Straight answers, including the ones that cost us work
Compliance, scheduling, documentation, and price.
Most of these questions arrive because somebody was handed a correction notice or inherited a compliance file they cannot verify. Here is what we would tell you on the phone.
Compliance and frequency
The questions that bring most people to this site.
NFPA 96 Table 12.4 sets the inspection interval by cooking volume and fuel type, and the system is cleaned whenever inspection finds grease at the threshold. In practice, most systems are cleaned on the inspection interval.
Systems serving solid fuel cooking: monthly. High-volume operations, including charbroiling, deep fryers and wok cooking: quarterly. Moderate-volume operations: semiannually. Low-volume operations such as churches, K-8 schools, and senior centers: annually.
These are minimums. Your fire authority can require more frequent service, and heavy grease loads sometimes justify it. We monitor your grease levels at each visit so you stay at the frequency that satisfies inspectors.
Yes. Hood cleaning is the common search term, and the hood is the part of the system you can see. Kitchen exhaust system cleaning is the formal name, and it is what you will see on your proposal and service report.
Both refer to cleaning the full system: hood, filters and grease troughs, the ductwork behind the hood and above the ceiling, and the rooftop exhaust fan. A service that stops at the hood and filters is not a complete cleaning and does not satisfy NFPA 96 or inspector requirements.
NFPA 96 is a consensus standard published by the National Fire Protection Association, not a statute. It becomes enforceable when a jurisdiction adopts it, and in Colorado that happens through the fire code. Nearly every city and county adopts the International Fire Code, which carries its own inspection schedule and record-keeping requirements that mirror NFPA 96 and points to it for kitchen exhaust systems, and many fire authorities cite NFPA 96 directly. Some facilities, including public schools, answer to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control as well as, or instead of, the local fire department.
In practice, the inspector who walks your kitchen is inspecting against it, and your insurance carrier expects the records it calls for. Which edition applies depends on what your jurisdiction has adopted, and we cite the applicable section on every report.
It means the interior surfaces of the hood, ductwork, and fan are cleaned down to the metal, not degreased on the surface and wiped. NFPA 96 makes it measurable. Cleaning is required when accumulation reaches 2,000 micrometers, about 0.078 of an inch, or 3,175 micrometers, about 0.125 of an inch, on fan housings. After cleaning, surfaces must measure 50 micrometers, about 0.002 of an inch, or less.
The horizontal duct run above the ceiling and the fan on the roof are where accumulation collects, and they are the sections most often skipped because they take access, time, and the right equipment.
Yes, and it is one of the most common deficiencies we find. NFPA 96 requires access openings on horizontal duct runs at intervals, generally every 12 feet and at each change of direction, so the full run can be inspected and cleaned. A run with no openings cannot be verified by anyone, and a report that calls it clean is not worth filing.
We quote the panels rather than skipping the section and calling the system clean. Panels are the same material and thickness as the duct, sealed with a gasket rated for the duct's service temperature, and labeled ACCESS PANEL, DO NOT OBSTRUCT, as the standard requires.
Doing it in-house
A fair question, and the answer is more useful than a simple no.
Often the in-house work is good. Filters pulled and run at close, troughs wiped, plenum kept clear: that is the day-to-day maintenance that keeps a system in reasonable shape, and it makes our job easier when we arrive.
What it cannot do is satisfy the standard. NFPA 96 requires the contaminated portions of the system to be cleaned by a properly trained, qualified, and certified company or person acceptable to the fire authority, and it requires a written report to the owner within two weeks under 12.6.14 and 12.6.15, plus a dated label on the hood under 12.6.13 identifying who did the work. In-house staff also cannot reach the horizontal duct and the rooftop fan, which is where the fire risk actually sits. The report and the label are what a fire marshal or an insurance carrier asks to see.
So your daily maintenance complements scheduled service rather than replacing it. Keep doing it. It helps.
The daily work that keeps accumulation down while our crew is not there. ANSI/IKECA M10, the maintenance standard that sits alongside NFPA 96, expects the operator to clean filters after each shift and never run the hood without them, wipe the hood interior, troughs, and grease cup daily, confirm the exhaust fan runs whenever cooking equipment is on, keep access panels unobstructed, and check monthly that the fire suppression system tag is current.
Tell us between visits if something changes: smoke that does not clear, grease on the roof around the fan, unusual fan noise, or a suppression tag that has lapsed. None of it is difficult, and it slows accumulation in the parts of the system nobody can see.
Service and scheduling
How the work happens around a kitchen that has to keep operating.
Yes. Most work is performed after close, including overnight windows, so the kitchen is ready for morning service. The system has to be shut down and cooled before we start, which is the practical reason the work happens then. For schools and institutions, we also work around breaks, weekends, and blackout dates.
Every visit is scheduled in advance and confirmed with your site contact in writing before the crew arrives.
No. Cooking equipment, surfaces, and floors are covered before work begins, and everything the cleaning touches is wiped down and polished before the crew leaves. Our written scope includes the surrounding work areas, not just the hood, because the kitchen has to open on time. On the roof, wash water is captured and grease is removed as solid waste; nothing goes to a roof drain or storm drain.
Yes. Commercial kitchen deep cleaning is a separate service, and we schedule it in the same shutdown window as exhaust cleaning wherever that works for you, because both need the same thing: a cold kitchen with the line down. One visit covers both.
They are different services and they are quoted separately. Exhaust cleaning is the NFPA 96 work. Deep cleaning covers equipment exteriors, walls, floors, and drains. We do not fold one into the other on a proposal.
Yes. Districts, campuses, portfolios, and multi-site operators run as programs: one schedule across every site, per-site documentation for each local fire authority, a consolidated record for whoever owns compliance internally, and one point of contact. Several Front Range school districts and a regional grocery chain run this way with us today.
Yes, on every service. The fan and its housing are part of the exhaust system under NFPA 96 and carry their own cleaning threshold. We clean the fan, the housing, and the discharge, empty and reset the grease containment, and note the fan's condition on the report.
If the fan is not hinged, or the hinge kit and retainer are missing, we document it, because that is one of the most common deficiencies we find and it is required for the fan to be serviced safely.
Four things. Cooking equipment shut down and cooled before the crew arrives. A way onto the roof, whether that is a key, a hatch, or a ladder location. A site contact who can be reached during the service window, including after hours. And a heads-up to your alarm or security provider if the building is monitored.
If you know where the exhaust fan switch and the duct access panels are, that saves time, but we will find and document them either way.
No. Every crew is our own employees, with a certified technician on every crew. The name on the report is the name of the person who did the work.
Documentation and inspections
What you receive, and what to do when something has gone wrong.
A service report and photo documentation, delivered as a PDF for your compliance file, plus a dated label on the hood.
The report carries everything NFPA 96 Section 12.6 requires: date of service, technician name, and our company name, address, and phone; the type, number, and location of fans; duct and access panel locations; known leakage points; the location of the fan switch; and any areas that were inaccessible or not cleaned, with the reason. It also states the service frequency the system is on and the next required date.
Photos show before and after conditions for the hood, ductwork, and fan. Anything we find that needs attention is called out separately with a photo and the applicable NFPA 96 section, and the report is clear about which items we can correct and which belong to another licensed trade.
The hood label shows the servicing company, the technician, and the date of service. We keep a copy of every report so it can be reissued if yours goes missing, and where the fire authority uses an online compliance reporting system, we submit there as well.
Have four things ready: the correction notice, the site address, the date you are working against, and a contact who can grant after-hours access. With those we can tell you on the same call what we can do and when.
Priority work carries the same scope and the same documentation as a scheduled cleaning, and the report is written to the items on your notice so the re-inspection has what it needs. A partial clean that gets you open and then fails re-inspection helps nobody.
That is fixable going forward, not backward. A full cleaning with complete documentation establishes a defensible starting point, and a maintenance schedule at your NFPA 96 frequency keeps the record continuous from there. Carriers generally accept that once they can see it.
No legitimate contractor will produce records for work that did not happen. If one offers, that is a larger problem than the one you called about.
Yes, on request, including additional insured endorsements where a contract requires them. We carry $4,000,000 in general liability coverage and the company is bonded. The credentials page carries the rest of the detail a procurement office usually asks for.
It goes in the report, with a photo and the NFPA 96 section it falls under. If it is something we can correct, such as a missing access panel or a fan hinge kit, we quote it separately.
If it requires another licensed trade, such as electrical, duct fabrication, or fire suppression service, we say so and name the trade rather than quoting it ourselves. Either way, you know what was found, what it means, and who should fix it.
No. Wet chemical suppression systems are serviced semiannually by a licensed fire suppression contractor under NFPA 17A. During exhaust cleaning we protect the nozzles and detection line, check that the system tag is current, and note the tag date on the report.
If the tag has lapsed, we tell you, because an inspector will.
Where the fire authority requires it, yes. Several Colorado jurisdictions use an online compliance reporting system for third-party inspections, and we submit the report there after service.
Where the jurisdiction does not use one, the report and the hood label are what the inspector checks, and you keep the report on file. Either way, you receive your copy directly.
Pricing and coverage
Straight answers on cost and where we go.
It depends on the number and length of hoods, the appliance mix under them, the duct configuration and how accessible it is, fan count and roof access, the required cleaning frequency, and whether the work is after hours. Two kitchens that look identical to a stranger can price very differently for good reasons.
That is why there are no numbers on this site and why we look at the system before quoting. What you get back is a fixed written price, the scope it covers, and the NFPA 96 frequency it is based on. Estimates are free anywhere in our service area.
Usually, and here is how it works. A neglected system starts with a one-time restoration cleaning to bring the ductwork and fan back to a compliant baseline, then moves to a maintenance schedule matched to its required frequency. The restoration is the larger job and is quoted as its own line. Maintenance from there is a fixed, predictable price.
Our core territory is the Front Range and the I-70 mountain corridor, run from Golden, Colorado. The 17 markets listed below are where we operate regularly, and smaller Colorado towns fold into the nearest one. Outside those markets, including southern Wyoming, northern New Mexico, and eastern Utah, we quote case by case.
- Denver
- Aurora
- Lakewood and Arvada
- Westminster, Thornton, and Broomfield
- Golden
- Littleton, Highlands Ranch, and Centennial
- Castle Rock and Parker
- Evergreen, Conifer, and Morrison
- Boulder
- Longmont
- Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley
- Colorado Springs
- Black Hawk and Central City
- Breckenridge and Summit County
- Vail and Eagle County
- Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley
- Grand Junction and the Western Slope
If your town is not listed, ask. We will give you a straight answer about whether we can serve it properly.
Yes. We are registered in SAM.gov, carry $4,000,000 in general liability coverage, and produce the documentation public purchasing offices require, including per-site reports and a consolidated compliance record. We serve public school districts today. We do not hold federal contracts today, and we would rather say so than let a contracting officer discover it.
The registration detail sits on the credentials page and the government and public facilities page.
Go deeper
NFPA 96 compliance guide
Frequency under Table 12.4, measurable cleanliness thresholds, access requirements, and the reporting the standard specifies.
What to expect
How a service visit runs from first look to documentation, and what arrives afterward.
Credentials
IKECA membership, certified technicians, insurance, bonding, public sector registration, and questions worth asking any contractor.
Question not answered here?
Ask it directly. We will answer in writing, and we will tell you if it is something we do not do.