Certificates of Performance for Kitchen Hood Cleaning

A certificate of performance is the documentation a certified company gives you after cleaning your kitchen exhaust system. Most visibly, it is the dated service sticker affixed inside your hood, backed by before/after photos and a signed cleaning report. It is the proof that your hood, ducts, and fan were cleaned to the NFPA 96 standard, on a specific date, by a qualified person. When a fire marshal or insurance carrier asks whether your system is compliant, this answers the question. Below is what the certificate contains, why inspectors look for it, and how you get one that holds up.

What a Certificate of Performance Actually Is

"Certificate of performance" is the umbrella term for the records that prove a cleaning was done to code. It is not a single piece of paper. It is a small packet, and each part does a job.

• The service sticker (decal): a dated label affixed to the hood after cleaning showing the service date, the technician or company name, and provider contact information, as called for in the fire code at §12.6.13. This is the part the inspector sees first, posted right on your hood.
• The written report: a cleaning report that documents what was serviced and, critically, lists any areas that could not be reached or cleaned (§12.6.14-15). It protects you by flagging where access is still needed, such as added panels or a fan hinge kit.
• Before/after photos: visual proof the system went from grease-loaded to bare metal. Photos are what satisfy an insurance carrier or a skeptical inspector who was not on site.

Some companies issue the certificate as an IKECA Proof-of-Performance decal. IKECA, the International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association, is the trade body that standardized this work and holds a seat on the NFPA 96 technical committee. Its decal is widely recognized shorthand for a code-compliant cleaning.

Why Inspectors Look for the Sticker

Here in St. Lucie County, a single countywide fire district is the authority having jurisdiction for every commercial kitchen, and Florida inspectors enforce the national fire code for cooking exhaust. They expect to see a dated professional-cleaning certificate posted on the hood. The reasons go beyond paperwork.

• It proves the interval: the date on the sticker tells the inspector your system is on the schedule your cooking volume requires, from monthly for solid-fuel kitchens to annually for low-volume ones.
• It names a qualified person: NFPA 96 §12.6.1 requires cleaning by a properly trained, qualified, and certified person acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction. The certificate ties the work to that person.
• It documents the gaps: the report's list of inaccessible areas shows good faith and tells the inspector exactly where access work is still owed, rather than hiding it.

Important note: under NFPA 96 §4.1.5, responsibility for keeping the system clean and compliant rests with the system owner unless it is formally transferred in writing. The certificate protects you, the operator, not the cleaner alone. A missing or expired one leaves you holding the liability at inspection time.

How You Provide It at Inspection

Keeping the certificate inspection-ready is straightforward once you treat it as a record, not a one-off. The packet you want on hand is the same one fire marshals, health inspectors, and insurance auditors all ask for.

1. Leave the dated sticker on the hood: never peel or paint over it. It is the first thing an inspector checks, and it should reflect your most recent cleaning.
2. File the written report and photos: keep the report, before/after photos, and frequency notes together in a maintenance log, digital or paper. This packet resolves questions fastest.
3. Track the next due date: note when the system is next due based on your cooking volume so the certificate never lapses between visits.

A wipe-down that leaves the plenum and ducts coated can still produce a sticker, but it will not survive a grease-depth check. A cosmetic cleaning is exactly what fails an inspection. The certificate is only as good as the cleaning behind it. A genuine cleaning measures grease depth against the code's thresholds and takes the whole grease path to bare metal.

Our commercial kitchen hood cleaning finishes with all three pieces: a dated service sticker on your hood, before/after photos, and a written report. Your compliance file is complete the day we leave. A full code-compliant cleaning starts around a $400 to $600 minimum and scales with your system size, grease load, and access. If you are not sure your current documentation would clear an inspection, get in touch for a free assessment and we will tell you where you stand.

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