How often should restaurant hoods be cleaned?
It depends on how much grease your cooking puts into the exhaust. The most widely used reference, NFPA 96, ties the inspection schedule to cooking volume — from monthly for wood and charcoal to once a year for low-volume kitchens.
The NFPA 96 inspection schedule
| Cooking | Inspection |
|---|---|
| Solid fuel cooking (wood, charcoal) | Monthly |
| High volume (24-hour cooking, charbroiling, wok cooking) | Quarterly |
| Moderate volume (typical restaurant cooking) | Every 6 months |
| Low volume (churches, day camps, seasonal businesses, senior centers) | Annually |
NFPA 96 is the fire code standard most U.S. jurisdictions use for commercial kitchen exhaust. It sets how often the system must be inspected for grease buildup; when an inspection finds buildup, the system is cleaned.
What pushes you toward more frequent cleaning
- Fryers, charbroilers, woks and flat-tops running most of the day
- Long operating hours or 24-hour service
- Wood or charcoal cooking
- Long or horizontal duct runs where grease settles
- A previous cleaning that left areas uncleaned
Who decides
Your local fire marshal or authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) decides what applies to your kitchen — check with them and your insurer.
Many insurers also ask for proof of regular cleaning — usually the service certificate or sticker the cleaning company leaves on the hood.
Questions
Is cleaning the filters enough?
No. Filters catch some grease, but grease still reaches the hood plenum, ductwork and exhaust fan. Kitchen staff typically clean filters often; a hood-cleaning company cleans the whole system on the schedule above.
What if my kitchen changed how much it cooks?
Your schedule should change with it. A restaurant that adds a charbroiler or longer hours may move from semiannual to quarterly.
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