Guide
Photo evidence checklist for insurance renewals
Sixty to ninety days before renewal, brokers and carriers often ask for the hood file — and increasingly they want photos attached to the written reports, not just a sticker date. Secondary underwriter guides treat before/after images as a common overlay on top of the NFPA 96 baseline (label + reports + schedule). This page is the renewal-prep pack: what to gather, how to name and match the set, and what incomplete packages look like when loss-control opens the folder. For why path photos beat canopy vanity shots, see before/after photos: why insurers care.
Short answer
Before the renewal questionnaire lands: pull each cleaning visit for the policy term (and prior year if you have it). For every visit, confirm a matched set — service-label photo, written cleaning/inspection report, and before/after photos along the grease path (filters, plenum, duct access, fan). Name folders by date; make report date, label date, and photo batch agree. Incomplete sets (canopy-only, missing fan/duct, dates that don’t match) get questions at renewal. Not insurance or legal advice — policy conditions and your AHJ edition control.
Renewal-prep checklist (start 60–90 days out)
- Ask the broker what the carrier wants this year — Label details, written reports for the term, suppression certificates, photos, AHJ notices? Get the list in writing.
- Inventory every professional clean in the policy term — One package per visit; flag gaps or overdue windows against your cooking-volume cadence.
- For each visit, assemble the matched triple — (1) photo of the hood service label, (2) written report PDF, (3) before/after path photos. Add access-panel tag photos if panels were opened.
- Confirm path coverage, not vanity — Filters, plenum, duct access looking in, rooftop fan interior when hinged; same angles before and after when possible.
- Match dates across the triple — Report date, sticker/perforation date, and photo filenames or EXIF should tell the same story.
- Add suppression ITM certificates — Separate licensed fire-protection vendor; carriers often ask for these alongside grease cleans.
- Note inaccessible / not-cleaned areas — If the report lists them, do not invent “after” photos of those sections.
- Store where the broker can open it — Shared drive or emailed ZIP; mirror a print set in the on-site binder for a loss-control walk.
- Close open AHJ items — Deficiency notices with corrective proof belong in the same folder.
File naming that survives turnover
| Piece | Practical pattern | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Visit folder | YYYY-MM-DD_hood-clean_[vendor] |
Sorts chronologically; survives manager changes |
| Report | YYYY-MM-DD_cleaning-report.pdf |
One obvious PDF per visit |
| Label photo | YYYY-MM-DD_service-label.jpg |
Loss-control’s fifteen-second check, offline |
| Before / after | YYYY-MM-DD_before_plenum.jpg / _after_plenum.jpg (repeat for duct, fan) |
Same subject names make path gaps obvious |
| Policy pack | renewal-YYYY_hood-file/ with subfolders per visit |
Ready to share when the questionnaire arrives |
If the vendor’s portal holds the only copy, export PDFs and photos into your folder the week of the clean — portals change passwords and vendors.
What incomplete sets look like at renewal
Ready for the questionnaire
- Every visit in the term has report + label shot + path photos
- Dates agree across sticker, report, and filenames
- Inaccessible areas called out in writing — no fake after-shots
- Suppression certificates in the same pack
- Broker can open the folder without calling the night manager
Triggers follow-up questions
- One glossy canopy photo, no duct or fan frames
- Photos dated weeks away from the report or sticker
- Invoice only — no written cleaning/inspection report
- Files still on a tech’s phone or a dead vendor login
- Missing visits for a high-volume kitchen on a tighter cadence
Field note — photos are often an overlay, not the whole NFPA chain
- Secondary Facilitec framing: the insurance-ready baseline is service label + written inspection report + written cleaning report + schedule matched to cooking volume (secondary cites to NFPA 96 §§12.6.13–12.6.15 and Table 12.4 — verify your adopted edition).
- A separate Facilitec underwriter guide lists photo documentation as a common carrier overlay — before/after attached to reports — alongside longer retention (they suggest keeping more months than the policy asks) and credential naming.
- Renewal pattern (secondary): carriers/brokers often request the kitchen file 60–90 days out; higher-risk sites may get a loss-control walk that photographs labels and opens the binder.
- Photos do not replace the written report or the physical label on the hood.
Who it’s for / not for
- For: operators facing renewal questionnaires or loss-control visits; multi-unit managers standardizing a shareable pack; anyone who only has canopy shots from the last clean
- Not for: assuming photos alone satisfy NFPA or your policy; inventing after-photos for inaccessible sections; treating this as insurance or legal advice
Sources
- Facilitec Southwest — What your insurance carrier wants in the hood cleaning file (secondary; label + two reports + schedule; loss-control renewal framing)
- Facilitec Southwest — When insurance requires more than NFPA 96 (secondary; photo overlay; 60–90 day renewal request; retention practice)
- FindHoodCleaner — Hood cleaning documentation (secondary; photo practice — verify against your adopted NFPA edition; do not treat vendor “digital mandate” claims as primary code text)
- Premier Grease — Atlanta documented NFPA 96 compliance (secondary / local vendor; photos as professional standard + insurance claim evidence)
- IKECA FAQs
Next step
Open last year’s renewal email (or ask the broker for this year’s list). Build one folder per clean in the term with report + label photo + path photos. If a visit is missing duct or fan frames, request them from the vendor now — or write the photo set into the next work order before renewal week.