Ventilation & HVAC Compliance Guide
The violation that becomes a fire.
Commercial kitchen exhaust is the highest-consequence item in this category, because grease accumulation in a duct is fuel sitting directly above an ignition source.
Shop ventilation and HVAC signage
Hood cleaning frequency, which depends on your cooking
NFPA 96 sets inspection intervals for grease removal by cooking volume, not by a single schedule:
- Solid fuel cooking (wood, charcoal): monthly
- High volume (24-hour operations, charbroiling, wok cooking): quarterly
- Moderate volume (most restaurants): semiannually
- Low volume (churches, seasonal businesses, day camps): annually
If you run a charbroiler, quarterly is your number. A semiannual contract on a charbroiling line is a finding waiting to happen.
Fire damper testing: not annual
You will see annual damper testing quoted. NFPA 80 requires fire dampers to be inspected and tested one year after installation, then every 4 years, or every 6 years in hospitals.
Getting this wrong costs money in the harmless direction, but it also signals that whoever wrote the schedule was guessing, and inspectors notice inconsistent records.
On exhaust airflow
There is no universal CFM figure for a cookline. The International Mechanical Code sets exhaust rates by hood type and cooking duty, expressed per linear foot of hood, and the required rate varies substantially between a light-duty wall canopy and a heavy-duty island hood. Anyone quoting you a single number across all kitchens has not read the table.
What inspectors write up
- Grease accumulation in hoods, filters, and ducts beyond the cleaning schedule
- Missing or damaged grease filters, or filters not properly overlapping
- Insufficient makeup air, which starves the exhaust and pulls combustion products back into the space
- Fire suppression system not inspected on schedule
- Fire dampers painted, blocked, or with fusible links removed
- Storage stacked against ducts or blocking returns
- Outside air intakes located near exhaust discharge or loading areas
Who enforces this
The IMC is published by the ICC, NFPA 96 by NFPA. Neither inspects anyone. Your local mechanical inspector and fire marshal enforce the editions your jurisdiction adopted, and hood suppression is often a separate inspection from the mechanical one.
Free compliance checklist
Download the Ventilation Compliance Checklist (PDF)
Where signage fits
Duct clearance marking, no-storage identification around mechanical equipment, and exhaust and makeup air labeling keep the system accessible and unobstructed between service visits.
Browse 8x12 aluminum safety signs or see all building and health code guides.