You’ve been told your venue needs a grease arrestor. You’ve looked at the space available and it plainly isn’t there. This comes up constantly in Melbourne’s older hospitality strips, where the tenancy is narrow, there’s no yard, and the kitchen already occupies every square metre it has.
There are usually options. There are also a few things people try that will not get approved, and it’s worth knowing which is which before you spend money.
Start with one thing, though. The required size isn’t arbitrary. It’s calculated from your fixtures, equipment and expected load, which means the first question is never “how do we fit the arrestor”, it’s “is this the right size in the first place”.
Option one: challenge the sizing
Before redesigning anything, have the calculation checked. Sizing is driven by what’s actually in your kitchen, and specifications are often based on an assumed menu or an equipment list that changed during design.
If you’re not deep frying, if a dishwasher was specified and never installed, or if the fixture count on the plan doesn’t match what’s built, the required capacity can come down. That’s the cheapest option available and it’s the one most often skipped.
When it works: the specification was done early, or from generic assumptions.
When it doesn’t: the calculation already reflects what you’re actually operating.
Option two: in-slab or under-floor installation
If you’re still in fit-out, an arrestor set into or beneath the slab uses space you weren’t going to occupy anyway. It’s the standard answer for constrained sites and by far the best one if the timing allows.
The catch is timing. Once the slab is poured and the kitchen is built, this becomes a demolition job rather than an installation.
When it works: you’re pre-construction, or the floor is already coming up.
When it doesn’t: the venue is built and trading. The cost of getting there usually rules it out.
Option three: external underground installation
If there’s any accessible external area, a rear lane, a small yard, a section of car park, an underground unit outside the building envelope is often achievable.
This one depends heavily on things you don’t control. You need the landlord’s consent, you need the area to be within your tenancy or covered by an agreement, and if any part sits on council land you need their approval as well. Access for servicing also has to work, because a unit that can’t be pumped out isn’t a solution.
When it works: there’s genuinely accessible outdoor space and consents can be obtained.
When it doesn’t: the strip has no rear access at all, which is the situation in a lot of inner-city tenancies.
Option four: above-ground internal unit
An above-ground arrestor inside the back of house is possible, but it’s the option with the most conditions attached. It needs ventilation, it needs clear service access, it needs to sit somewhere that odour and spill risk are manageable, and it needs to satisfy your food safety obligations at the same time.
Done well it’s workable. Done badly it becomes an ongoing hygiene problem that costs you at inspection.
When it works: there’s a suitable back of house area with ventilation and access.
When it doesn’t: the only available space is in or beside a food preparation area.
Option five: a shared arrestor
Where several food tenancies sit in one building, a single shared unit sometimes serves all of them. This is common in shopping centres and purpose-built food precincts.
It’s harder to arrange retrofit, because it requires landlord involvement, an agreement between tenants on servicing costs, and capacity that suits everyone’s combined load rather than just yours. But where a building already has a shared unit, the real question is whether it has spare capacity for you, and that’s worth asking before assuming you need your own.
When it works: the building has shared infrastructure or a landlord willing to create it.
When it doesn’t: you’re a standalone tenancy in a strip of separately owned shops.
What won’t get approved
Enzyme or bacterial dosing instead of a device. These products are marketed as alternatives. They are not accepted as a substitute for a required arrestor by Melbourne water authorities.
Undersized units with a promise to service more often. Frequent pump-outs don’t compensate for insufficient capacity, and the agreement is written against the required size.
Under-sink units for a full commercial kitchen. Small-capacity units have a legitimate place at very low loads. They are routinely rejected when proposed for a venue that actually needs a full arrestor.
Nothing, on the basis that the previous tenant didn’t have one. A change of occupier is usually a change of use, and the requirement is assessed against what you’ll be doing.
Where this comes up most
The suburbs where we deal with this most are the ones where hospitality is dense and the buildings are old.
Prahran and Windsor are narrow heritage shopfronts with little or no rear access. Oakleigh packs venues tightly into a small precinct around Eaton Mall. Springvale combines very high food volumes with small adjoining tenancies, which puts pressure on both sizing and shared drainage. Richmond and Mordialloc both have strips where access for servicing is as much of a constraint as the space itself.
Frequently asked questions
Can a grease arrestor go inside the kitchen?
Generally not in a food preparation area. An above-ground unit in a separate back of house space with proper ventilation and access is a different question and is sometimes acceptable.
Does changing my menu reduce what I need?
It can. Capacity is driven by fixtures and equipment, so removing deep frying or reducing your fixture count changes the calculation. Worth modelling before you commit to a layout.
What if the landlord won’t allow external works?
Then external installation is off the table and you’re choosing between in-slab, above-ground or a shared arrangement. It’s a lease conversation as much as a plumbing one.
Can you tell me what will fit before I sign a lease?
Yes, and that’s the right time to ask. Contact us to assess the site before you commit, rather than after.
