Kitchen Exhaust Inspection & Cleaning

Overview

NFPA 96 Standards require that the kitchen exhaust system be inspected and, if required, cleaned on a regular schedule. To fail to perform these inspections can lead to violations during routine fire inspections or catastrophic fires.

Challenges

Grease and soot builds up in the venting system becoming a fire hazard. When heat and sparks are vented through the kitchen hood, the built up grease has the potential of igniting and starting a grease fire.

Fire suppression systems designed to mitigate a resulting fire can become compromised through normal operations as employees work in a time sensitive environment. Minor damage to these systems can result in malfunctions allowing a minor fire to become a structural fire.

Regulations

The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) 96 - Ventilation Control Standards

11.3 Inspection of Exhaust Systems: The entire exhaust shall be inspected by a properly trained, qualified, and certified company or person(s).

Table 11.3 Exhaust System Inspection Schedule:

Type of Volume of Cooking	Frequency
· Solid fuel cooking operations	· Monthly
· High-volume cooking operations such as charbroiling, 24-hour cooking and wok cooking	· Quarterly
· Moderate-volume cooking	· Semiannually
· Low-volume [seasonal]	· Annually

Solutions

ESS is an NFPA 96 certified provider of kitchen exhaust cleaning services. We are capable of providing nationwide or single-site programs that are tailored to your specific needs and ensure compliance with the NFPA 96 standard. Some components of our programs are:

• Inspections and cleaning of hoods, ducts, access panels, exhaust fan assemblies, and wet chemical systems
• Based on the results of the inspection, cleaning is performed on the areas that do not comply with appropriate standards
• Digital photographs of entire system
• Website access to data, before and after photographs, and service documentation