equipment in kitchens. They also carry out many other tasks to ensure that your kitchen runs smoothly and safely. A catering engineer will often be called on to work with other professionals in the industry such as plumbers or electricians. This post will look at some of these different duties carried out by a catering engineer from day to day!
Duties Carried Out By A Catering Engineer
- Installation of Gas and Electric Catering Equipment
A commercial catering engineer is responsible for installing gas, electric, and plumbing equipment in kitchens. This includes installation of sinks for dishwashing with hot or cold water, ovens capable of giving out a great deal of heat at any given time, natural gas lines as well as electrical wiring to power the job.
- Pat Testing
The catering engineer should be familiar with electrical codes and, as such, they will need to know how to pat test the installation before it is handed over for use by a commercial kitchen or any other facilities where food preparation takes place. They may also carry out planned preventative maintenance on all Industrial / commercial catering services in order to keep it operating at the highest possible standards.
- Catering Appliance Repairs
Catering engineers carry out repairs to catering appliances including cookers, ovens, grills and fryers as well as most gas LPG and electrical appliances. They may need to carry out repairs on the electrical and electronic circuits in order to restore them back to their original working state. They will also need some knowledge of gas appliances such as boilers, ovens, grills and fryers which are essential for restaurants, hotels or any other commercial kitchen where food preparation takes place.
- Commercial Gas Safety Certificates
If you operate a commercial cooking appliance, then it is vitally important that your kitchen and outbuildings maintain up-to-date commercial gas safety certificates. A catering engineer will help to ensure that all the electrical and gas installations are safe, working correctly and up to current regulations. They will also carry out planned preventative maintenance checks on all your catering equipment such as ovens, fridges or dishwashers to help keep them in perfect order for commercial use.
Other tasks and responsibilities in the daily life of a catering engineer may include carrying out environmental health inspections of kitchens and food preparation areas. A catering engineer will carry this out according to the rules in The Food Safety (England) Regulations 2006, which cover issues such as hygiene, cleanliness and protection against pests. They must also produce a report detailing their findings for submission to the local authority’s Environmental Health Officer.
A catering engineer will typically work on a rota system, and the typical working week is 47 hours long. This may vary depending on company policy and industry practices in different areas of the UK. On top of this, they also have to travel time between jobs which can be quite extensive if not always predictable – for example when covering a large area.
A catering engineer may also carry out repairs, installation and maintenance to gas interlock systems. This includes checking gas appliances and pipe work for leaks, as well to ensure that the installation complies with all current building regulations.
It is important for a catering engineer to be aware of how fire safety risks can affect them in their workplace – they may have to provide systems such as automatic sprinklers or emergency lighting which are required by law. There is also a duty to ensure that gas cylinders are kept in good order and comply with health and safety legislation.
A professional catering engineer will also be on hand to install or maintain electrical equipment – which might include kitchen ranges, ovens, food waste disposers etc. They may carry out emergency repairs if required too.
If you are seeking the help of a professional commercial gas catering engineer in either Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire or Kent then please get in touch with our team at CPS Gas. Call 0800 211 8082 or send an email to graham@cpsgas.com.
