Guide
Choosing a vendor after an AHJ violation (process, not legal advice)
A deficiency notice is a written deadline, not a random vendor shopping trip. The citation language tells you whether you need a grease-exhaust cleaner, a licensed suppression contractor, a duct/access repair, or all three. Hire against that list — not against whoever can put a sticker on the hood tonight. This page is a facilities process. Not legal advice; your AHJ notice and adopted code win.
Short answer
Read the notice first (cited items, code references, deadline, whether cooking must stop). Separate grease-cleaning gaps from suppression ITM and from access/construction problems. Get the written inspection/cleaning report and photos before you rebid. Ask every bidder for full-path scope, inaccessible areas named in writing, current COI, credentials acceptable to your AHJ, and a schedule that lands docs before reinspection. Keep the prior cleaner only if their last report already named the same gaps and they can close them on time; replace them if the fail was canopy-only work, missing reports, or uninsured crews. A “fix sticker” without the matching report package is not compliance.
Order of operations (this week)
| Step | What you do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Read the notice | Cited observations, rule references, correction deadline, inspector contact, any stop-cook order | Secondary failed-inspection guides: the notice itself controls severity and timeline |
| 2. Sort the citations | Grease / label / report vs suppression tag vs blocked access / construction | Different contractors; bundling the wrong trade wastes the reinspection window |
| 3. Pull the file | Last cleaning + inspection reports, photos, invoices, hood label date, suppression tag date | Shows whether the prior cleaner already documented the gap or skipped it |
| 4. Scope before price | Send the notice + photos to bidders; require written scope against each citation | Prevents canopy-only quotes that look cheap and fail the return visit |
| 5. Schedule reinspection last | Only after hardware and paperwork are actually ready | Cities often escalate fees on 2nd/3rd reinspections — research your fee schedule |
Separate the three job types
| If the notice points to… | Typical correction owner | Do not hire for this… |
|---|---|---|
| Grease past depth limits; missing/expired hood service label; missing written report; incomplete duct/fan clean | Kitchen exhaust cleaner (trained, qualified, certified — acceptable to AHJ) | A suppression-only company, or a janitorial crew with a sticker gun |
| Overdue wet-chem / UL 300 system; expired fusible links; bad cylinder tag; nozzles offline | Licensed fire-protection / suppression contractor (NFPA 17A ITM path) | The hood cleaner as a substitute for semiannual suppression service |
| Blocked, missing, or drywalled-over access panels; sealed duct sections | Often a duct / sheet-metal or access-panel contractor; cleaner can flag, not always restore | A “we’ll clean around it” quote with no inaccessible-area list |
Secondary Facilitec-style summaries of recurring marshal citations: grease above NFPA 96 depth limits, missing/expired hood label, no written report within the two-week window, blocked access panels, and overdue suppression. Confirm your adopted edition and local amendments.
What to demand before you rebid
- Original deficiency notice (scan or photo) so every bidder prices the same list
- Last written cleaning + inspection reports — especially any inaccessible / not-cleaned areas already named
- Before/after photos from the last visit (duct/fan, not only canopy)
- Current Certificate of Insurance (GL + workers’ comp) — verify with the issuer if the fail involved an uninsured crew
- Credential proof acceptable to your AHJ (IKECA CECS, Phil Ackland, or local registration lists where the city publishes them)
- Written scope that maps each citation to a correction, with a date that beats the reinspection deadline
Questions to ask every vendor
Field note — post-violation bid sheet
- Will you clean the full path (hood/plenum, ducts via panels, fan, rooftop discharge) — or only what the inspector can see?
- Will the written report name inaccessible / not-cleaned areas, panel locations, and leakage — not just “cleaned”?
- Who applies the hood service label and access-panel tags, and when do we receive the written report?
- If suppression was cited separately, do you coordinate with a licensed suppression contractor — or are you that licensed contractor?
- Can you land sticker + interim findings / invoice before the reinspection morning?
- Send a redacted sample report showing an inaccessible-areas list and duct/fan photos
- COI on file before anyone steps on the roof
Keep the prior cleaner when…
- Their last report already named the same inaccessible areas or grease findings
- They can schedule full-path corrective work inside the notice deadline
- Documentation (label, report, photos, COI) historically matched what secondary NFPA 96 explainers describe
- The fail was a missed cadence or a construction item they flagged but you deferred
Replace them when…
- Canopy-only / filter wipe sold as “full system”
- No written report, no inaccessible list, sticker-only “certificate”
- No COI, cash-only crew, or credentials the AHJ does not accept
- They dismiss suppression citations as “we’ll put a new sticker on”
- They want the reinspection scheduled before the work and docs are ready
Do not treat “fix sticker” as compliance
- Secondary NFPA 96 documentation guides: service label on the hood + written inspection/cleaning reports (commonly within two weeks) + areas not cleaned named
- Marshal return visits check the cited items and the paperwork that proves them
- Bring the original deficiency notice, corrective invoice(s), current hood label, and matching report(s) to the reinspection
- If suppression was cited, bring the suppression contractor’s current tag and report — grease docs alone will not clear it
- Research your city’s reinspection fee path so a second fail does not surprise the budget
Who it’s for / not for
- For: kitchen managers and facilities leads holding a deficiency notice; multi-unit ops comparing keep-vs-replace after a fail
- Not for: legal representation, arguing with the AHJ from a blog, inventing vendor names, or treating this as insurance / coverage advice
Sources
- Facilitec Southwest — failed fire marshal inspection: what happens next (secondary; citation patterns, remediation types, reinspection docs)
- Facilitec Southwest — choosing a hood cleaning company: 7 questions (secondary; full-path scope, credentials, documentation chain)
- Facilitec Southwest — cleaning report & service label requirements (secondary; label + two-week report framing)
- West Manatee Fire Rescue — hood system maintenance FAQs (PDF) (official local AHJ pattern; qualified/certified persons acceptable to AHJ)
- City of Charleston — commercial kitchen exhaust hood inspection & cleaning program (official; qualified-vendor / owner-responsibility program hub; replaces dead DocumentCenter/View/12073)
- Utah State Fire Marshal — completion / deficiency report form (PDF) (official pattern; inaccessible areas, service label, AHJ reporting)
- U.S. Fire Administration — find your state fire marshal / POC (official pointer when city fee pages are hard to find)
Next step
Photograph the deficiency notice tonight. On a single page, list each citation as grease, suppression, or access/construction. Pull the last cleaning report and COI. Send that packet to two bidders with a hard date two business days before the reinspection — and do not book the marshal return until sticker, report (or interim findings), and any suppression tag are actually in hand.