NFPA Codes

NFPA 96 tells you what has to be clean and how often the system has to be looked at. It does not tell a contractor how to do the work, or how clean “clean” actually is. That methodology comes from the International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association — the ANSI-accredited standards developer for this trade, and an organization Kitchen Guard belongs to as a corporate member.

ANSI/IKECA C10-2021 — how the cleaning is done

The Standard for the Methodology for Cleaning Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Systems, now in its second edition. It establishes how cleaning frequency and necessity are determined through inspection, which cleaning methods are acceptable, and what level of cleanliness the system has to reach once the work is finished. This is the standard our crews work to.

ANSI/IKECA I10-2020 — how the inspection is done

The Standard for the Methodology for Inspection of Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Systems sets minimum requirements for assessing a system’s mechanical condition, structural integrity, fire safety and cleanliness level. It is the difference between an inspection that produces a finding you can act on and one that produces an opinion.

ANSI/IKECA M10-2023 — how it holds up between cleanings

The Standard for the Methodology for Maintenance of Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Systems covers what an operator should be doing in the interval between professional cleanings. A great deal of compliance trouble develops in that interval rather than during the service call.

Trained by CECS-credentialed instructors

Our training program is led by instructors who hold the Certified Exhaust Cleaning Specialist (CECS) credential from IKECA. Every technician we send to your kitchen is trained against that standard, by people who have passed it.

You can confirm our membership and read the standards themselves at the International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association. To see how this plays out on an actual service visit, start with commercial kitchen hood cleaning.