Every Hood in the Community, Inspected on One Visit
The main kitchen cook line and the second and third lines beside it — an independent NFPA 96 inspection covers every hood on the same visit, with one report for the kitchen and one schedule for the community.
IKECA Member #76716495 · CESI #200771 · CECS #200452 · Scheduling from October 5, 2026
A Senior Living Facility, Three Systems
| Main kitchen cook line | $500 |
| Main kitchen second line | $250 |
| Main kitchen third line | $250 |
| Three systems, one visit | $1,000 |
Three Hoods, Different Intervals
The main kitchen cook line serves residents three meals a day, every day of the year, with no closed day to clean against. The second and third lines carry a lighter share of the menu. NFPA 96 Table 12.4 sets the interval by what each cook line actually cooks, not by the building — so one kitchen can legitimately hold different schedules at once.
Main Kitchen Cook Line
Three resident meals a day, every day of the year. The heaviest grease load in the building and usually the shortest interval.
Main Kitchen Second Line
A lighter share of the menu at meal periods, on its own hood and its own schedule.
Main Kitchen Third Line
The lightest share of the menu. Usually the longest interval in the building.
The Part Nobody Looks At
The danger is the combination of a continuous dining kitchen and a resident population that cannot move fast. The main kitchen runs every day with no closed day to clean against, so grease builds without a natural pause, and its ducts run through a building full of people who would be slow to evacuate. Smaller care-unit kitchens are the ones that fall off the schedule entirely — low volume, easy to overlook, but still venting through the same occupied structure. A deferred cleaning here is not just a code problem; it is a life-safety problem in a building designed around people who need help to leave it.
For CMS-Surveyed Facilities (Hospitals, Skilled Nursing)
A cooking-facility grease finding can be cited under CMS K-tag K 324 in a Life Safety Code survey — a Life Safety deficiency that puts CMS certification at risk. CMS-certified skilled nursing facilities face civil monetary penalties under 42 CFR 488.438: $136 to $27,378 per day, or up to $27,378 per instance. Hospitals face termination of their Medicare and Medicaid provider agreement for an uncorrected Life Safety deficiency. Most assisted living is state-licensed rather than CMS-certified and is not subject to this penalty schedule.
How Often NFPA 96 Requires Inspection
NFPA 96 sets frequency in Table 12.4 by cooking volume and equipment type. A continuous main dining kitchen runs on a shorter interval than a small care-unit kitchen or a between-meals bistro. The correct answer is per kitchen, not per building — which is why the inspection covers every kitchen in the community and sets an interval for each, so no kitchen venting through an occupied residence slides past its cleaning.
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 in the community, and report which are current.
One Standard, Every Community
Operators rarely have every community in one city. Inspection is available statewide, scheduled by region, and every report comes back in the same format, filed by community.
One Visit Per Community
Every hood in the kitchen on the same visit, scheduled around resident meal service.
Communities Grouped by Region
One price wherever we come to you, and we group nearby communities onto the same visit.
One File, Every Reviewer
One format, filed by community, ready for a fire marshal, a licensing survey, a carrier or an owner.
NFPA 96 Trusted Advisor, All Year
The retainer stands on its own — no inspection required. A licensing surveyor 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.