Kitchen Exhaust Maintenance Checklist: Daily, Weekly and Monthly

A kitchen exhaust, or extraction, system stays safe and effective through two routines: a short staff checklist that runs through the week, and a professional cleaning on a set schedule. This checklist covers kitchen exhaust and hood maintenance for your team, with the professional part at the end so nothing falls between the two.

Daily checks (after service, with burners and fryers off and cooled)

• Wipe the outside of the hood and the surfaces around it
• Check the grease cups and empty them before they overflow
• Check that every filter is in place, sits tightly and is not bent or damaged
• Look for grease dripping from the hood or the filters
• Listen to the exhaust fan when it starts, and note any new noise or vibration

Weekly checks

• Wash the baffle or mesh filters, and more often if you fry and grill heavily. Stainless steel baffle filters tolerate hot alkaline degreasers, while aluminium mesh filters need a milder cleaner; our guide to how to clean a commercial kitchen hood explains which to use
• Clean the inside of the canopy that you can reach, working from the top down
• Check that the filter frames are not warped or rusted
• Check that replacement-air vents and grilles are not blocked

Monthly checks

• Look at the duct access panels and any visible duct for grease leaking at joints
• Ask building maintenance to check the roof outlet and the fan for grease streaks and loose guards, without opening the fan
• If the kitchen has an ESP or ecology unit, check its indicator lights and note any fault. Only trained technicians open the unit, because it runs on high voltage
• Read your records and check that the next professional cleaning is booked

Professional cleaning: how often?

The duct, the fan and any ESP unit are cleaned by trained technicians, because they sit behind walls, in ceilings and on roofs, and have to be isolated from power. The NFPA 96 benchmark sets the interval by cooking volume:

• Monthly: solid-fuel cooking such as charcoal or wood
• Quarterly: high-volume cooking, including 24-hour operations, charbroiling and wok cooking
• Every six months: moderate-volume cooking
• Yearly: low-volume cooking, such as seasonal or occasional kitchens

NFPA 96 is a U.S. standard, so check what your landlord, insurer and the authority that inspects your premises require. How often to clean a commercial kitchen exhaust has more.

The checklist at a glance

What staff should not do

• Open the fan housing or an ESP unit: both have to be isolated from power first
• Use strong caustic degreasers on aluminium filters
• Mix cleaning chemicals, or clean while the kitchen is cooking
• Stand on cooking equipment to reach the canopy: use a proper step platform

The full list is in our guide to kitchen hood cleaning safety precautions.

Keep a log

Write down the date, who did each check and anything unusual, and keep every professional report with it. Our report includes before and after photos and recommendations, so it also shows what was done and what to watch next time. Your landlord, insurer or inspecting authority may ask to see these records, so check what they need.

When not to wait for the next date

Bring the professional cleaning forward if you see grease dripping from the hood or the duct panels, a strong smell of old cooking oil, smoke that does not clear, or a noisy fan. These guides help you find the cause: why a kitchen smells of old cooking oil, how to fix smoke in a restaurant kitchen and what to do about a noisy exhaust fan.

Our kitchen hood cleaning and exhaust duct cleaning cover the parts your team cannot reach, and the complete exhaust system cleaning does everything in one visit. Contact HoodEx and we will arrange an inspection. We work day and night shifts, so a visit can be arranged outside your trading hours.

Frequently asked questions