Guide
Catering commissary exhaust multi-user issues
A catering commissary is not a ghost-kitchen delivery pod and not a single restaurant. Multiple caterers share prep space, storage, and often one Type I exhaust path — then jam fryers and ovens before weekend events. Grease load spikes on batch-cook days, goes quiet on cold-prep weeks, and the certificate still has to cover the whole system when the fire marshal walks in. This page covers catering-specific multi-user problems: scheduling around event calendars, who pays for the shared duct and fan, certificate custody when tenants rotate, and access fights before a wedding weekend. For multi-brand delivery pods see ghost kitchen / shared kitchen responsibilities; for lease payment patterns see landlord vs tenant; for mobile units that stage at a commissary see food truck / trailer special cases.
Short answer
Map every hood, branch, shared riser, and fan to a named party before the next event spike. Secondary cites of NFPA 96 §4.1.5 put default responsibility on the equipment owner, with written transfer allowed through a lease or use agreement. Shared sections should follow the heaviest grease producer on that path — not the caterer who only cold-preps salads. One facility coordinator should book the cleaner, hold master reports, and copy each operator. Tenant filter washing does not equal a full-path clean. AHJ edition and your written agreement still control.
How this differs from a ghost-kitchen pod
| Factor | Ghost / delivery kitchen (typical) | Catering commissary (typical) |
|---|---|---|
| Cook pattern | Daily / near-daily fryer and grill load for delivery | Event spikes: heavy fry / roast days before weekends, then cold-prep or idle days |
| Users on one hood | Often one brand per bay; shared riser upstairs | Several caterers may time-share one cookline / hood across shifts |
| Tenant churn | Brand pods come and go; facility often stable | Caterers rotate leases; history can orphan if reports stay in a departed inbox |
| Service window | Overnight lulls between delivery rushes | Must clear all equipment on a shared hood — conflict with pre-event cook times |
| Mobile overlay | Rare | Food trucks / trailers may use commissary for prep and parking — truck hoods are a separate system |
Do not assume “commissary” means a grease cookline exists. Some approved commissaries are storage, dishwashing, and cold-prep only. This guide is about Type I paths tied to commercial cooking equipment — confirm what actually vents under each hood. See inspection frequency.
Multi-user issues that show up on catering sites
- Event-spike grease load — Three caterers frying chicken and roasting trays on Thursday for Saturday events can load a shared duct harder than a quiet weekday restaurant week. Cadence for the shared path should track peak cooking type and volume, not the average week.
- Cold-prep vs fry days — Operators who only portion and assemble still share liability when a fryer tenant loads the same riser. Quiet tenants do not get a separate “low-volume” exemption on a shared grease path.
- Certificate custody — Vendor emails one caterer; that caterer leaves the building; next AHJ visit looks like nobody cleaned. Keep the master file with the facility and attach copies to the system, not only to a person.
- Who pays for the shared path — Bay canopies are often billed per operator; shared duct and rooftop fan are the dispute zone. Put cost-share (equal, grease load, or sq ft) in the lease or house rules — see landlord vs tenant patterns.
- Access conflicts — Pre-event cook windows block the only time the cleaner can shut equipment down. Roof keys, plant-room access, and “all stations cold” need a named coordinator, not a group text the night before.
- Partial cleans — One caterer pays for a canopy wipe; the shared riser and fan stay loaded. Inspectors judge the system as a whole.
What a workable commissary plan looks like
- Hood map: which stations share which fan / riser; fry vs cold-prep labeled
- Written owner of shared-path scheduling, payment, and report custody
- One recurring vendor for shared duct + fan; bay reports copied to each operator
- Service windows booked against the event calendar, not assumed from the rental board
- Master binder on site + PDFs to facility and current tenants — see documentation binder
Patterns that fail catering commissaries
- “Facility fee covers hood cleaning” with no schedule, scope, or last report date
- Each caterer hires a different canopy crew; nobody opens the shared riser
- Reports only in a departed tenant’s email
- Booking the cleaner for Friday afternoon of a wedding-prep week
- Treating cold-prep tenants as if they can ignore a fryer-loaded shared path
Responsibility map (patterns — verify your lease)
| Component / task | Often operator / caterer | Often facility / landlord | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Station canopy / baffle filters | ✓ | Staff wash between visits; still part of the exhaust system | |
| Branch duct in demised bay | ✓ | Sometimes | “Kitchen equipment” language may omit fixed duct |
| Shared riser / trunk / rooftop fan | ✓ | Highest dispute zone; price as shared-path scope — see multi-hood pricing | |
| Scheduling + roof / plant access | Sometimes | ✓ | One named coordinator; coordinate with event calendar |
| Certificate / report custody | Copy on site | Master binder | Attach history to the system so tenant churn does not orphan it |
| Vendor COI / workers’ comp | If you hire | If they hire | Whoever contracts the crew verifies coverage |
Secondary operator notes and vendor industry pages commonly describe facility-owned shared duct/fan with operator-owned bay hoods — but fire code does not read your lease. The inspector wants the whole path cleaned and documented. Get the split in writing; silent agreements are where deficiency notices turn into ping-pong.
Field note — owner default vs written transfer
- Secondary cites of NFPA 96 §4.1.5: inspection, testing, maintenance, and cleanliness ultimately sit with the equipment owner unless transferred in writing to a management company, tenant, or other party.
- Verbal “the caterers handle it” is not a transfer. Use a lease clause, house rules, or side letter.
- Shared systems: align frequency to the highest grease producer on that path; assign one party to manage access and scheduling.
- Tenant count ≠ hood count. Several operators may share one hood; a large facility may have separate systems. Walk the ducts.
Scheduling around catering calendars
- Block dark windows early — Pick nights when every station on a shared hood can go cold; publish them on the house calendar before peak wedding / holiday season.
- Stagger only when ducts allow — Bay-by-bay canopy work may stagger; shared riser and fan usually need a coordinated shutdown.
- After-hours premiums — Event kitchens often only free overnight; decide when the premium beats a daytime production loss — see after-hours premiums.
- Upgrade cadence after menu changes — New fryer tenant, solid-fuel smoker, or catering contract that triples Thursday volume should trigger a path review, not a surprise at inspection.
- Food-truck overlay — Commissary parking and prep do not put truck/trailer Type I systems on the building schedule; those units need their own service file.
What to put in the facility / vendor email
- Layout — hood count, which stations share which fan, fry vs cold-prep
- Responsible party — who is billed, who signs, who receives master reports
- Scope — station hoods + shared riser + fan + containment (yes/no each)
- Window — dates all connected equipment can be down; roof / plant contact
- Proof — labels, panel tags, path photos, per-bay copies + facility roll-up
Who it’s for / not for
- For: catering commissary / shared-prep facility managers; multi-caterer landlords rewriting house rules; caterers inheriting a silent lease; vendors bidding shared-path commissaries
- Not for: inventing lease outcomes; delivery-only ghost pods (use the ghost-kitchen guide); single-tenant restaurant leases with clear tenant duty (still verify); treating health/commissary sanitation approval as exhaust compliance; inventing prices or partnerships
Sources
- Utah Hood Cleaning — catering & shared kitchen hood cleaning (secondary; multi-user hoods, record custody, production-schedule access, tenant count ≠ hood count)
- Commercial Hoods Cleaning — ghost kitchens & commissaries (secondary; bay vs shared duct/fan split; per-bay reports + facility roll-up; inspector wants whole path)
- Facilitec Southwest — NFPA 96 codes reference (secondary; §4.1.5 owner responsibility + written transfer; Table 12.4)
- Qwick Solutions — landlord or tenant hood cleaning (secondary; lease transfer patterns; shared exhaust in multi-tenant buildings)
- APS Law — commercial lease issues for restaurants (secondary; NFPA 96 §4.1.5 quote on owner default and written transfer — not legal advice for your state)
- Hood Cleaning School — NFPA 96 Table 12.4 excerpt (secondary; inspection frequency by cooking volume)
Next step
Walk the commissary with a hood map: station → branch → shared riser → fan. Highlight lease / house-rule lines on exhaust, fire code, and CAM. If the shared path has no named owner, write a one-page side letter for scheduling, payment, report custody, and cadence — then book the next full-path clean against a real dark window on the event calendar, with COI on file and master reports staying with the facility.