{"id":2674,"date":"2026-05-21T12:21:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kitchenguard.com\/fw\/?p=2674"},"modified":"2026-05-21T12:21:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:21:33","slug":"restaurant-hood-cleaning-certification-what-ct-ny-restaurant-owners-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kitchenguard.com\/fw\/restaurant-hood-cleaning-certification-what-ct-ny-restaurant-owners-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Hood Cleaning Certification: What CT & NY Restaurant Owners Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The fire marshal arrives for a routine inspection at your Hartford restaurant. Your kitchen was cleaned three months ago. You paid for it, you have the invoice. But when the marshal pulls the access panel on the duct, the grease is thick. The service tag on the hood lists a vendor with no verifiable credentials. There is no service report on file, no evidence the duct runs or rooftop fan were included in the service. The marshal rejects the cleaning as non-compliant. You have thirty days to schedule a qualified service and pass reinspection.
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Most restaurant owners who end up in that situation did not ignore their maintenance. They hired someone who showed up, cleaned the visible hood, left a sticker, and moved on. What they missed was the ductwork, the vertical riser, the fan housing on the roof, and any actual qualification to do the job under the Connecticut fire code.
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Hood cleaning certification is what separates that scenario from a pass. Across Connecticut and New York State, the baseline is NFPA 96<\/a>, the national fire prevention standard governing commercial kitchen exhaust systems, which requires that cleaning be performed by qualified, trained professionals. Neither state issues a statewide license for hood cleaning, but local fire marshals and inspectors are the ones who decide whether that standard was met. In New York City, the requirements go a step further: technicians must hold an FDNY Certificate of Fitness<\/a> (a W-64<\/a>,F-64<\/a>, or P-64<\/a>) and the company itself must carry separate FDNY approval.
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Here is what catches most owners off guard: verifying the qualification of the vendor you hire is your responsibility, not theirs. If a fire starts in an exhaust duct<\/a> that was cleaned by an uncertified contractor, you rinsurance carrier may have grounds to deny the claim<\/a> entirely. The cleaning invoice is not enough. The sticker on the hood is not enough. The right documentation, from the right vendor, is what holds up when it matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What follows covers what hood cleaning certification actually means, how Connecticut, New York State, and New York City each handle it, and exactly what to verify before you sign a contract.
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