Every Kitchen on the Floor, Inspected on One Visit
Steakhouse, buffet, food court, banquet — an independent NFPA 96 inspection covers every hooded kitchen on the same visit, with one report per kitchen and one schedule for the property.
IKECA Member #76716495 · CESI #200771 · CECS #200452 · Scheduling from October 5, 2026
A Casino Floor, Eight Systems
| Steakhouse cook line | $500 |
| Buffet display cooking, three stations | $750 |
| Buffet back-of-house cook line | $250 |
| Food court, two cook lines | $500 |
| Banquet kitchen cook line | $250 |
| Eight systems, one visit | $2,250 |
Eight Hoods, Several Different Intervals
The buffet fires every service around the clock. The banquet kitchen sits cold between events, then runs hard for a thousand covers. NFPA 96 Table 12.4 sets the interval by what each kitchen actually cooks, not by the building — so one floor can legitimately hold several different schedules at once.
The Buffet, Two Hoods
Display cooking at three stations, 18 hours a day, seven days, fed by a back-of-house cook line under its own hood. The heaviest grease load on the floor and usually the shortest interval.
The Steakhouse
Charbroiling at dinner volume. High load in a short window, on its own schedule.
The Banquet Kitchen
Cold for ten days, then a thousand covers in one night. Volume, not calendar, sets the interval.
Food Court Outlets
Two hoods, several tenants, one roof. Each is inspected and recorded on its own, whoever operates it.
The Part Nobody Looks At
The buffet line is the risk nobody sizes correctly. It runs continuously, often with heavy frying and open-flame stations, and it carries a grease load that a monthly schedule built for a restaurant will not keep ahead of. Casino kitchens also tend to sit deep inside a large building with long duct runs to shared rooftop fans, so the grease that leaves the buffet hood travels a long way to a fan the kitchen staff never see. On a gaming floor that cannot close, the temptation is to clean on whatever narrow window opens rather than on the interval each kitchen actually needs — which is how the highest-volume kitchen ends up on the longest interval.
How Often NFPA 96 Requires Inspection
NFPA 96 sets frequency in Table 12.4 by cooking volume and equipment type, and high-volume casino kitchens sit near the top of that table. A continuous buffet with frying and open flame is a monthly kitchen; a steakhouse or banquet line may run monthly to quarterly; lower-volume outlets run less often. The inspection sets the right interval for each kitchen on the floor, so the buffet is cleaned on the cadence it actually needs rather than the one a shared schedule allows.
What the Inspection Covers
Each hood, duct run and exhaust fan is inspected against NFPA 96 in five parts, and every inspection includes the Fire-5 Tag Verification. Cooking appliances are not inspected.
- Accessibility for Cleaning
- Listed Systems and Controls
- Exhaust Fans
- Reporting and Records
The Fire-5 Tag Verification
We verify the posted tag and service record for all five fire safety systems over every cooking line on the floor, and report which are current.
One Standard, Every Property
Gaming groups rarely have every property in one town. Inspection is available statewide, scheduled by region, and every report comes back in the same format, filed by property.
One Visit Per Property
Every hood on the floor on the same visit, scheduled into the overnight and low-traffic windows a 24-hour operation allows.
Properties Grouped by Region
One price wherever we come to you, and we group nearby properties onto the same visit.
One File, Every Regulator
One format, filed by property, ready for a fire marshal, a Tribal Gaming Regulatory Authority, a carrier or an owner.
NFPA 96 Trusted Advisor, All Year
The retainer stands on its own — no inspection required. A regulator asks a question, a carrier asks for records, a fire marshal leaves a notice: those get answered by email and phone all year, with no site visit.
$500 per year if you renew it after an inspection.