Hood Cleaning Certificates: What NFPA 96 Requires on Yours
A real hood cleaning certificate proves the work met NFPA 96 — not just that you paid. The six things a compliance record must show, from the next-due date to the standard it was cleaned to. Cleaning Pros Plus.
NFPA 96 doesn't hand you a blank certificate to fill in — it tells you what has to be true after a service is done, and a real certificate is just proof that it's true. If your hood cleaner hands you a form with a logo and a signature and nothing else, you don't have a compliance record. You have a piece of paper.
Here's what belongs on it.
The date of service, and the date the next one is due. Not "cleaned recently" — an exact date, and a next-due date set by your actual cooking volume and type, not a generic once-a-year default. A charbroiler line runs on a different clock than a light-duty kitchen, and the certificate should say which clock you're on.
Who did the work, and what they're certified in. A technician's name, and the credentials behind the work — the company's IKECA membership and the individual's Certified Exhaust Cleaning Specialist (CECS) credential, whatever applies. This is the line that tells you whether the person under your hood knew the standard or just knew how to hold a pressure washer.
Exactly what was cleaned. Hood, filters, plenum, ductwork, fan — which of these were actually serviced, and which weren't accessible. NFPA 96 requires the whole system cleaned to the standard's residual limit on schedule — a maximum of 0.002 in. (50 μm) — not just the parts that are easy to reach. If access panels were missing or the roof fan was inaccessible, a real certificate says so — it doesn't quietly skip it.
Condition before and after, in photos. Dated, not stock images. This is what turns a certificate from a claim into a record — the difference between "we cleaned it" and proof an inspector, an insurer, or an investigator can actually look at.
What was found, if anything was wrong. Grease buildup beyond the standard, damaged access panels, a fan that wasn't rotating freely — a certificate that only ever says "all clear" isn't documenting your kitchen, it's covering for the cleaner.
The standard it was cleaned to. NFPA 96, and the edition your jurisdiction has adopted — because your local fire authority enforces a specific edition, and a certificate that doesn't name one is asking you to take it on faith.
Pull your last certificate and run it against these six lines. Whatever's missing is what to ask for next time — and once it's all there, you have a record you can hand to a fire marshal, an insurer, or an investigator with confidence.
About the Author
Arthur Haggerty is the founder of Cleaning Pros Plus, LLC and its family of companies — EvidLY, HoodOps and Stovio Advisors. He is an IKECA member and holds the Certified Exhaust Cleaning Specialist credential (CECS #200452), and has been retained as an expert witness in an NFPA 96 fire case. Before commercial kitchen exhaust, he spent 25 years in information technology — including ten years in IT audit and compliance and roles with Cisco, Deloitte and Dell — and consulted for Fortune 100 companies. He holds an M.S. in Information Technology and is a ten-year U.S. Air Force veteran.