800.992.9302
IKECA-certified NFPA 96 cleaning for industrial plant cafeterias, food-plant kitchens, hospital dining, and institutional food service across Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton. Proof-of-Performance decal on every visit. $599 minimum engagement.
Kitchen exhaust hood cleaning is the IKECA- and NFPA 96-certified cleaning of the entire commercial cooking exhaust system — hoods, filters, plenums, ductwork, exhaust fans, and rooftop units — performed by trained technicians and documented with a Proof-of-Performance decal.
NFPA 96 is the National Fire Protection Association's Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations. It requires scheduled cleaning at frequencies tied to cooking volume and specifies that cleaning must reach "bare metal" on all surfaces inside the exhaust path. IKECA is the certifying body whose standards translate NFPA 96 into inspector-verifiable practice.
Service-Tech has operated kitchen exhaust cleaning crews across Ohio since 1960. Our IKECA-certified technicians serve industrial plant cafeterias, food-plant on-site kitchens, hospitals (Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, MetroHealth, OSU Wexner, Nationwide Children's, OhioHealth, Kettering Health, Premier Health), universities (Case Western, Ohio State, Capital, University of Dayton), correctional facilities, and institutional food-service operations across Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton.
Five documented risks that scheduled IKECA-certified cleaning resolves where ad-hoc maintenance cannot:
Uncleaned grease is the ignition source for the #1 cause of commercial kitchen fires per NFPA — approximately 8,160 US restaurant fires annually.
Commercial property carriers require documented NFPA 96 compliance; uncleaned systems at time of loss are a common basis for denied claims.
Clogged filters push smoke, odor, and heat into the work area — worker comfort and air-quality problems.
Fire marshal and health department inspections check cleaning records at renewal.
Rooftop grease leakage from uncleaned exhaust fans can cause $50,000–$200,000 premature roof-membrane replacement.
Service-Tech deploys Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning most often at these customer profiles:
Employee dining at manufacturing sites across Ohio.
Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, MetroHealth, OSU Wexner, Nationwide Children's, OhioHealth, Kettering Health, Premier Health dining.
Case Western, Ohio State, Capital, University of Dayton, Wright State.
Nationwide, Cardinal Health, Huntington corporate dining.
Correctional facilities, airport kitchens (Hopkins, John Glenn, Dayton), military dining.
Ohio-wide restaurant groups on NFPA 96 frequency contracts.
Service-Tech's IKECA-certified crews follow the same eight-step protocol aligned with NFPA 96 and IKECA standards on every Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton job.
Baseline grease depth measured at hood bottom, transition, duct, and fan housing. Photographs logged.
Fryers, ovens, floors, walls wrapped. Containment placed around the exhaust fan.
Alkaline degreaser applied to filters, plenum, and duct interior to lift baked-on grease.
180–210°F pressure washing to reach bare metal on duct, hood plenum, filter housing, and fan blades.
Motor protection, housing & belt access, scale cleaning, and hinge lubrication.
Filters reinstalled or replaced; access panels sealed.
IKECA-compliant decal dated, signed, and posted for fire marshal and insurance review. Next-service date noted.
Before/after photos, grease-depth log, and NFPA 96 compliance certificate.
NFPA 96 cleaning frequency is tied to cooking volume, not the calendar:
Monthly — the highest grease-generation category. Wood-fired pizza ovens, charcoal grills, and similar require the most frequent cleaning per NFPA 96.
Quarterly. 24-hour kitchens, hospital food service, charbroil-heavy menus, large institutional cafeterias.
Semi-annual. Standard restaurant operations, corporate cafeterias, university dining halls.
Annual. Seasonal kitchens, low-frequency catering operations, churches and event venues.
Failed fire marshal inspection, visible rooftop grease, insurance renewal audit, facility acquisition due diligence, or visible smoke escape from the exhaust path — all reasons to schedule an unplanned cleaning.
Most projects are priced by scope after a short site walk. Frequency-contract customers (monthly, quarterly) get a lower per-visit rate.
Cost drivers: hood length, duct-run length, fan access (rooftop vs interior), current grease depth, access time (after-hours premium), and frequency-contract discount for monthly or quarterly cadence facilities. Call 800.992.9302 and a Service-Tech estimator will walk your site and return a fixed-price proposal — typically within 1–2 business days.
Deferred kitchen hood cleaning carries five documented consequences:
The #1 cause of restaurant and commercial kitchen fires per NFPA — major life-safety and property implications.
Property carriers routinely deny grease-fire claims where NFPA 96 compliance is not documented.
Operations shut down pending re-inspection.
$50,000–$200,000 replacement costs for a commercial kitchen roof.
Commercial fire and employee injury claims.
Nineteen straight years of safety recognition from the National Air Duct Cleaners Association. The dominant vendor-qualification criterion at Ohio's OEMs, hospital campuses, and federal procurement offices. Our hood cleaning crews carry this record into every after-hours and rooftop engagement.
Service-Tech has provided industrial cleaning services from Cleveland since 1960 — 62 technicians and estimators across Cleveland (65+ years), Columbus (45+ years), and Dayton (45+ years). Four things distinguish our Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning program.
Service-Tech's defining differentiator is that we clean the ENTIRE exhaust system on every visit — not just the hood. Most regional competitors stop at the transition. We reach the full duct run, exhaust fan housing and blades, plenum, and rooftop fan. Shortcut cleaning leaves grease upstream of the visible hood — where it's most likely to ignite.
Issued on every service — inspector-ready, insurance-ready documentation that competitors without IKECA certification cannot produce. The decal is what fire marshals and insurance auditors look for at inspection.
Most competitors decline under-hood cleaning (piping, conduit, fire-suppression heads) and NFPA-compliant access-door installation. Service-Tech scopes both on the same visit so the system is fully serviceable for the next cleaning.
65+ years of continuous Ohio operations (founded 1960), GSA Federal Supply Schedule contract (#GS-21F-0032U), and 19 consecutive NADCA Safety Awards carry into every Kitchen Exhaust engagement.
Trusted by Ohio's Industrial & Institutional Leaders
Service-Tech dispatches IKECA-certified hood cleaning crews from three Ohio operating centers, covering institutional dining, healthcare, and the Ohio chain restaurant base.
A sample of named Service-Tech client references across the three markets:
Service-Tech's Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning protocols and documentation are built around the authorities that govern this work.
Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations.
NFPA 96 →Lockout/tagout, confined-space (some plenum and duct work), respiratory protection, and PPE protocols on every job.
osha.gov →Contract #GS-21F-0032U — federal-qualified for VA hospital, DoD, and State Department food service hood cleaning.
gsa.gov →Yes — extensively. Service-Tech has delivered kitchen exhaust hood cleaning across Ohio since 1960, from Cleveland (65+ years, ~100,000 total jobs across services), Columbus (since ~1980, ~25,000 jobs), and Dayton (since ~1980, ~25,000 jobs). Hood cleaning specifically is deployed at institutional dining (Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western, Ohio State, Nationwide Children's, OhioHealth, Kettering Health, Premier Health, Wright-Patterson AFB), corporate cafeterias (Nationwide, Cardinal Health, Huntington), and the Ohio restaurant and chain-kitchen base.
Service-Tech's kitchen hood cleaning carries a $599 minimum engagement — this covers crew mobilization, equipment, degreasers, and a single-hood cleaning. Multi-hood and full-system scopes (hood + plenum + duct run + fan + rooftop) are priced by scope after a short site survey. Frequency-contract customers (monthly or quarterly) get a lower per-visit rate.
Kitchen exhaust cleaning is scheduled after-hours — the cooking line must be cold and cleaned before work starts. Service-Tech runs night and weekend crews across Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton on a planned cadence. For planned work, crews typically mobilize within 1–2 business days of confirmed scope.
Service-Tech has won 19 consecutive NADCA Safety Awards. All supervisors and foremen are OSHA-certified, and crews follow standard protocols for lockout/tagout, confined-space entry (required for some plenum and duct work), hazardous communication, respiratory protection, and PPE. Service-Tech also maintains a Drug-free Safety Program.
Complete NFPA 96 compliance requires cleaning the entire exhaust path — hood, plenum, full duct run, exhaust fan housing and blades, and the rooftop fan. Service-Tech's standard cleaning covers the full system. Most competitors stop at the hood and leave grease buildup upstream — exactly where ignition risk concentrates.
Commercial property carriers almost always require documented NFPA 96 compliance. Claims are routinely denied when cleaning records are absent at the time of loss. Service-Tech issues an IKECA Proof-of-Performance decal on every cleaning — your documented proof, dated and signed by the technician.
IKECA-certified technicians. Proof-of-Performance decal on every cleaning. Inspector-ready, insurance-ready documentation.
