HVAC & Refrigeration Maintenance London

We serviced a Daikin VRV system in a Soho restaurant last month. Four indoor units, one outdoor, three years old. The client had never had it serviced — not once since installation. The filters were so blocked that airflow had dropped by about 60%, the condensate trays were growing things we’d rather not describe, and the outdoor unit’s condenser fins were packed with pigeon feathers and kitchen extract residue. The system was still running, technically, but it was working twice as hard as it needed to and the electricity bill proved it.

Three hours of work. Filter swap, coil clean, condensate flush, electrical checks, refrigerant pressure verification. The system pulled down to set point in half the time it had been taking, and the restaurant manager said the difference in noise alone was worth the visit.

That’s the thing about HVAC and refrigeration maintenance — it’s invisible until it isn’t. The equipment runs, you forget about it, and by the time you notice a problem, you’re looking at an emergency callout instead of a routine service visit. The emergency costs three times as much and happens at the worst possible moment.

What a Proper PPM Visit Covers

PPM stands for Planned Preventative Maintenance, and it’s exactly what it sounds like — scheduled service visits designed to catch problems before they cause downtime. Every site is different, so we tailor the scope and frequency to the actual equipment on the premises, but a typical visit covers:

• Filter inspection and replacement — clogged filters reduce airflow, increase energy consumption, and degrade indoor air quality
• Condenser and evaporator coil cleaning — the single most common cause of breakdown we see across London, especially in commercial kitchens
• Refrigerant pressure checks — a slow leak means gradual performance loss that’s easy to miss day to day
• Electrical connections and controls — loose terminals, worn contactors, and faulty sensors cause intermittent faults that are a nightmare to diagnose reactively
• Condensate drain clearance — blocked drains cause water leaks, ceiling damage, and in the worst cases, health hazards from standing water
• Thermostat and controller calibration — drift happens over time, and a controller reading 2°C off can mean food safety non-compliance on refrigeration or uncomfortable conditions on air conditioning
• Belt and bearing inspection — on AHUs and older equipment with mechanical drive components
• Full system performance test — we measure actual operating temperatures and pressures against manufacturer specs, not just check that the unit turns on

Every visit produces a written report with findings, any remedial work required, and photographic evidence where relevant. That documentation matters — it’s what the EHO inspector expects to see for refrigeration, and it’s what your insurance company wants when they ask about building services maintenance.

Air Conditioning Maintenance

Split systems, VRVs, cassettes, ducted units, close control systems for server rooms — we maintain all of them. Most commercial AC systems need a minimum of two service visits per year: one before summer to make sure the cooling side is ready, and one before winter for the heating changeover. High-use environments like restaurants, gyms, and retail might need quarterly visits.

If you’re running Daikin, Mitsubishi Electric, Fujitsu, Toshiba, or LG equipment, we’ve got the manufacturer training and diagnostic tools to service it properly. As a Daikin D1 Partner — the highest level of Daikin accreditation — we have direct access to Daikin’s technical support line and priority parts supply.

Under F-Gas regulations, any system containing fluorinated greenhouse gases must have regular leak checks. The frequency depends on the CO2 equivalent charge — but regardless of the legal requirement, a system that’s losing refrigerant is a system that’s losing efficiency and heading for a breakdown.

View full air conditioning maintenance details →

Commercial Refrigeration Maintenance

Walk-in cold rooms, display cabinets, bottle coolers, blast chillers, ice machines, cellar cooling — commercial refrigeration runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with zero tolerance for failure. A fridge that drifts above 5°C isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a food safety incident waiting to happen.

We structure refrigeration PPM around the specific risks of each site. A pub cellar cooling system has different maintenance demands than a busy restaurant kitchen full of Foster and Williams reach-ins. A supermarket display case needs different attention than a warehouse cold store. The common thread is that regular condenser cleaning, door seal checks, defrost cycle verification, and temperature logging prevent the vast majority of emergency callouts we attend.

We work with all major commercial refrigeration brands: Foster, Williams, Hoshizaki, True, Polar, Gram, Electrolux, and more.

View full refrigeration maintenance details →

Why Businesses Sign Maintenance Contracts

We’ll be honest — some clients only call us when something breaks. That’s fine, we do emergency work all day. But the clients who sign PPM contracts consistently spend less on HVAC and refrigeration over the course of a year than the ones who don’t. The maths isn’t complicated:

• Fewer emergency callouts — a routine service visit costs a fraction of a same-day emergency repair
• Lower energy bills — a system with clean coils and correct refrigerant charge uses measurably less electricity
• Longer equipment life — a well-maintained Daikin split system should run 15–20 years. A neglected one might last 8
• Priority response — contract clients go to the front of the queue when they do have an emergency
• Compliance documentation — F-Gas records, HACCP temperature logs, and maintenance certificates ready for any audit
• Budget predictability — fixed annual cost instead of unpredictable repair bills

We offer flexible contracts — monthly, quarterly, or biannual visits depending on the equipment and the environment. Every contract includes F-Gas compliance checks as standard.

Who We Work With

Our PPM clients include restaurants, hotels, pubs, schools, offices, retail stores, healthcare facilities, data centres, and commercial landlords across London. Some have a single split system. Others have 50+ units across multiple sites. The service is the same — thorough, documented, and delivered by F-Gas certified engineers who are employed directly by ADK, not subcontracted.

We hold ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environmental management) certifications. Every engineer carries a DBS check and the relevant manufacturer training for the equipment they’re servicing.

Get a Maintenance Quote

If you’re not currently on a maintenance contract — or you’re unhappy with your current provider — call us on 020 3974 1419 or get in touch online. We’ll arrange a free site survey to assess your equipment and put together a PPM schedule and quote tailored to your setup. No obligation, no hard sell.