Commercial ventilation & fit-out
Commercial ventilation, coordinated on site and commissioned to a figure
Supply and extract for industrial units, food production, gyms, venues, schools and workspaces. Set out with the other trades so the ductwork lands where the ceiling design says it should, and measured at the end so the air change the space needs is a reading rather than an assumption.
A commercial job is decided before the first bracket goes in
On a fit-out, the ductwork is rarely the difficult part. The difficult part is the ceiling zone it has to share with sprinklers, lighting, cable tray, drainage and structure, the programme it has to fit inside, and the one day the plant arrives. Get those right and the installation is straightforward. Get them wrong and it is a week of rework in a space somebody else has already finished.
So the work starts with the drawings and the site, agreeing where the duct goes with the other trades before anything is made. We install to a consultant’s design or set out smaller systems ourselves, snag as we go rather than going round again at the end, and commission against the design figures so the air change the space needs is measured and signed off.
Where the air change is not negotiable
Food production, workshops and industrial units
In some spaces ventilation is a comfort. In food production it is part of how the building is allowed to operate, and in a workshop full of vehicles it is what keeps the air breathable. Those jobs are measured and signed off rather than assumed, because somebody will ask for the figure.
- Supply and extract to production areas — balanced so the space holds the pressure it is meant to.
- Vehicle exhaust extraction — hoses that clip onto the tailpipe and take the fumes out of the building rather than around it.
- Bin store and plant room extraction — the smell and the noise taken away with the air, and nowhere else.
- Warehouse and industrial unit ventilation — long insulated runs carried level the length of the building.
Where the ductwork is on show
Gyms, venues and hospitality
In a gym or a bar the ductwork is part of the interior, and a room full of people exercising or a full venue on a Saturday night is the hardest ventilation load there is. Both halves of that matter: it has to move a great deal of air, and it has to look as if somebody meant it.
So exposed runs are set out before anything is cut — one line, matched brackets at even centres, seams turned the same way — and the air is delivered and taken away where the people actually are rather than where the ductwork happened to be easiest to run.
Schools and offices are the same problem with a quieter brief: a lot of people in a room for hours at a time, with a ceiling void that was never generous and plant that has to be heard as little as possible.
How the job runs
To your programme, with one point of contact from the drawings to the commissioning figures.
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Drawings and site
The design reviewed against the actual space, the zone checked against the other services, and anything that will not fit raised before it is fabricated.
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Programme
First fix sequenced ahead of the ceiling grid and the other trades, and the plant delivery date planned around access, lifting and position.
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Install
Supports, ductwork, plant, attenuation, dampers and access panels, with snagging done as the work goes rather than in a second trip round.
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Commission
Flows measured at the terminals and set against the design figures, dampers regulated and the readings recorded.
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Handover
Commissioning figures for the O&M manual, photographs of the concealed work, and the option of planned maintenance so it keeps meeting them.
What we cover
- Warehouse and industrial unit ventilation
- Food production and clean spaces
- Gyms, venues and hospitality
- Schools, offices and workspace fit-out
- Vehicle exhaust and workshop extraction
- Bin store, plant room and car park extract
- Air handling units, fan coils and in-line fans
- Commissioning figures for the O&M manual
Plant with neighbours
Extract that nobody upstairs has to hear
A great deal of commercial extract runs under, beside or through somewhere people live and work: a bin store beneath a block of flats, a plant room below an office, a car park under a development. The fan is the easy part. The job is making sure the noise and the smell go where the air goes, and nowhere else.
That means attenuators either side of the fan rather than one, flexible connections so the vibration does not travel along the ductwork, a discharge point chosen for where the air will drift rather than for where the run is shortest, and access to the fan for the day it needs looking at. None of it is visible afterwards, and all of it is what the residents notice.
Where this sits next to the other services
Questions we get asked about commercial work
Yes, and a good share of our commercial work is exactly that — installing the ventilation package to the design, coordinating with the other trades on site and handing over the commissioning figures. We also work directly for business owners on smaller jobs, where we set the system out ourselves. Either way, send us the drawings or the layout and we will come back with a figure and any questions the drawings raise.
Drawings if there are any — the mechanical layout, the ceiling plan and the plant schedule — and the programme, including when the ceiling zone closes and when the plant is due. Where there are no drawings, a site visit and a description of how the space is going to be used does the same job. The more we know about the other services sharing the ceiling void, the fewer surprises there are once the work starts.
Where the building needs it, yes — a shop that trades in the day, a school in term time, an office that cannot have ceilings open while people are at their desks. It changes the programme and the price, so it is worth raising at the start rather than discovering on the first morning. We will tell you which parts of the job genuinely have to be done out of hours and which can happen around the building in use.
Yes. Every system is measured at the terminals and set against its design figures before handover, and the readings are recorded for the operation and maintenance manual along with photographs of the work that has been concealed. On a building where somebody has to sign off the air change a space achieves, that record is the part of the job that matters most to whoever holds the pen.
We install supply and extract ductwork and fans for commercial spaces, including kitchens, to the design for that space. A commercial kitchen canopy system brings its own design requirements and interfaces with gas interlocks and fire suppression, which are specialist trades of their own; we coordinate with them rather than claiming their part of the job. Tell us what the kitchen is and we will be straight about which parts we do.
Not sure where to start?
Send us a message with what you have noticed at home. We will tell you honestly whether you need a survey, a system, or neither.
Or see what it costs — unlike most in this trade, we publish our prices.
Trained on the systems we install
Certificated — and here they are
Most trade sites show you a row of logos. These are the actual certificates, both sat in August 2026. Tap either one to read it, or download the PDF.
- 12-month workmanship guarantee On top of the manufacturer’s warranty, which we register in your name. If anything we installed fails because of the way we installed it, we come back and put it right. What it covers.
- Company no. 12092552 Registered in England & Wales. Trading as Cavalli Ventilation since July 2019, and in ventilation since 2003.
- Airflow measured on every install A calibrated anemometer at the grille, recorded and handed over. The only figure that counts is the one measured in your room.