EMAQ+ Kitchen Extract Odour Assessment Cost
Transparent, fixed-fee pricing for EMAQ+ kitchen extract odour assessments for UK restaurants, takeaways, hotels and food businesses. From £600 — usually turned around in under a fortnight.
How Much Does an EMAQ+ Assessment Cost?
An EMAQ+ kitchen extract odour assessment is the document most UK planning authorities expect when you apply for permission to open a restaurant, takeaway, dark kitchen, hotel kitchen or food production unit — or when an environmental health officer responds to a complaint. It scores your proposed extract against the published EMAQ+ minimum criteria for flue height, terminal location, abatement and cuisine risk.
We price these openly. A typical EMAQ+ assessment for a small restaurant or takeaway starts at £600. Larger or more complex commercial kitchens, multi-flue arrangements, and projects where we're also specifying the extract plant typically range from £900 to £1,800. Fixed-fee, no surprise extras, signed off by Malcolm Pounder CEnv MIAQM.
We turn these around quickly — usually within 5–10 working days, and inside a week if your fit-out date is bearing down on you.
EMAQ+ Pricing at a Glance
Typical UK fixed-fee starting prices for 2026. All prices exclude VAT — we'll confirm in writing.
| Service | Typical Use Case | From | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Odour Management Statement Short statement, low-risk cuisine |
Coffee shops, sandwich bars, low-impact food retail | £400 | £400–£700 |
| EMAQ+ Standard Assessment Single-kitchen restaurant or takeaway |
Restaurants, takeaways, cafes, dark kitchens | £600 | £600–£1,200 |
| EMAQ+ Detailed Assessment Larger or higher-risk kitchen |
Larger commercial kitchens, multi-flue, mixed cuisine, complex receptors | £900 | £900–£1,800 |
| EMAQ+ + Plant Specification Assessment + abatement train design |
Where the extract plant is not yet selected | £1,200 | £1,200–£2,200 |
| Hotel / Mixed-Use Kitchen Assessment Multiple kitchens or large hotel |
Hotel kitchens, food courts, mixed-use developments | £1,500 | £1,500–£3,500 |
| Discharge of Planning Condition EMAQ+ tailored to specific condition |
Post-permission condition discharge, often with abatement evidence | £700 | £700–£1,500 |
All prices exclude VAT and travel beyond 50 miles. Bundled discounts available for multi-unit operators.
Factors That Affect EMAQ+ Pricing
Five factors typically drive variation in EMAQ+ price.
1. Kitchen size and meal volume
A 30-cover restaurant kitchen is a different scale of assessment than a 200-cover hotel kitchen. More cooking equipment = more odour mass-flow to characterise.
2. Cuisine type
EMAQ+ scores cuisine by odour risk. Indian, Chinese and chargrill kitchens score higher than coffee shops or sandwich bars and need more rigorous treatment.
3. Receptor proximity
Flats above and beside the unit, hotel windows, schools and care homes nearby all drive the assessment intensity. Dense urban settings need more careful flue routing.
4. Flue configuration
A clean roof-terminated vertical flue 3m above the highest receptor is the simplest case. Side-discharge, multi-bend, partial-height or shared flues need more work.
5. Plant specification work
If your M&E team has already chosen the extract plant we just verify it. If not, we'll specify the abatement train (filtration, ESP, carbon, ozone, UV) for you.
6. Programme
Standard turnaround is 5–10 working days. Urgent work tied to fit-out programmes or licensing hearings is achievable for a small uplift.
What a Typical Fixed-Fee EMAQ+ Covers
Our standard EMAQ+ fixed fee covers everything you need to submit a planning-ready assessment or discharge an odour condition — from receptor mapping through to abatement scoring and report sign-off by a chartered environmentalist.
We're particularly good at the awkward cases — converted retail units, listed buildings, basement kitchens, and locations where the obvious flue route doesn't work. Send us the trickiest details first.
- ✓ Initial scoping call and condition review
- ✓ Site context, surrounding receptor mapping
- ✓ Cuisine type & cooking method risk characterisation
- ✓ Flue height, terminal location, dispersion review
- ✓ Abatement train specification (filters / ESP / carbon / ozone)
- ✓ EMAQ+ scoring tables & written report
- ✓ Signed off by Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv MIAQM)
- ✓ Reasonable revisions to address LPA/EHO comments
Expedited turnaround for fit-out deadlines
We know restaurant fit-outs are unforgiving on programme. If your opening date is fixed and the environmental health officer has just thrown in an odour condition, send everything you have over — we can usually deliver a planning-ready EMAQ+ within 3–5 working days. There's a small uplift for expedited work but no surprise charges.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an EMAQ+ kitchen extract assessment cost?
An EMAQ+ kitchen extract odour assessment typically costs between £600 and £1,800 in the UK. A standard EMAQ+ assessment for a small takeaway or single-kitchen restaurant starts from £600. A more involved assessment — a larger commercial kitchen, multiple flues, complex receptor surroundings, or plant specification work — typically ranges from £900 to £1,800. We provide fixed-fee quotes with no hidden extras, usually the same working day, and can often turn an EMAQ+ around within 5 working days for urgent planning condition discharge.
What's included in an EMAQ+ assessment?
Our fixed-fee EMAQ+ assessment includes: initial scoping call and condition review; site context and receptor mapping; cuisine type and cooking method characterisation; flue/stack location and termination height assessment against EMAQ+ minimum criteria; abatement specification (filters, ESP, carbon, ozone) where required; tabulated EMAQ+ scoring; written report to planning standard; signed off by Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv MIAQM); and reasonable revisions to address planning officer or environmental health comments.
Do I need a full assessment or just a statement?
It depends entirely on the planning condition wording and the local planning authority. Some LPAs accept a short odour management statement (around £400–£600) for very low-risk cuisine types or where the flue terminates above the highest receptor. Most LPAs in urban areas — particularly London boroughs and major city environmental health teams — require a full EMAQ+ assessment for any new restaurant or takeaway. Send us your condition wording and we'll tell you which is needed.
Can you specify the extract plant for me?
Yes. As part of the EMAQ+ assessment we can specify the appropriate abatement train (grease filtration, electrostatic precipitation, activated carbon, UV/ozone, deodorisation) to deliver the required odour reduction for your cuisine type and flue configuration. We work to current EMAQ+ guidance and Defra's CIEH-endorsed approach, and can liaise directly with your mechanical engineer or extract supplier. Plant specification work is included in our standard fixed-fee where it's a routine part of the assessment.
How fast can you turn it around?
Standard turnaround is 5–10 working days from receiving site plans, kitchen layout, extract specification and any planning condition wording. For urgent work tied to a fit-out deadline or licensing application, we can often deliver an EMAQ+ within 3–5 working days for a small uplift. We confirm programme upfront in writing as part of the fixed-fee quote, and we communicate openly throughout.