Kitchen odour from restaurants, takeaways, cafes and food production facilities is one of the most frequently complained about odour sources in urban areas. The smells from commercial cooking travel readily through built environments, particularly from frying, grilling, charcoal and spiced cuisine, and can significantly affect quality of life for nearby residents. Planning authorities often ask for a formal odour assessment before granting permission for a new restaurant or cafe (Class E), hot food takeaway or drinking establishment (both sui generis), or before approving a new kitchen extract. The EMAQ+ guidance is the framework most often used for these assessments in the UK.
What is EMAQ Plus?
EMAQ Plus, usually written EMAQ+, refers to the EMAQ+ guidance on controlling odour and noise from commercial kitchen exhaust systems (2018), which updated the earlier Defra guidance on the same subject. It sets out a risk assessment method that planning officers and environmental health officers can apply consistently to proposals for new or altered commercial kitchens.
The method produces a numerical risk score for the kitchen. The score does not predict a planning decision. It sets the level of odour control the kitchen extract system needs to provide, and the guidance then describes the types of odour control that achieve each level. Environmental health officers widely refer to EMAQ+ when they comment on kitchen extract odour, so an assessment that follows it speaks their language.
The method is deliberately practical. It can be applied at the pre-application stage, so the kitchen extract specialist knows the level of odour control the design has to deliver, and then updated for submission with the formal planning application.
How the Assessment Works
The EMAQ+ risk assessment scores four factors. The scores are added together, and the total places the kitchen in a risk band.
- Dispersion: how well the discharge disperses the extracted air. A vertical discharge above the roof ridge at a good exit velocity scores best (5 points). A discharge at low level or into an enclosed courtyard scores worst (20 points). Dispersion carries the most weight of the four factors.
- Proximity of receptors: the distance to the nearest homes or other sensitive receptors. Receptors closer than 20 metres score 10 points, those between 20 and 100 metres score 5, and those further than 100 metres score 1.
- Size of kitchen: measured by the number of covers served at one time. Under 30 covers scores 1 point, 30 to 100 covers scores 3, and over 100 covers scores 5.
- Cooking type: the odour potential of the food and cooking methods, from low (1 point) through medium (4) and high (7) to very high (10). Fried chicken, burgers, fish and chips and solid fuel cooking are examples in the very high category.
The bands below are the ones used in our kitchen odour assessment reports. Each band sets the level of odour control the extract system needs to provide. None of them is a planning outcome in itself.
| Total EMAQ+ Score | Odour Risk | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Under 20 | Low to Medium | A low to medium level of odour control is required. |
| 20 to 35 | High | A high level of odour control is required. |
| Over 35 | Very High | A very high level of odour control is required. |
A High or Very High score does not mean refusal. It means the extract system has to provide a higher level of odour control. The assessment states that level; your kitchen extract specialist designs and installs a system to meet it, and where a design already exists the assessment checks whether it does.
What Pushes the Score Up
High EMAQ+ scores usually come from a small number of recurring siting and design issues. Knowing them early can save significant time and cost.
- A low-level or restricted discharge: dispersion carries the most weight in the score. A discharge through a wall, into a courtyard or below the eaves scores far worse than a vertical discharge above the roof. Where a listed building or conservation area rules out a high-level discharge, the poorer dispersion score pushes the total up, so a higher level of odour control is needed.
- Close receptors: a site with flats above, or homes within 20 metres of the discharge, scores the maximum for proximity. Moving the discharge rarely changes that score, so dispersion from the discharge and the odour control have to do the work.
- Underestimating cooking intensity: applicants sometimes describe their cuisine in conservative terms to achieve a lower cooking type score. Planning authorities and environmental health officers are familiar with this tendency. Accurately characterising the cooking type from the outset produces a more credible assessment and avoids conditions being imposed that are difficult to comply with in practice.
- Missing odour control details: the assessment compares the odour control proposed with the level the score requires. If the application does not show what odour control the extract specialist intends to install, and how it will be maintained, officers cannot confirm that the requirement is met.
What Planning Authorities Require
Many local planning authorities, particularly in dense urban areas, ask for an EMAQ+ assessment with applications for restaurants and cafes (Class E), hot food takeaways and drinking establishments (both sui generis) where the premises are near homes or other sensitive receptors. Some publish their requirements in validation checklists, supplementary planning documents or pre-application guidance notes, so it is always worth checking before preparing the assessment.
The EMAQ+ assessment should be submitted with the planning application, not provided as an afterthought following a request for further information. Late submission can delay determination.
Many authorities also attach planning conditions requiring the approved extraction and odour control equipment to be installed before the premises opens, maintained in effective working order, and subject to periodic filter replacement, typically at intervals recommended by the manufacturer. If a complaint is received after opening, Air Dust Odour can assess the operating kitchen and report on whether odour is being controlled.
Pre-application discussions with the local planning authority or environmental health team are strongly recommended for any premises where receptor proximity or cooking intensity may result in a borderline or high EMAQ Plus score. Early engagement can clarify expectations and avoid abortive design work.
Who Needs an EMAQ Plus Assessment?
Any operator proposing a new restaurant, takeaway, café, pub kitchen, ghost kitchen, dark kitchen or food production facility near residential or other sensitive receptors should consider an EMAQ+ assessment. It is also frequently required for existing premises seeking to expand their kitchen capacity, extend their operating hours or change their cooking method, for example a café adding a grill or a restaurant introducing a charcoal oven.
Even where an authority does not explicitly require an EMAQ Plus assessment, providing one voluntarily demonstrates a professional and proactive approach to odour management. It can strengthen the application and reduce the likelihood of odour-related objections from neighbours or environmental health officers.
Commissioning an EMAQ Plus Assessment
Air Dust Odour prepares EMAQ+ assessments for food premises across the UK. Every assessment is carried out and signed off by Malcolm Pounder CEnv MIAQM, a Chartered Environmentalist. We prepare the formal EMAQ+ report for submission with your application, stating the level of odour control the kitchen requires, and provide condition compliance support after the premises opens. Design of the extraction and odour control plant itself is the responsibility of your M&E or specialist kitchen ventilation designer.
Kitchen odour assessments start from £800 + VAT, and our EMAQ+ assessment cost guide gives a full breakdown. For more about our odour assessment services for restaurants and food premises, visit our restaurant odour assessment page, or get in touch for a free quote.