NFPA 96 Certification: Who Actually Certifies Hood Cleaners
NFPA writes NFPA 96. It doesn’t certify anyone. Here’s who certifies hood cleaners, and what your customer’s fire inspector asks to see.
By Arthur Haggerty, IKECA CECS #200452
The short answer
NFPA writes NFPA 96, the standard for commercial kitchen exhaust systems. It doesn’t certify people or companies. The standard calls for the cleaning to be done by properly trained, qualified and certified people who are acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction. The certification itself comes from somewhere else.
Where certification comes from
IKECA credentials
The International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association certifies individuals:
- CECT, Certified Exhaust Cleaning Technician
- CECS, Certified Exhaust Cleaning Specialist
- CESI, Certified Exhaust System Inspector
PECT is a professional designation for employees of member companies and a step toward certification. IKECA doesn’t certify companies; companies join as members.
State and local programs
Some jurisdictions run their own. Utah’s State Fire Marshal, for example, requires a Certificate of Registration earned by exam, and a Completion and Deficiency Report after every service.
Training schools
These issue training certificates. Whether your authority accepts one is the authority’s call.
What the fire inspector asks to see
On the hood
A certificate or label showing the company, the technician and the date of cleaning.
In the file
A written report of what was cleaned, what couldn't be reached, and any deficiencies found.
Where HoodOps fits
Every job in HoodOps produces the NFPA 96 report and the certificate, tied to the technician who did the work, built on the NFPA 96 edition your jurisdiction has adopted. Your customer has the record before the inspector asks.
Frequently Asked Questions
- ikeca.org — certification programs and credential directory
- firemarshal.utah.gov — kitchen exhaust registration
The records exist, or they don’t. There is no middle ground.
When a fire marshal pulls the access panel, when an insurer opens the claim file, when a plaintiff’s attorney subpoenas documentation — the question is never whether the hood was cleaned. The question is whether you can prove it. That proof is either sealed in a record with EvidLY, or it doesn’t exist.