As of January 1, 2008 the California State Fire Marshal stated that "All automatic fire extinguishing systems used for the protection of commercial cooking operations that produce grease laden vapors shall comply with UL 300. All existing dry and wet chemical fire extinguishing systems installed for the protection of those operations shall comply with the UL 300 Standard no later than the second required servicing of the system after January 1, 2008." To get more information about this code click here.

The NFPA 10 2013 edition states that "subsection 5.5.5 requires that fire extinguishers be provided for the protection of cooking appliances that use combustible cooking media (vegetable or animal oils and fats) be listed and labeled for Class K fires. Subsection 6.6.1 requires class K fire extinguishers be provided for hazards where there is a potential for fires involving combustible cooking media (vegetable or animal oils and fats). Based on these two requirements, there is confusion with regard to requiring class K extinguishers for stove top cooking"(NFPA 10 p.1). For more information click here.

Hood cleaning is REQUIRED in the state of California, according to the NFPA 96, your local fire authority, and/or your insurance company. Grease build up can be a serious fire hazard and is the leading cause of commercial kitchen fires. Proper cleaning of your commercial kitchen hood on a regular basis will greatly reduce the risk of a fire in your establishment. To find out more information about the frequency of hood cleaning, please refer to the NFPA 96 or contact your local fire authority.