NFPA 96 Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Requirements: A Compliance Checklist

NFPA 96: Your Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Compliance Checklist

NFPA 96 is the national standard for ventilation and fire protection of commercial cooking operations — and it is what your health and fire inspectors check before you open. Here is a plain-English checklist of what a code-compliant grease exhaust system needs, and how to build one without overpaying.

1. A Type 1 (grease) hood over greasy equipment

Any appliance that produces grease-laden vapor needs a Type 1 hood with listed baffle grease filters, sized to fully capture the plume, with the required overhang past the cooking surface.

2. A grease-rated exhaust fan

Your hood needs an upblast exhaust fan rated for grease-laden air, discharging vertically up and away from the roof. The fan CFM must match the hood's required exhaust volume — direct-drive centrifugal upblast fans are the standard.

3. A welded, sloped grease duct

Grease ducts must be liquid-tight welded steel, sloped back toward the hood or a drain, with access panels for cleaning. No flex duct, and no screws penetrating the grease channel.

4. Make-up air

Code requires make-up air to replace what you exhaust (typically around 80% of exhaust volume) so the kitchen stays pressure-balanced. Without it, your fan starves and doors will not close.

5. Fire suppression

Type 1 systems require an automatic wet-chemical fire-suppression system over the cooking line and within the hood and duct, inspected on a regular schedule.

6. Clearances, cleaning, and inspection

Maintain code clearances to combustibles, keep filters and ducts on a cleaning schedule, and document inspections. Your local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) has the final say and may add requirements.

Build it for less

You do not need an expensive integrated package to be compliant. AirSupply Corp supplies each component — hood, fan, make-up air, filters — at wholesale prices with free sizing guidance, so you can build an NFPA 96-compliant system for 60–70% less. Browse the full lineup or send us your kitchen layout for a complete spec.