Service reports and NFPA 96 documentation support for commercial kitchens
AFS provides NFPA 96 documentation support after each commercial hood cleaning: what was cleaned, when, the condition observed, and the recommended next interval. These records support your health and fire inspection recordkeeping.
What your service report includes.
Service documentation is provided after the cleaning, typically no later than the following day. Records may include the service date, work summary, before-and-after photographs where access allows, technician observations, and the recommended next-service interval.
Included after service
How AFS supports service documentation and recordkeeping.
AFS combines professional exhaust-system cleaning with clear service documentation to support your NFPA 96 recordkeeping.
Cleaning and documentation for your records
AFS cleans the accessible hood and exhaust system within the agreed service scope and provides photos where access allows, technician notes, and a recommended next-service interval.
Clear records for your files
AFS documents the work completed and notes accessible system conditions that may require attention, helping your team maintain accurate records and prepare for local fire and health inspections.
AFS cleans and documents the agreed commercial kitchen exhaust-system components. AFS is not the authority having jurisdiction, does not perform the fire authority's inspection, does not certify the entire kitchen, and cannot guarantee inspection approval. Review AFS's commercial hood-cleaning scope.
How often should a commercial kitchen exhaust system be inspected and cleaned?
The 2025 California Fire Code sets inspection intervals for commercial kitchen exhaust systems based on the type of cooking operation. These are inspection intervals, not automatic cleaning schedules: cleaning is required when an inspection finds grease accumulation on the hood, ducts, fans, or other exhaust components. A fire code official may approve a different inspection interval for a specific facility, and the applicable authority having jurisdiction determines how these requirements are enforced at a given kitchen.
| Cooking operation | Inspection interval |
|---|---|
| Solid-fuel cooking operations | 1 month |
| High-volume operations, such as 24-hour cooking, charbroiling, or wok cooking | 3 months |
| All other cooking operations | 6 months |
| Low-volume operations, such as seasonal businesses, senior centers, or places of religious worship | 12 months |
Inspection frequency is not a cleaning schedule
Inspection frequency is scheduled by the type of cooking operation. Cleaning timing depends on what that inspection finds: if grease accumulation is present on the hood, ducts, fans, or other exhaust components, code requires those components to be cleaned. AFS may recommend a next-service interval based on the conditions observed during a cleaning, but that recommendation does not replace the applicable fire code or the decision of the authority having jurisdiction.
Records after inspection and cleaning
California Fire Code §606.3.3.3 addresses recordkeeping for inspections and cleanings. AFS provides documentation for the cleaning work it performs — a service summary, before-and-after photos where access allows, technician notes, and a recommended next-service interval — to support your maintenance file. This record documents the service AFS performed; it does not certify the entire kitchen exhaust system or guarantee inspection approval.
What NFPA 96 covers
NFPA 96, the Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations, addresses commercial cooking ventilation and fire-protection requirements, including topics related to inspection and maintenance. Locally adopted codes and the authority having jurisdiction determine which specific requirements apply to a given facility. For a plain-English overview, read What is NFPA 96?
Sources and update date
Source check updated August 25, 2026.
2025 California Fire Code, Chapter 6, §606.3.3–606.3.3.3 (ICC Digital Codes)
Want documented hood cleaning for your records?
Call AFS or request a quote and we will include service documentation with your cleaning.