Is Your Kitchen Hood Clean to Code? What NFPA 96-Compliant Cleaning Actually Looks Like

“Clean to code” gets used loosely in this industry. Here’s what it actually means, straight from our team.

Cleaned to bare metal, not just wiped down

A quick surface wipe leaves grease behind in the seams, the plenum, and the ductwork — the parts of the system you can’t see from the kitchen floor. NFPA 96-compliant cleaning means the hood, ducts, fans, and filters get taken down to bare metal, not just made to look clean on the surface.

Every job gets documented — for your fire marshal and your insurance

“Trust me, it’s clean” doesn’t hold up during an inspection. Every completed job comes with before-and-after photo documentation and a dated compliance certificate — the paperwork you actually need on hand when a fire marshal or insurance adjuster asks when the system was last serviced.

The full system, not just the visible hood

Grease builds up fastest in places you’d never think to check — the ductwork and rooftop exhaust fan, and the grease filters that are supposed to catch it before it gets that far. A real NFPA 96 service covers all of it as one job, not a piecemeal cleaning that skips the parts nobody sees.

Serving restaurants across the Charlotte Metro

Whether you’re in Uptown, South End, or anywhere else across Charlotte, NC & SC, the standard doesn’t change — NFPA 96 compliance, documented, every time.

Ready to get your kitchen scheduled? Request a free quote or call us directly — we’ll get you on the calendar.