How to start a hood cleaning business

Is there a license?

In most states there is no license specific to hood cleaning — local fire departments enforce the NFPA 96 standard on the restaurants, not on the cleaner. A few states and cities do license it: Utah, for example, requires kitchen exhaust cleaning companies to be licensed by its State Fire Marshal. Check your state fire marshal and the fire departments in the cities you'll work in.

Certification restaurants and inspectors look for

• IKECA (International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association) certification — its ANSI/IKECA C10 standard defines how the cleaning should be done
• Phil Ackland kitchen exhaust cleaning certification — widely recognized, available as a distance course
• Working knowledge of NFPA 96: what to clean, to bare metal, and what to report
• NFPA 96 calls for cleaning by trained, qualified and certified people acceptable to the local authority

Insurance and paperwork

• General liability insurance — restaurants, landlords and insurers ask for a certificate
• Workers' compensation once you hire
• A dated service certificate or sticker you leave on every hood, noting anything you couldn't reach
• Before-and-after photos of the hood, ductwork and fan
• Your business entity, EIN and state tax registration like any other company

Getting your first restaurant accounts

• Restaurants already on a schedule switch companies when a cleaner misses areas or visits — thoroughness wins accounts
• Fire inspectors, insurance agents and fire-suppression companies see which kitchens are overdue
• Every account recurs quarterly or twice a year, so each one is worth several jobs a year
• FirstBearing sends commercial kitchen requests to local companies — you see the job first and only pay for the ones you take

Fire suppression is a separate trade

Servicing the wet-chemical suppression system over the cook line is licensed differently from cleaning. In Phoenix, for example, the fire department's business certificate covers kitchen hood extinguishing systems and asks for an Arizona Registrar of Contractors license plus a CSA, NICET or manufacturer credential — cleaning companies that don't service suppression systems work alongside a fire protection company instead.