Code Infraction Notification Ontario Generic Docket 1, November 21st, 2000

This document concerns a photographic and written notification to the government of Ontario regarding the fact that the majority of Ontario restaurants are not removing flammable and unsanitary grease from their kitchen exhaust systems on a regular basis, as per the mandatory provisions of NFPA96. This violates the 1997 Ontario Fire Code, as well as the Food Premises Regulations (O. Reg 562), when so much grease is present, that it drips of hoods and ducting onto food, personnel and/or food preparation areas. This CIN (Code Infraction Notification) outlines the applicable regulations, commercial reasons for avoiding compliance on the part of the owners, state of enforcement by the Ontario government, as well as suggestions for a course of action to ensure compliance with Ontario law.

2.6.1.12(1) Commercial cooking equipment shall be provided with exhaust and fire protection systems in accordance with NFPA96, "Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations".

(2) Despite Sentence (1), existing exhaust or fire protection systems may be approved.

2.6.1.13. Commercial cooking equipment exhaust and fire protection systems shall be maintained in conformance with NFPA96 "Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations".

8-3.1 Hoods, grease removal devices, fans, ducts, and other appurtenances shall be cleaned to bare metal at frequent intervals prior to surfaces becoming heavily contaminated with grease or oily sludge. After the exhaust system is cleaned to bare metal, it shall not be coated with powder or any other substance. The entire exhaust system shall be inspected by a properly trained, qualified and certified company or person(s) acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction in accordance with Table 8-3.1.

Type or Volume of Cooking

Frequency

Systems serving solid fuel cooking operations

Monthly

Systems serving high-volume cooking operations such as 24-hour cooking, charbroiling or wok cooking

Quarterly

Systems serving moderate-volume cooking operations

Semi-annually

Systems serving low-volume cooking operations, such as churches, day camps, seasonal businesses, or senior centres

Annually

A-8-3.1 Cleaning to bare metal does not mean removing the paint from a painted surface of an exhaust system.

8-3.1.1 Upon inspection, if found to be contaminated with deposits from grease-laden vapours, the entire exhaust system shall be cleaned by a properly trained, qualified, and certified company or person(s) acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction in accordance with Section 8-3.

8-3.1.2 When a vent cleaning service is used, a certificate showing date of inspection or cleaning shall be maintained on the premises. After cleaning is completed, the vent cleaning contractor shall place or display within the kitchen area a label indicating the date cleaned and the name of the servicing company. It shall also indicate areas not cleaned.

8-3.3 At the start of the cleaning process, electrical switches that could be activated accidentally shall be locked out.

8-3.4 Components of the fire suppression system shall not be rendered inoperable during the cleaning process.

Exception: Servicing by properly trained and qualified persons in accordance with Section 7.2

There exists in each municipality, with each fire department and its fire prevention staff, a list of items routinely checked, which keeps fire prevention officers rather busy. Compliance against the above mentioned items in all commercial cooking occupancies is not usually included in the list of items routinely checked by fire prevention officers. In fact, restaurants per se are not subject to routine audits by the fire prevention officers. This does NOT mean that anyone thinks, that fire prevention officers are not doing their jobs or don't have a full workload. However, because routine audits of restaurants are not the norm, infractions result, particularly with restaurants. And even when restaurants are inspected, they frequently get away without orders to comply, even though the following can be found with great regularity, for years or even decades, unaltered:

What you see here is a rooftop fan, which is actually designed for regular air handling. But instead, it is used as a grease fan at the top of a kitchen exhaust system. Even the novice can see, that grease has been building up in this system for many years. It is almost caked on. Not only is there a great deal of combustible fuel for a fire, but it is apparent that the system itself deficient. The ductwork is less than 16 gauge, the fan is not approved for this use, combustibles are in point contact with the system below and cleaning is anything but regular. "Every few years or so" is the apparent schedule for cleaning of the system. This is a generic condition existing in the Province of Ontario, particularly in more rural settings. The greater the distance to the CN tower, the worse conditions are. See the fan below:

Fire prevention officers have difficulty in demanding changes to existing systems, particularly when the changes require the application of considerable funds. One must have a working knowledge of what WAS acceptable as per NFPA96 AT WHAT POINT IN TIME, in order to be able to tell whether or not a system was built to the original design basis. Thin tin ductwork, not greasetight, wrong fans, no access panels as per chapter 4 of NFPA96 are the norm in most restaurants, the further one ventures away from the CN tower in the Province of Ontario.

Look at the hood system below (purposely shown after removal of grease filters) and judge for yourself how long it has been since the last cleaning:

Conditions of this nature often prevail. But fire prevention officers don't get to see them when they don't lift the filters (grease removal devices). It is a disgusting thing to have to do, but should, according to NFPA96, be quite simple. And fire prevention officers cannot be sure that the system is in compliance unless they lift the filters to make sure that the system is being cleaned. Chapter 4 indicates how easy it should be to lift the filters. And if they aren't, they're simply not in compliance in the first place. And for the most part, filters are simply lifted up and then slid out. But when the fire prevention officer gets there, the stove may be on and he requires a stepping stool or small step ladder to safely get up, reach and remove the filters, shine in a flash light and look inside of the system. Savvy owners will actually clean their hoods on a reasonably regular basis. But everything downstream from this is filthy, and hence full of fuel for the next grease fire. Some cleaners are known to have removed deceased rodents from such systems. Many cleaners are not qualified for the job. There are no compliant (or any) stickers or certificates issued for the job in many cases. Cleaning jobs can be let for as little as $100.00, which results in deplorable non-compliances, with the owner either thinking, or at the very least saying that he or she has done the right thing, when the opposite is the case. NFPA96 indicates that owners can clean their own systems. But that is really misleading. Nothing less than high pressure steam-cleaning machines effectively remove the deposits of grease laden vapors from kitchen exhaust systems. Such equipment costs in the neighborhood of $8,000.00 (Canadian funds). Ask yourselves if restaurateurs who are reluctant to spend upwards of $350.00 to clean their systems every 3 to 6 months are going to spend this quantity of money, on equipment which will sit idly until their cleaning is done every few months? But such is the language of standards, which has its own reasons. Hence, when your fire prevention officers do not see stickers on the hood, which actually contain the date, name of the cleaning company and a spot for "areas not cleaned", 9.9 times out of 10, the system is out of compliance. And whether or not the suppression system has been maintained as per chapter 7, has absolutely nothing to do with compliance to chapters 4 and 8

Common infractions against NFPA96 and thus the 1997 Ontario Fire Code in the Province of Ontario include the following:

2. cleaners are often unqualified and provide non-compliant or NO stickers and no certificates

3. access panels are not installed correctly or in sufficient frequency (at every change of direction and every 12' on horizontal runs)

4. Horizontal duct runs don't seem to work for the most part. The longer the horizontal run, the cleaner the fan, as the grease laden vapors cool down, the grease congeals and then settles inside the horizontal duct run - to stay. Sometimes, because many owners have no interest in paying for proper listed access panels, the grease stays for decades. Then, some owners get cleaners to clean only parts of the kitchen exhaust system. Because oftentimes they provide no stickers or certificates, or the stickers and certificates they provide have no room or designated spot to indicate "areas not cleaned", their paperwork seems compliant to the novice or the inspector who does not look further. One of the most common lies told to inspectors in this regard is that they "have cleaned the system", when in fact they only cleaned the hood.

5. Enclosures required for grease ducts, where they breach fire compartments, are often missing or inoperable. Grandfathered drywall enclosures are often missing panels and have no provision for access so that cleaning can even occur. Also, oftentimes architects pay no attention whatsoever to the requirements of the kitchen exhaust duct system. In such cases, architectural finishes are placed such that no access is possible to the grease duct, even in the grease duct is equipped with listed access panels.

3. Certificates and/or stickers have no designated spot to indicate "areas not cleaned".

1. Good general cleanliness does not mean that the grease duct and fan are clean.

2. Anything the owner says about cleaning him or herself can be safely assumed to be nonsense. Unless he or she is in possession of a 3000PSI hot pressure washer, he or she cannot possibly clean the entire system as per chapter 8 of NFPA96.

3. Stickers and/or certificates from cleaners, which don't have a spot for "areas not cleaned" are not a positive sign indicating compliance.

1. If in doubt, venture a bit further outside of the Greater Toronto Area, and check for compliance with some of the restaurants.

2. Prepare a bulletin to all fire chiefs indicating non-compliance against chapters 4 and 8 to be a generic problem requiring swift remedy.

4. Apply some thought to what is and what is not acceptable to your representatives in terms of being "approved vent cleaning contractors". In some places in the US it is actually mandatory for vent cleaning contractors to file duplicates of all cleaning certificates with the local fire prevention officer. Making this mandatory in the Province of Ontario would automatically alert your fire prevention officers to any problems before a fire occurs. We suggest you consider making this reporting mandatory. Without mandatory reporting to your representatives, vent cleaning contractors would commit fiscal suicide to mention anything to you. If you make it mandatory, they are simply following common law, without fear of persecution, which is very real. Restaurateurs know one another and communicate frequently! This process would also weed out those who offer haphazard cleaning for $100.00 per restaurant, which represents a mathematical impossibility of doing the job correctly. Once you have decided what is, and what is not acceptable to you and your representatives in each of the municipalities, communicate this via bulletin and/or fire code amendments.

5. Communicate and follow up with your fire chiefs on this topic. The topic of time and resources is bound to come up in the process. But be that as it may, this is an urgent generic condition, with no shortage of specific examples.

6. Communicate your actions back to FPDL, referring to this document, please. Our members will be watching your progress in the field in 3 of your municipalities also.

Type or Volume of Cooking	Frequency
Systems serving solid fuel cooking operations	Monthly
Systems serving high-volume cooking operations such as 24-hour cooking, charbroiling or wok cooking	Quarterly
Systems serving moderate-volume cooking operations	Semi-annually
Systems serving low-volume cooking operations, such as churches, day camps, seasonal businesses, or senior centres	Annually