How to Prepare a Restaurant for Hood Cleaning

Before the day

• Confirm the scope in writing. Which hoods, and whether the plenum, duct run and fan are included — not just the canopy and filters. The scope guide sets out what a complete visit covers.
• Arrange roof access. If a landlord, property manager or building engineering team controls the roof, get approval and keys or escort arranged days ahead. This is the most common reason a visit stalls.
• Tell the closing team. The people locking up need to know a crew is arriving and who is meeting them.
• Flag anything already broken. A leaking canopy seam, a rattling fan, a warped filter — say so in advance so it can be looked at rather than discovered.

At close, before the crew arrives

• Shut down cooking equipment early enough to cool. Nothing can be cleaned over hot equipment, and a hot line is time on the clock.
• Turn off pilot lights and gas to the line per your own shutdown procedure.
• Clear the cook line. Remove pans, utensils, small appliances, containers and anything stored on or under the equipment.
• Move food and single-use items out of the area. Nothing food-contact should be within reach of the work zone.
• Empty grease cups and drain trays.
• Clear the floor route from the entrance to the line and to the roof access point.
• Leave lights on over the cook line and along the access route.

What the crew handles, not you

Protecting equipment and surfaces, removing and degreasing the filters, and cleaning inside the hood, plenum, duct and fan are all part of the service. Do not attempt to pre-clean the interior of the system — beyond wiping the canopy and dealing with filters, in-house work inside the exhaust path is a safety problem, as the DIY comparison explains.

Fire suppression

The suppression system serving your cooking equipment is inspected and serviced by a licensed suppression contractor, separately. If your suppression inspection is also due, book it as its own visit — do not assume a cleaning covers it. See NFPA 96 hood cleaning for how the pieces sit together.

Before the crew leaves

• Walk the line and confirm the kitchen is back in service condition
• Ask to see photographs of the plenum, duct interior and fan — not just the canopy
• Get the written record: date, systems cleaned, scope, anything unreachable
• Confirm filters are refitted correctly, with no gaps
• Ask for the recommended next interval based on what was found
• File the record on site where an inspector can be shown it

The morning after

Check that the exhaust fan is running and pulling properly before the first cook, and that nothing was left on the roof or on the line. Then put the next service in the calendar — that is the whole idea behind recurring hood cleaning. Between visits, the maintenance routine is what keeps the next one straightforward.