HoodStamp

Houston hood cleaning requirements

Commercial kitchen exhaust cleaning inside the City of Houston is overseen by the Houston Fire Department (HFD), whose Fire Marshal’s office enforces the adopted fire code. Until we confirm HFD’s specific documentation and technician requirements directly with them, this page uses the NFPA 96 baseline below.

City page · being verified with local AHJ

NFPA 96 baseline

NFPA 96 (Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations) is the nationally adopted standard for kitchen exhaust cleaning. Every HoodStamp certificate references it.

  • Cleaning frequency by cooking volume

    Solid fuel: monthly. High-volume cooking (24/7 operations, wok, char-broil): quarterly. Moderate volume: semi-annually. Low volume (seasonal, church, day camp): annually. Your local AHJ may require more frequent service.

  • Cleaning to bare metal

    The entire exhaust system — hoods, filters, plenum, ducts, exhaust fan, and rooftop grease containment — should be cleaned to bare metal where accessible. Areas that cannot be cleaned to bare metal must be documented.

  • Documentation required

    After each cleaning, the servicing contractor must provide a written report identifying the date, areas that were and were not cleaned, and any deficiencies. HoodStamp’s certificate template covers each of these fields.

  • Access panels & inspection points

    NFPA 96 requires access panels at each change of direction and at 12-ft intervals along horizontal ducts. Missing access is a common finding — call it out under Deficiencies on the certificate.

Local requirements

Being verified with local AHJ

Houston-specific requirements are being verified with the Houston Fire Department-specific requirements are on the way.

We won’t publish jurisdictional requirements we haven’t verified with the local fire authority. Until then, HoodStamp certificates use the NFPA 96 baseline above, which every US AHJ builds on.

This page is a starting point, not legal advice. Always verify current requirements with your local Authority Having Jurisdiction (fire marshal or fire prevention office).