Call: 01524 846 445 | Email: sales@foodsafetydirect.co.uk

UK Stock | Fast Dispatch | FREE UK Shipping

We accept POs from NHS

Educational & Public Bodies as
well as Local Councils

FREE UK Delivery

On all orders over £75
Standard Shipping £4.99

Sales & Bulk Orders

Volume discounts
& end-of-line Sales

CLEANLINESS & CONDITION

Score 5 — Good

A score of 5 indicates a good standard of compliance for the cleanliness and condition of your premises and facilities at the time of your assessment.

This is a positive result, but there may still be minor areas where cleaning, maintenance or facilities can be improved. Start with any points identified by your food safety officer and use them to focus your improvements.

5
GOOD Good standard of compliance
✓

Review points raised during your inspection

✓

Address minor cleaning or maintenance issues

✓

Work towards Score 0 — Very good

i
Remember: Component scores work in the opposite direction to your overall food hygiene rating. For component scores, lower is better. A score of 5 is Good, while Score 0 represents Very good.

What does a cleanliness & condition score of 5 mean?

A score of 5 indicates a good standard of compliance for the cleanliness and condition of your premises and facilities.

This means your premises, equipment and facilities were generally being kept clean and in good condition, although the food safety officer may have identified some minor cleaning, maintenance or facility issues that could be improved.

Your inspection findings should always be your starting point. The areas below are useful to review when looking for ways to strengthen the cleanliness and condition of your premises and work towards Score 0 — Very good.

Clean and well-maintained commercial food premises

Cleanliness

Review your cleaning routines and check that premises, equipment, surfaces and food areas are being cleaned effectively and consistently.

Condition & repair

Check for damaged or deteriorating surfaces, fixtures and equipment and deal with minor repairs before they begin to affect food hygiene.

Facilities

Review facilities such as hand washing, layout and ventilation and address any minor weaknesses identified during your inspection.

Pest control

Check that pest prevention measures remain effective and deal with any access points, signs of activity or other concerns identified.

Your aim: Address the points raised during your inspection, strengthen any weaker cleaning, maintenance or facility controls and work towards a consistently Very good standard.

WHERE TO LOOK

Areas worth reviewing

Your inspection findings should tell you where attention is needed. These four areas are useful prompts for reviewing the cleanliness and condition of your premises and checking whether minor weaknesses can be strengthened.

REVIEW 01

Cleanliness

Are your cleaning routines working effectively?

Review the cleanliness of premises, equipment, surfaces and food areas, and check that cleaning routines are being followed consistently and at suitable intervals.

REVIEW 02

Condition & repair

Are minor defects being dealt with promptly?

Look for damaged or deteriorating floors, walls, ceilings, fixtures and equipment, and address repairs before they begin to make effective cleaning more difficult.

REVIEW 03

Facilities

Are your facilities continuing to support good hygiene?

Review hand-washing facilities, layout, ventilation and other relevant facilities, particularly where the officer identified a weakness or area for improvement.

REVIEW 04

Pest control

Are your pest prevention measures still effective?

Check for signs of pest activity, possible access points and conditions that could attract pests, and deal promptly with any concerns identified.

These are review prompts, not a diagnosis of your score. The reason your business received a 5 depends on what the food safety officer actually found during your assessment.

YOUR FINDINGS COME FIRST

Start with your inspection report

Generic guidance can help you review the cleanliness and condition of your premises, but it cannot tell you exactly why your business received a score of 5.

The most useful starting point is the report, letter or written findings provided following your inspection. Focus first on the specific cleaning, maintenance, facility or other issues identified by the food safety officer.

1

Read each finding

Identify exactly what the officer considered unsatisfactory or capable of improvement rather than trying to guess from the component score alone.

2

Take specific action

Correct the particular issue raised and consider whether the same weakness could be present elsewhere across your premises, equipment or facilities.

3

Check the change is working

Do not stop once an immediate problem has been corrected. Check that the improvement has been effective and that the better standard is continuing to be maintained in practice.

Your inspection findings take priority

If the officer has identified a particular issue, address that before working through broader improvement suggestions on this page. If any finding is unclear, ask your local authority or inspecting officer for clarification.

YOUR NEXT STEP

Moving towards Very good

A Score 5 already represents a good standard. The next objective is to address the minor weaknesses that remain and make the cleanliness and condition of your premises consistently very good.

5
GOOD Your current component score
WORK TOWARDS
0
VERY GOOD Best component score
1

Resolve the minor issues

Work through the points identified during your inspection and make sure each cleaning, maintenance or facility issue has been properly corrected rather than temporarily patched.

2

Make good standards consistent

Check that effective cleaning, maintenance and premises standards are maintained throughout the business rather than only in the areas where issues were identified.

3

Keep checking your premises

Review cleaning, repairs, facilities and pest prevention regularly so minor deterioration is spotted and dealt with before it becomes an established problem.

The goal is consistency

Addressing an individual issue does not automatically result in a Score 0. The aim is for very good standards to be evident across the cleanliness and condition of your premises when they are next assessed.

Strengthen your cleaning & premises controls

Explore practical products to help improve cleanliness and hygiene across food premises, from surface cleaning and disinfection to hand hygiene, waste management and cleaning equipment.

Use these alongside the specific actions identified during your inspection to help address weaker areas, support better day-to-day standards and work towards a Very good result.

View all products
IMPROVEMENT SELF-CHECK

Have you dealt with the issues identified?

Use this checklist after reviewing your inspection findings to help make sure problems have been properly addressed rather than simply corrected temporarily.

✓

Have you identified every food handling issue raised?

Work through the officer’s findings individually so that no point requiring attention is overlooked.

✓

Do you understand why each problem occurred?

Consider whether the issue was caused by an unclear procedure, inadequate equipment, staff practice, lack of monitoring or another weakness in the way the control was being applied.

✓

Has the immediate problem been corrected?

Make sure the specific issue identified during the inspection has actually been put right.

✓

Have you reduced the chance of it happening again?

Where needed, strengthen the procedure, working practice or control behind the problem rather than relying on a one-off correction.

✓

Do the relevant staff understand what has changed?

Make sure anyone affected understands the correct practice and what is now expected of them.

✓

Have you checked that the improvement is working?

Revisit the area after the change has been introduced and confirm that the improved standard is being maintained in normal day-to-day operation.

Check your food hygiene rating today

Find your business, view the latest rating and get tailored advice on how to improve.

Check your rating →
Food Hygiene Rating Scheme rating
Back to top