How to start a hood cleaning business: NFPA 96, licenses, equipment and pricing

What does a hood cleaning business do?

A hood cleaning business removes grease from commercial kitchen exhaust systems: the hood over the cooking line, the grease filters, the ductwork running up through the building, and the exhaust fan on the roof. The goal is fire safety. Grease that builds up in a duct can carry a kitchen fire up through the building.

Most of the work is done at night, after the kitchen closes. A typical job covers:

• Prepare. Turn off and lock out the fan and cooking equipment, cover the line in plastic, and set up a funnel or trough to catch runoff from the hood.
• Filters. Pull the filters to soak or wash them.
• Hood and plenum. Scrape heavy deposits, apply degreaser, and rinse with hot water under pressure.
• Ductwork. Clean through access panels to bare metal, as far as the system allows.
• Exhaust fan. On the roof, hinge or remove the fan, clean the blades and housing, and check the grease containment.
• Put it back together. Reinstall filters, remove plastic, wipe down the kitchen, and test the fan.
• Label and report. Leave a dated service label and a written report, with photos and any areas you could not clean.

Clients are restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools, cafeterias, churches with kitchens and food trucks with hoods. Restaurant owners usually leave this to specialists; our restaurant cleaning checklist shows how hood work sits outside the daily and weekly cleaning a kitchen does itself.

What is NFPA 96, and how often do hoods need cleaning?

NFPA 96 is the National Fire Protection Association’s standard for ventilation control and fire protection of commercial cooking operations. Fire departments enforce it through their local fire codes, and it sets how exhaust systems are inspected and cleaned. How often depends on the kind and volume of cooking, and your local fire marshal has the final word.

You can buy the current edition of NFPA 96 from the NFPA, and you should own a copy. Your local fire department will tell you which edition it enforces.

One city’s rule as an example

Portland Fire & Rescue’s administrative rule FIR-8.08, which references NFPA 96, shows how a fire department turns the standard into a schedule. It says hoods, grease-removal devices, fans and ducts must be cleaned to bare metal before surfaces become heavily contaminated, and inspected by a trained and certified person at least every 6 months. Its minimum cleaning frequency is:

The rule also says heavy grease found at inspection may call for more frequent cleaning, and that solid-fuel cooking follows a separate NFPA 96 chapter. Other cities set their own schedules: New York City’s FDNY, for example, says on its W-64 Certificate of Fitness page that systems must be checked and cleaned every three months. Always ask the local fire marshal what applies.

Labels and reports

Portland’s rule requires a label in the kitchen after each service with the date, the company and the technician’s certification number, listing any areas not cleaned, and says reports must be kept on site for the fire marshal. Utah requires a completion and deficiency report after every job (see below). Even where it isn’t required, do both on every job: inspectors ask for them, and they protect you if there is a fire later.

Do hood cleaners need a license or certification?

In some places, yes. A few states and cities license hood cleaning companies or certify individual technicians, and many fire marshals expect proof of training even where there is no license. Check your state fire marshal and your city fire department before you take a job.

Three examples

• Utah. The Utah State Fire Marshal’s kitchen exhaust system licensing page says companies that inspect and clean kitchen exhaust systems must hold a license from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, with a criminal background check and proof of public liability insurance, and an annual renewal. Each technician needs a certificate of registration, which requires a background check and a written exam based on NFPA 96, NFPA 17A and the Utah rule, with at least 70 percent on each part. The page lists a $30 exam fee and a $40 annual certificate fee. Utah also requires a completion and deficiency report to the owner after each job, and a red tag on systems that don’t comply, with the report sent to the fire authority within five days.
• New York City. The FDNY’s W-64 Certificate of Fitness page says commercial cooking exhaust systems must be cleaned by a person holding the certificate who works for an FDNY-approved company. The certificate requires a written exam, costs $25, and is renewed every three years.
• Charleston, South Carolina. The Charleston Fire Department’s kitchen exhaust inspection contractor permit application asks for a city business license, current IKECA membership and a current IKECA Certified Exhaust Cleaning Specialist certificate. It says systems must be inspected and cleaned under the fire code, NFPA 96 and ANSI/IKECA C10, with the complete interior cleaned to bare metal, and the permit must be renewed by March 1 each year.

Portland, Oregon, also requires a Certificate of Fitness under its fire regulations for anyone cleaning commercial hood systems, including businesses cleaning their own.

Industry certification

The International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association (IKECA) certifies kitchen exhaust cleaners, and some fire departments ask for it: Charleston’s permit, above, requires an IKECA Certified Exhaust Cleaning Specialist certificate. Portland’s rule likewise says a properly trained and certified person must inspect exhaust systems at least every 6 months. Even where it is not legally required, certification shows restaurant owners, insurers and fire marshals that you know the standard. Ask your fire marshal which credentials it recognizes.

For the business registration and general licenses every company needs, see what licenses are needed to start a cleaning business.

How to start a hood cleaning business, step by step

Learn the trade and NFPA 96, get licensed and certified where required, register and insure the business, buy equipment, set up legal wastewater disposal, and sign your first restaurants on a schedule. Most new owners start with a truck or van, a hot-water pressure washer and a two-person crew.

1. Learn the work. Work for an established hood cleaning company for a season if you can. Roof fans, access panels and containment are learned on real jobs.
2. Get licensed and certified as your state and city require, and study NFPA 96.
3. Register the business. Name, EIN, bank account and entity; see LLC for a cleaning business and how to start a commercial cleaning business for the setup that applies to any business-to-business service.
4. Get insured. General liability with no exclusion for kitchen exhaust work, workers’ compensation once you hire, and commercial auto. Ask about coverage if a fire happens after your cleaning, since that is the claim hood cleaners worry about most. Our cleaning business insurance guide explains the policy types.
5. Buy equipment. See the list below.
6. Arrange wastewater disposal. See the next section.
7. Write a service agreement covering the schedule, what is and isn’t included, access to the roof, the kitchen’s duty to shut down on time, and how you report deficiencies. The cleaning contract template is a starting point.
8. Sign your first accounts and put them on a recurring schedule.

Equipment

How do you handle wastewater and stay safe on the job?

Capture the greasy washwater and dispose of it the way your sewer authority allows, never into a storm drain. On the safety side, lock out the fans, control your chemicals, and use fall protection on the roof.

Grease and wastewater

The EPA’s fact sheet on controlling fats, oils and grease from food service establishments quotes its report to Congress finding that grease from restaurants, homes and industry is the most common cause of reported sewer blockages, at 47 percent, because it solidifies and blocks flow. Federal pretreatment rules prohibit discharging solid or viscous pollutants in amounts that cause obstruction, and local sewer authorities enforce their own grease rules. Ask the local utility where hood washwater may go: some allow it into the restaurant’s grease interceptor, others want it hauled away. Grease that does reach the lines is the daily work of a drain cleaning business, often through scheduled hydro jetting for restaurants.

Storm drains are never an option. The EPA’s municipal stormwater program defines an illicit discharge as any discharge to the storm sewer system that is not composed entirely of stormwater, with limited exceptions; see its page on developing a stormwater management program. Washing a greasy fan on a roof can send runoff into a roof drain, so contain and collect it.

Lockout and chemicals

Exhaust fans and cooking equipment can start unexpectedly. Once you have employees, OSHA’s control of hazardous energy standard, 29 CFR 1910.147, covers servicing and maintenance where unexpected startup or release of stored energy could cause injury. Lock and tag the fan and equipment before cleaning, and train your crew on your written procedure. Degreasers are often caustic, so OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard applies too: keep a safety data sheet for each product, keep containers labeled, and train workers.

Roofs

Fans are usually on the roof, often near an edge. OSHA’s walking-working surfaces rule, 29 CFR 1910.28, requires employers to protect workers on surfaces with an unprotected side or edge 4 feet or more above a lower level, with guardrails, safety nets or personal fall protection, subject to the rule’s exceptions. Plan roof access and fall protection for every account before the first night.

How much should you charge for hood cleaning?

Many hood cleaners quote a flat price per system based on the size of the hood, the length and access of the duct, the number of fans and how dirty it is, with the price locked for recurring visits. Build the price from crew hours, chemicals, disposal, vehicle, insurance and overhead, then compare with local competitors.

A worked example (hypothetical numbers)

Say a restaurant has one 12-foot hood, a single-story duct and one roof fan. A two-person crew spends 4 hours on site plus 1 hour of travel and setup each, you pay technicians $26 an hour, chemicals and supplies cost $60, and disposal costs $40.

Replace every input with your own. Extra hoods, multi-story ducts, more fans, heavy buildup on a first cleaning and installing access panels all add to the price, so list them separately. Quote in writing with the schedule and scope; the cleaning proposal template suits a restaurant owner or facility manager, and our guide to commercial cleaning prices covers how to price business accounts more generally.

Recurring schedules are the business

A restaurant on a quarterly schedule is four jobs a year without selling again. Price an annual agreement with the schedule written in, and remind the client before each visit. Overnight work also means your daytime is free for sales and estimates.

How do hood cleaners find restaurant accounts?

Go where the fire code already creates demand: restaurants due for cleaning, new restaurants about to open, and the people who see kitchens every day, such as fire suppression companies, inspectors and kitchen equipment dealers.

• Fire suppression and extinguisher companies. They service the suppression system over the same hoods and see dirty systems first. Those that don’t clean hoods themselves can refer the work to you.
• Restaurant managers and owners directly. Visit in the slow mid-afternoon with a one-page explanation of your schedule, labels and reports.
• New openings. New restaurants need a cleaning schedule from day one.
• Property managers and food courts. Several kitchens, one contract.
• Institutions. Schools, hospitals, nursing homes and churches with commercial kitchens. They often buy through bids; see how to get commercial cleaning contracts.
• Search. A Google Business Profile with the commercial category that fits and photos of real before and after work. Restaurant owners search when an inspector writes them up.

Reliability sells this service more than price. Show up on the night you promised, leave the kitchen cleaner than you found it, and send the report by morning.

Is hood cleaning a good business to start?

It can be a strong one: the fire code creates recurring demand, jobs are higher value than most cleaning, and the work is done at night. The trade-offs are messy, hard work, roof and chemical risk, licensing in some places, and liability if a fire happens.

Cooking fires are common in commercial buildings. The U.S. Fire Administration’s nonresidential building cooking fire estimates put 2023 at 33,300 fires and $50.3 million in dollar loss, with fires up 13 percent over the 10 years from 2014 to 2023. That is the problem your service exists to prevent, and the reason restaurant owners take a reliable hood cleaner seriously.

A note on air duct cleaning

Kitchen exhaust cleaning is often confused with HVAC air duct cleaning, but they are separate trades with different standards, equipment and certifications. If you want to offer both, train for each. Broombook is built for scheduling and billing residential house cleaning, so it fits a cleaning crew you may also run, not hood cleaning routes; for other services to add to a cleaning company, see cleaning business ideas.