The new EMAQ+ kitchen guidance - what planners and architects need to know

The principal changes

What should be considered at concept stage?

The space and route required for the kitchen extract should be considered before the architectural layout is fixed. The most difficult problems normally arise where the kitchen has been located without a practical route to a high-level discharge or enough space for suitable abatement equipment.

• Identify the likely food use and whether frying, chargrilling, solid fuel or other high-emission cooking may be proposed.
• Reserve a direct duct route to an appropriate high-level discharge wherever practicable.
• Avoid discharges into courtyards, recessed areas, covered service yards and other poorly ventilated spaces.
• Allow enough space for grease separation, particulate control, gaseous odour control, attenuators and safe maintenance access.
• Consider nearby windows, balconies, air intakes and existing or proposed residential accommodation.
• Coordinate visual, heritage, fire, structural and acoustic requirements before the flue arrangement is fixed.

Information expected with a planning submission

The following information should normally be available before the kitchen ventilation scheme is approved:

• The proposed food type, cooking equipment, anticipated number of covers and operating hours.
• An EMAQ+ odour risk assessment, including an explanation of whether the standard scores adequately represent the actual surroundings.
• The proposed extract rate and the method used to calculate it, with reference to EN 16282 where applicable.
• Canopy dimensions, extract arrangement and provision of replacement air.
• The route, dimensions and construction of the ductwork.
• The discharge height, terminal design and efflux velocity.
• The location of nearby sensitive receptors, windows, balconies and ventilation intakes.
• The proposed grease, smoke and PM2.5 controls, supported by relevant performance information.
• The proposed gaseous odour controls, including carbon quantity and residence time where activated carbon is used.
• Details of any ESP or UV-C and ozone system, including design airflow, efficiency, contact time, interlocks and residual ozone controls.
• Noise data and an appropriate acoustic assessment where sensitive receptors may be affected.
• A maintenance schedule covering filters, carbon, ESP cells, UV lamps, fans and ductwork.

Points that should not be assumed

• A compliant EMAQ+ odour score does not amount to a quantitative PM2.5 assessment.
• Activated carbon should not be relied upon as the primary means of controlling PM2.5.
• An ESP should not be treated as the primary means of controlling gaseous odour.
• A high-level stack improves dispersion but does not remove particulate matter from the emission.
• Adding more abatement equipment does not necessarily make a fundamentally unsuitable low-level discharge acceptable.
• Quoted ESP efficiencies are product and duty dependent and should not be applied automatically.
• A statement that a system complies with EMAQ+ is not a substitute for the supporting design calculations and specifications.

Implications for planning conditions

Where the final operator or cooking use is unknown, the design should either accommodate an appropriately conservative scenario or the permitted use should be controlled. A generic reference to EMAQ+ may not provide enough certainty where the discharge is constrained or the end use could change materially.

Conditions should normally secure the approved ventilation and abatement scheme, discharge arrangement and maintenance requirements. It is generally preferable to define the required information and performance rather than prescribe a particular manufacturer’s equipment before the detailed design is complete.

The planning chapter of the EMAQ+ document refers to the December 2024 National Planning Policy Framework. That version was replaced in August 2026, so current national and local planning policy should be checked separately.

Overall conclusion

The revised guidance is a useful improvement. It provides better technical information and recognises that commercial cooking can be a source of PM2.5 as well as odour.

It does not introduce a separate PM2.5 assessment method or a universal filtration requirement. The appropriate response remains proportionate to the cooking process, the proposed discharge, the surrounding receptors and relevant local air-quality policy.

The practical lesson for planners and architects is straightforward: resolve the kitchen extract early and require the design to address particulate emissions, gaseous odour, dispersion, noise and maintenance as separate but related issues.

Sources

EMAQ+, Control of Odour and Noise from Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Systems, 5 September 2018 and third EMAQ+ edition, 20 May 2026. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, National Planning Policy Framework, August 2026.