Kitchen canopy and exhaust duct systems must always remain free of any flammable fuel loads to remain compliant. But how often should they be cleaned? Will your system pass an audit? 

To avoid the risk of fire and liability in your commercial kitchen or food retail business, you must implement a canopy exhaust duct cleaning and grease filter maintenance service in the same manner that you would schedule other essential services. Kitchen exhaust duct systems must be cleaned properly by a specialist duct cleaning contractor or duct cleaning service provider and certified clean as necessary for compliance.

Australian Standards have recommended guidelines on the cleaning and maintenance of commercial kitchen canopies, hoods, ducts and grease filters based on frequency of use. The recommendations however are broad and do not encompass the growing trends of international food styles.

Kitchen exhaust duct cleaning services may be required more frequently for busy supermarkets or university kitchens, takeaways and fast food outlets when compared to canteens or businesses that do not have heavy traffic, or focus on certain foods and cooking styles.

Pictured: Drag the slider to see before and after views of a kitchen exhaust duct system deep-clean.

An Overview Of AS1851-2012 and AS1851-2005:

The codes rules and regulations are designed to ensure that all state and Occupational Health & Safety requirements are met. Building owners must remain compliant to applicable laws at all times.

Cleaning frequencies are based on Australian Standards Monthly and Yearly Routine Service Schedules For Fire and Smoke Management Control for Kitchen Exhaust Systems as per codes AS 1851-2012 items 13.4.1.16 and 13.4.1.17. In Queensland we also rely on the previous code AS 1851 to AS1851-2005 for compliance.

Recommended Kitchen Canopy, Hood And Exhaust System Cleaning Frequencies:

The frequency of cleaning your individual system depends on a range of factors including:

• the type of food being cooked (burgers and steaks, asian or wok styles, rotisserie chicken etc.)
• the method of cooking (open grill, deep frying, wok cooking, oven systems);
• the frequency the food is cooked.

SafeAir offer commercial kitchen exhaust canopy deep-clean services to a wide range of food retailers. Until a free site survey has taken place, we usually find there isn’t a ‘one service for all’ approach. Contact us for further information on 07 5562 0028.

As a general guide, we can estimate cleaning based on load and frequency as below:

• HEAVY LOAD: Cooking for 16-24 hours per day – Medium-high traffic:
  Weekly or fortnightly canopy exhaust cleaning service.
• MODERATE LOAD: Cooking for 10-16 hours per day – Medium traffic:
  Fortnightly or monthly canopy exhaust cleaning service.
• GENERAL LOAD: Cooking for 6-10 hours per day – Average to medium traffic:
  Monthly or bi-monthly canopy exhaust cleaning service.
• LIGHT LOAD: Cooking for 2-6 hours per day – Average traffic:
  Quarterly, half yearly or annual canopy exhaust cleaning service.
• ANNUAL DEEP-CLEAN AND CERTIFICATION: An annual deep-clean and certification will remove all fuel loads from the exhaust duct system, associated ducts and roof exhaust fans.

Please note the above estimates are a guide only. SafeAir will continuously review your cleaning schedule as required and adjust accordingly to ensure your kitchen exhaust duct systems remain safe and compliant year-round.