Guide
Multi-hood systems: how vendors should price
Three bids for a hotel banquet kitchen or commissary often look incomparable: one lump sum, one “per hood,” one that quietly omits a shared riser. The number is useless until every quote names the same hoods, fans, duct segments, and access assumptions. This page is about quote structure — not a price list. Vendor-published dollar bands exist online; treat them as regional Unknown until three local bids match the same written scope.
Short answer
Demand a written system map: hood count, which fan serves which hood, shared vs dedicated duct, and full path (hood → plenum → duct → fan → grease path) for every line. Prefer flat per-visit pricing with component line items (or hybrid categories) over vague lumps or hourly clocks for recurring work. Shared ducts/fans need one named owner of the common run and a cadence set to the greasiest tenant. Access, height, missing panels, and after-hours windows must be itemized or explicitly assumed — not sprung on the roof. Compare three quotes on one sheet. Not legal advice.
Quote formats that actually compare
| Format | What you get | Operator risk |
|---|---|---|
| Lump sum only | One total for “hood cleaning” | Cannot tell if duct/fan/shared riser are in; hard to rebid when one hood changes |
| Per-hood flat | Same unit price × hood count | Undervalues long shared ducts / hard fans; overprices identical short runs if not adjusted |
| Per-system (hood + its duct + its fan) | One price per exhaust path | Best default when each hood has its own fan; fails if paths merge without a shared-run line |
| Hybrid: categories + total | Hoods / ducts / fans / extras as headings, one visit total | Usually the fairest apples-to-apples sheet for hotels and multi-line kitchens |
| Hourly crew | Clock starts on arrival | Secondary cost guides: fine for odd one-offs; weak for recurring budgets — crew has no incentive to finish |
What must appear on the quote sheet
- Hood inventory: ID/location, length or station name, cooking type under each (fryer / char / wok / solid fuel)
- Fan inventory: which fan(s) serve which hood(s); hinge kit present yes/no
- Duct map note: dedicated vs shared riser; approximate reachable length; access-panel status
- Scope language: canopy + filters + plenum + reachable duct + fan housing/blades + grease receptacle / containment path
- Visit window: daytime vs after-hours; premium shown separately if any
- Deliverables: dated before/after photos, written report, hood label, inaccessible areas listed
- Exclusions: access-panel installs, hinge kits, suppression ITM, grease-trap pumping, structural repairs
- Pricing type: flat per visit / hybrid categories / hourly — and whether multi-visit contract discounts apply
Comparable multi-hood bid
- Same hood/fan list as the other two bids
- Shared duct/fan either in every bid or clearly out of all three
- Asks about roof access, panel locations, grease load history
- Photos + report + label named in the price
Apples-to-oranges bid
- “Clean all hoods” with no hood count or fan count
- Per-hood price that never mentions the common riser
- Low lump that matches a canopy wipe, not a full path
- Extras (night premium, panel cuts, hard roof) revealed only on site
Shared duct / shared fan complications
Field note — who owns the common run
- Multi-line kitchens, hotels, food halls, and commissaries often merge branch ducts into one riser and one rooftop fan
- Secondary shared-system guides: cadence should follow the greasiest user, not the quietest tenant
- Lease / property-management language should name who pays for the shared section; if silent, get that in writing before you accept a tenant-only quote that stops at the branch
- Report must say what was cleaned and what was out of scope — silent skips on a shared riser fail everyone at inspection
Drivers that move multi-hood totals (structure, not dollars)
| Driver | Why it shows up on multi-hood jobs | Related guide |
|---|---|---|
| Hood + fan count | Secondary cost pages scale bands by hood count and flag 10+ hoods as custom | Quote checklist |
| System complexity | Branching ducts, multiple fans, long horizontals, tight bends = more labor per visit | Full-system vs canopy-only |
| Missing access panels | Cannot clean what cannot be opened; panel installs are often change orders | Missing duct access panels |
| Rooftop / height access | Hard roofs, no hinge kits, freight elevators, multi-story risers | Rooftop fan access |
| After-hours window | Banquet and 24-hour kitchens often need night crews; premium should be line-itemed | After-hours premiums |
| Grease load / overdue | First deep clean after neglect is not the same job as a maintained quarterly | Inspection frequency |
Vendor-published ranges (regional Unknown)
Secondary 2026 vendor education pages publish multi-hood / multi-system bands (examples: per-visit tables scaled by hood count; “large or complex / hotel-hospital” custom tiers). Those figures are market illustrations from specific regions and vendors — not national facts and not quotes for your kitchen. Mark any number you see online as regional Unknown until three local contractors price the same written system map. Do not use a blog table to reject a compliant full-path bid or to accept a canopy-only lowball.
Who it’s for / not for
- For: multi-line restaurants, hotel banquet / room-service kitchens, commissaries, hospitals and campuses comparing multi-hood bids; facilities leads building an RFP sheet
- Not for: inventing dollar budgets from this page, single-hood cafés with one short duct, or treating lease/shared-duct notes as legal advice
Sources
- Qwick — commercial hood cleaning cost (2026) (secondary; hood-count bands, flat-rate vs hourly, five price drivers, multi-hood / institutional custom)
- Facilitec Southwest — 2026 hood cleaning cost guide (secondary; five cost factors, multi-hood / complex tiers labeled industry-typical not vendor quotes, what belongs in a compliant scope)
- Total Fire Protection — kitchen hood cleaning cost guide (secondary; multi-hood size bands, duct/access add-on framing — regional Unknown)
- Service-Tech — hood cleaning / multi-hood cost factors (secondary; hood count, duct length, access panels, facility type, recurring vs one-off)
- Hoods Kitchen Exhaust — shared commercial exhaust systems (secondary; shared riser/fan responsibility patterns; cadence to highest grease producer — not U.S. legal advice)
- Qwick — landlord vs tenant hood cleaning (secondary; written transfer of responsibility; shared food-hall exhaust notes)
Next step
Sketch every hood and which fan it dumps to. Send that one-page map with the Cost quote checklist to three cleaners. Discard any bid that will not put shared duct/fan and photo/report deliverables on the same sheet as the total.