A hood cleaning account can run for years with nothing in writing — just a standing arrangement and the number the kitchen calls when the hood is due. It works until it doesn't: the kitchen changes managers, the new one has never heard of you, and the account you serviced quarterly for three years is out to bid.
A recurring agreement fixes that. It is also the difference between a business with revenue and a business with a book of accounts, which is what someone eventually buys.
Twelve clauses do the work. What follows is the structure, not legal advice — have a lawyer in your state read the final version before you put it in front of a customer.
What You Are Selling
- Scope, component by component. Name what a service covers: hood interior and exterior, filters, plenum, accessible duct, fan housing and blades, and roof containment and cleanup. Then name what it does not — non-accessible duct sections, grease containment units, fire suppression service, filter replacement. A scope that says only "hood cleaning" is a scope you will argue about.
- Frequency, and where it comes from. State the service interval, and state what set it: NFPA 96 Table 12.4, by cooking volume and equipment type. Then add the clause most agreements miss — if the kitchen's cooking volume or equipment changes, the frequency is re-evaluated and the price moves with it. A charbroiler added in year two changes the job.
- What you deliver, and when. A report of service and a certificate after every visit, issued within a stated number of days. Put the number in. It is a promise you can keep — and putting it in writing is what sets your agreement apart.
What You Need From Them
- Access. Hours of access, who lets the crew in, key or lock box and alarm codes, the roof access route, and how much notice they get before a visit. Most missed jobs are access failures, not scheduling failures.
- Site conditions. Hot water, power, a legal place to discharge, a clear path to the roof, and the cook line down and cooled. Say plainly what happens if the crew arrives and the kitchen is not ready: a trip charge, or a reschedule at their cost.
- The no-access clause. If a duct section has no access panel, or a fan cannot be safely disconnected, you document it, you report it, and it sits outside the scope until they authorize the work to open it.
This is the most important clause in the agreement. It turns a gap into a documented recommendation rather than an obligation you did not meet. Write it once, and it protects every job you run for that account.
Money
- Price, stated two ways. Per service and per year. The annual number is what a multi-unit buyer compares, and it is the number that makes a quarterly account look like the commitment it is.
- The escalation clause. One sentence: the price adjusts annually on the anniversary date, by a stated percentage or by a published index, with notice. Put it in the first agreement. Raising prices on an account that never agreed to a mechanism is a negotiation every single time; raising them under a clause both parties signed is an email.
- Payment terms. Net terms, what late looks like, and what happens to scheduled service when an account runs far enough behind. Say it calmly and say it once.
- Extra work. Deficiencies you find — a missing access panel, a failing fan bearing, damaged filters — get documented with a recommendation and priced separately. Name who at the client can authorize that work, and in what form. A text from a line cook is not an authorization.
The Relationship
- Insurance and documents. Your general liability and workers' compensation limits, their right to a certificate of insurance naming them as additional insured, and your license number where your state requires one. Keeping these current and on file is a five-minute task that decides whether you are allowed on a corporate property at all.
- Term, renewal and notice. A one-year term that renews automatically unless either side gives written notice a set number of days out. Automatic renewal is not a trap when the work is good and the records are in order — it is the thing that keeps a strong account from quietly lapsing because nobody remembered to re-sign.
Before You Send It
Three checks on any draft:
Does clause 6 exist, in those words or better? Does the price escalate by a stated mechanism, not by a future conversation? Could a manager who was not there when this was signed read it and know exactly what you owe them and what they owe you?
What This Buys You
An agreement with these twelve clauses does more than protect you in an argument. It sets a renewal date, a price path and a service cadence that all run without anyone negotiating them again — which is what turns a route of jobs into a book of accounts with a value attached.
HoodOps stores the signed agreement against the account, holds the access and alarm codes with it, and schedules the next service from the cadence the agreement names. When your crew pulls up, everything the agreement promised is already on the work order.
About the Author
Arthur Haggerty is the founder of Cleaning Pros Plus, LLC and its family of companies — EvidLY, HoodOps and Stovio Advisors. He is an IKECA member and holds the Certified Exhaust Cleaning Specialist credential (CECS #200452), and has been retained as an expert witness in an NFPA 96 fire case. Before commercial kitchen exhaust, he spent 25 years in information technology — including ten years in IT audit and compliance and roles with Cisco, Deloitte and Dell — and consulted for Fortune 100 companies. He holds an M.S. in Information Technology and is a ten-year U.S. Air Force veteran.