Written up on the hood system: what each finding means

A hood write-up is one of a small number of findings, and each has a different fix. Here they are with what actually clears them.

The findings, and what each one needs

What the report says	What it means	What clears it
Grease accumulation in the hood, duct, or fan	The system is past due, or it has been cleaned superficially	A cleaning to bare metal with dated photographs
No service sticker, or an out-of-date one	Documentation, not necessarily grease	A proper service that leaves a dated label
No service records available	Same	A service report you can keep and produce
Duct not accessible	There is a section nobody can reach	Fit access panels, then clean it
Fan not cleaned	Almost always because it is not hinged	Fit a hinge kit, $150–$300, then clean it
Filters missing, damaged, or wrong type	Filters are part of the system	Correct filters, or filter exchange
Cleaning frequency insufficient	Your operation’s category needs more often than you are doing	Move to the right schedule
Grease on the roof or at the discharge	Fan and containment	Clean, and address containment

Frequency, which is the finding people argue with

NFPA 96 sets inspection frequency by what you cook, not by what you have been doing:

Solid fuel, wood or charcoal: monthly
High volume, 24-hour cooking, charbroiling, wok cooking: quarterly
Moderate volume, most full-service kitchens: semiannual
Low volume, churches, seasonal operations, day camps: annual

Adding a smoker or a wood-fired oven moves the whole system to monthly. That catches operators out more than anything else in the standard, and it is not negotiable with an inspector. The NFPA 96 page has the detail.

The two findings worth fixing permanently

Inaccessible duct. If a run cannot be reached, it cannot be cleaned, and it will be written up again at every inspection. Fitting access panels is ordinary sheet metal work and it converts a recurring finding into a solved problem.

An unhinged rooftop fan. Fans get skipped when they cannot be lifted, and the fan is frequently where the heaviest grease in the system is. A hinge kit at $150–$300 makes it cleanable on every future service. See kitchen exhaust fan service.

Both of these are small money against being written up twice a year for the same thing.

What you should get from the service that clears it

Since the point is to satisfy an inspector, the documentation is the deliverable:

A dated report of what was cleaned and inspected
Before and after photographs, including the duct interior and the fan
A written note of anything inaccessible and what was recommended
A sticker on the hood with the date and the company
The next due date for your category

Tell us when you book that this is clearing an inspection finding, and ask for the report to be written to answer it specifically. Ask any vendor, us included, for that report, the photographs and the dated sticker.

Timing and cost

Service	Range
Single-hood system cleaning	$300–$700
Multi-hood, 2 to 4 hoods	$800–$1,500
Fan hinge kit install	$150–$300
Grease trap pump-out	$150–$450
In-ground interceptor	$325–$950
Rush or pre-inspection service	expect a 25 to 50 percent premium

Typical market ranges, from the pricing page; the cost calculator prices your system.

We schedule the work after close: ask us to confirm the date and that the work will be done after close and finished before first prep, so a write-up does not cost you a service period. And the way to never pay the rush premium again is to move onto the schedule your category actually requires.

Areas covered

Fargo, West Fargo, Horace, Casselton, and Grand Forks.

Frequently Asked Questions

The inspector wrote up grease accumulation. How fast can that be cleared?

The date the fire marshal set for the re-check is the real deadline, so lead with it when you call and get a price and a confirmed night before anything is booked. A cleaning to bare metal with a dated report and photographs is what the re-check looks for. Mention the inspection finding when you call, because that changes what documentation you need from the visit, not just the work.

What if the write-up is about documentation rather than grease?

That is a common one and it is easier. A missing or out-of-date sticker, no service records, or no record of what was inspected are all documentation failures. They still need a proper service to generate the records honestly, but the underlying system may be fine.

The finding says part of the duct is inaccessible. What does that mean?

It means there is a section nobody can reach to clean, which under NFPA 96 is supposed to be documented and, where practical, corrected by fitting access panels. Adding access is ordinary work and it permanently removes the finding rather than deferring it.

What does it cost to put right?

Typical market ranges for the cleaning itself are $300–$700 single-hood and $800–$1,500 multi-hood. Expect contractors to charge a 25 to 50 percent premium for rush or pre-inspection service. Access panels and a fan hinge kit at $150–$300 are usually quoted with the work.