Every Hood in the District, One Visit Per Site
Cafeteria cook lines, fry stations and satellite kitchen cook lines — an independent NFPA 96 inspection covers every hood at a site on the same visit, with one report per kitchen and one schedule for the district, built around the school calendar.
IKECA Member #76716495 · CESI #200771 · CECS #200452 · Scheduling from October 5, 2026
A District Site, Three Systems
| Main cafeteria cook line | $500 |
| Main cafeteria fry station | $250 |
| Satellite kitchen cook line | $250 |
| Three systems, one visit | $1,000 |
Three Hoods, Different Intervals
The main cafeteria cook line turns hundreds of lunches in a short window on every school day. The satellite kitchen cook line runs lighter, finishing what the main line sends it. NFPA 96 Table 12.4 sets the interval by what each cook line actually cooks, not by the building — so one site can legitimately hold different schedules at once.
Main Cafeteria Cook Line
Hundreds of lunches in a short window, every school day. The heaviest grease load at the site and usually the shortest interval.
Main Cafeteria Fry Station
Frying at lunch service, then idle. On its own hood and its own schedule.
Satellite Kitchen Cook Line
Lighter cooking, finishing what the main line sends. Usually the longest interval at the site.
The Part Nobody Looks At
The mismatch in a district is volume versus attention. Elementary warming kitchens get cleaned because they are simple and visible; the high school culinary line and the central commissary, which carry the real grease load, are the ones a thin facilities budget tends to stretch. Long duct runs to rooftop fans on older school buildings are out of sight and out of the maintenance rotation, and when a district hires a different contractor per school, no one holds the whole picture — a fire marshal asking about one cafeteria gets a different answer, in a different format, than the school across town.
How Often NFPA 96 Requires Inspection
NFPA 96 sets frequency in Table 12.4 by cooking volume and equipment type. A fry-heavy high school line or a central commissary needs cleaning more often than an elementary warming kitchen that mostly reheats. The correct answer is per kitchen, not per district — which is why the inspection covers every kitchen in the district and sets an interval for each, rather than putting every school on the same blanket schedule.
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 at the site, and report which are current.
One Standard, Every Site
A district runs many sites on one calendar. Inspection is available statewide, scheduled by region and around school breaks, and every report comes back in the same format, filed by site.
One Visit Per Site
Every hood at the site on the same visit, scheduled around the school calendar.
Sites Grouped by Region
One price wherever we come to you, and we group nearby sites onto the same visit.
One File, Every Reviewer
One format, filed by site, ready for a fire marshal, a carrier or the board.
NFPA 96 Trusted Advisor, All Year
The retainer stands on its own — no inspection required. The board 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.