Find articles on kitchen exhaust cleaning, NFPA 96, compliance, fire safety, and commercial kitchen maintenance.
COMPLIANCE & REGULATIONS Most operators use “hood inspection” and “hood cleaning” interchangeably. NFPA 96 doesn’t. The 2024 Edition treats them as two separate requirements — one sets the schedule, the other is triggered by what the schedule uncovers. Understanding the difference is the difference between paying for the service you
COMPLIANCE & REGULATIONS · REGIONAL REFERENCE NFPA 96 is a national standard, but nobody enforces it nationally. Each state adopts NFPA 96 through its own fire code, and every local fire marshal enforces the standard as adopted in their jurisdiction. For restaurant groups running kitchens across multiple Southwest states, understanding
COMPLIANCE & REGULATIONS Access panels are the most under-discussed compliance failure in commercial kitchen exhaust cleaning. A vendor can technically clean “everything accessible” and still leave the operator with a system that fails fire marshal inspection — because NFPA 96 requires the operator to make the entire exhaust system accessible
COMPLIANCE & REGULATIONS · FIRE PREVENTION A commercial kitchen fire almost never begins the way most operators picture it. It starts small, hides in a place nobody can see, and travels through the exhaust system before anyone in the kitchen knows the flames have moved past the cookline. Here’s how
OPERATIONS & EQUIPMENT Everything a restaurant owner, facility manager, or corporate compliance lead needs to know about commercial kitchen exhaust hood cleaning under NFPA 96 — what the standard actually requires, what a compliant cleaning includes, what it costs in 2026, and how to choose a certified vendor. August 6,
COMPLIANCE & REGULATIONS One sentence of NFPA 96 governs how often your kitchen exhaust system gets inspected — and one section governs when it needs cleaning. Most operators have heard “quarterly” or “every six months” and stopped there. The full rule is more useful, and it lives in Section 12.6.1.1
COMPLIANCE & REGULATIONS NFPA 96 requires that commercial kitchen exhaust cleaning be performed by a “properly trained, qualified, and certified person” — but doesn’t name which certification. Two credentials dominate US recognition. Here’s what each covers, how they differ, and how operators can verify the person cleaning their hood actually
VETTING & COMPLIANCE Seven specific questions every restaurant operator across the Southwest should ask before signing a hood cleaning contract. Each one is tied to a specific NFPA 96 section, so you can verify the answer against the standard itself — not just take the salesperson’s word for it. July
COMPLIANCE & REGULATIONS “Can I just have my kitchen staff handle the hood cleaning to save money?” is one of the most common questions operators ask. The answer is no — and it lives in one specific sentence of NFPA 96. Here is what the rule actually says, what counts
A practical guide to NFPA 96 kitchen exhaust compliance for restaurant groups and multi-location operators across the Southwest.
PRE-INSPECTION CHECKLIST An inspection date on the calendar usually means one of three things: a routine visit, a reinspection, or a permit renewal. The list of what gets checked is shorter and more predictable than most operators realize. Here is the pre-walk-through, in the same order the inspector will use
2026 NFPA 96 COMPLIANCE GUIDE The short answer depends on what the kitchen is cooking — and the standard sets the inspection cadence, not the cleaning cadence. Here is the plain-English version, the distinction inside the rule, and what it means for a typical 2026 restaurant or facility kitchen. June
