Commercial Kitchen Requirements in Australia

Every food business in Australia works to the same core rules, and most of them are decided at fit-out, not after you open. Commercial kitchen requirements come from the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, backed by Australian Standards for construction and ventilation, and enforced by your state authority and local council.

Getting them wrong is expensive. Failed inspections delay your opening, and a non-compliant surface, basin or exhaust system usually has to be pulled out and redone rather than patched.

This guide covers what the rules actually require, in the order you will meet them when planning a kitchen. Requirements vary between states and councils, so treat this as a planning guide and confirm the detail with your local authority before you build.

The Rules That Apply to Your Kitchen

Several documents overlap. Knowing which one covers what saves a lot of arguing with builders and certifiers.

Standard 3.2.3 applies to all food premises, including existing sites, new builds, temporary premises and mobile setups such as food trucks. The obligations are the same regardless of the type of premises.

Premises Design and Finishes

The Code requires food premises to be designed so they can be effectively cleaned, and so food is protected from contamination. In practice that comes down to surfaces and layout.

• Floors in preparation and wash-up areas must be smooth, free of cracks and crevices, and able to handle hot water, steam and chemicals.
• Coving is required at floor to wall and floor to plinth junctions so there is a continuous surface with no dirt trap. Feather edge skirting does not count as coving.
• Walls and ceilings in food areas must be sealed, smooth and cleanable.
• Benches and tables must be built so they can be cleaned and sanitised, which is why stainless steel is the default.
• Equipment should be positioned with enough clearance to clean around, behind and underneath it.

Plan the food flow at the same time. Deliveries move to storage, then preparation, cooking and service, with raw and ready-to-eat kept apart. A layout that crosses those paths creates a contamination risk an inspector will pick up.

Hand Washing Facilities

This is the single most common fit-out failure, and the easiest to get right if you plan it early.

Servery areas, bars and drink preparation areas usually need their own basin, so a single basin at the back of house often will not be enough. Plan the hand basins and sinks alongside the plumbing layout rather than adding them at the end.

Sinks, Cleaning and Sanitising

You need enough sinks to keep separate jobs separate. A hand basin, a food preparation sink, a wash-up area and a cleaner’s sink all serve different purposes and should not be shared.

For manual washing, hot water is generally expected at around 45°C for cleaning and 80°C for sanitising eating and drinking utensils and food contact equipment. If you cannot reliably hit those temperatures by hand, a commercial dishwasher that sanitises through its rinse cycle is the practical answer.

Key considerations:

• Domestic dishwashers do not reach commercial sanitising temperatures. They will not pass.
• Allow bench space either side of the machine so dirty and clean crockery never mix.
• Provide a separate cleaner’s sink for mops and buckets, away from food areas.
• In coffee areas, a slop sink for milk and jug rinsing is often recommended where the wash-up is more than a few metres away.
• Store chemicals away from food and packaging.

Equipment Requirements

Standard 3.2.3 requires fixtures, fittings and equipment to be fit for purpose and designed so they can be cleaned and, where needed, sanitised. Food contact surfaces must be smooth, non-absorbent and made of materials that will not contaminate food, which is why stainless steel benching and shelving is the standard across the industry.

The Code also requires equipment capable of holding food at safe temperatures, which means commercial-grade gear rather than domestic units.

Temperature Control

Potentially hazardous food has to be kept out of the temperature danger zone. Cold food at 5°C or below, hot food at 60°C or above.

Where food does sit between those temperatures, the two hour and four hour rule applies. Under two hours, it can go back under refrigeration. Between two and four hours, it must be used immediately. Beyond four hours, it is thrown out.

Key considerations:

• Log fridge and display temperatures daily, not occasionally.
• Check the actual food temperature with a probe, not just the unit’s display.
• Cooked food that needs cooling has set time limits, which is where a blast chiller earns its keep in a busy kitchen.
• Size refrigeration for your peak stock levels, because an overloaded fridge will not hold temperature.

Ventilation

Mechanical exhaust is required once you are cooking at any real scale. Natural ventilation is only accepted where there is little or no cooking, which rules it out for most commercial kitchens.

Kitchen exhaust is designed and installed to AS 1668.2 for ventilation and make-up air, and AS 1668.1 for fire and smoke control. The exhaust canopy has to be sized to the equipment underneath it, with the ductwork, fan and make-up air balanced to match.

Get the exhaust designed by someone who does commercial kitchens, and do it before the cooking equipment is ordered. Changing the cooking line after the canopy is fabricated is a costly way to learn the sequence.

Food Safety Management Tools

Since December 2023, food service, catering and retail businesses handling unpackaged, potentially hazardous, ready-to-eat food have had to comply with Standard 3.2.2A on top of everything above.

Category one businesses, which are the higher risk ones, must have all three tools. Category two businesses need a supervisor and trained food handlers. Each state and territory manages compliance slightly differently, and some states classify businesses by class rather than category, so check with your own regulator.

Waste, Storage and Pests

The unglamorous parts of the fit-out still get inspected.

• Adequate storage for food, packaging, equipment and chemicals, each kept separate.
• Enough refrigerated and dry storage so stock is not sitting on the floor.
• Covered bins and a waste area that can be cleaned, with trade waste and grease arrest arranged where required.
• Sealed gaps, screened openings and no harbourage points, so pests cannot get in or nest.
• Access for cleaning behind and under every piece of equipment, including mobile units on castors where fixed installation would block access.

Before You Start the Fit-Out

Most councils will assess your plans before construction, and many offer a free meeting with an environmental health officer. Take it up. An hour with the officer who will eventually inspect your kitchen is the cheapest compliance advice you will ever get.

Key considerations:

• Submit plans for assessment before the build starts, not after.
• Confirm your food business licence or notification requirements with council.
• Check whether trade waste approval and a grease trap are needed at your site.
• Have your food safety supervisor certified before you open, not in the first busy week.
• Keep the specification sheets for every piece of equipment, since inspectors may ask what it is rated to do.

Compliance is easier when the equipment is specified for the job from the start. MVO Services supplies and installs commercial kitchens across Australia, with in-house technicians, refrigeration mechanics and electricians, plus stainless steel fabrication for sites that do not suit standard sizes.