Hoods

Purchasing an exhaust hood system for a restaurant or specifically for a residential home is pretty straight forward - most manufacturers design the hoods and systems specifically for either commercial or residential. But what about odd situation where you may have a residential kitchen inside of a commercial building? These types of scenarios are more common then you may think and becoming more and more common. Examples include multifamily dwellings, assisted living facilities, fire stations, and even college dorms. In most of these cases there is a kitchen set up in the building, however it may not necessarily require commercial grade kitchen equipment. Example - a large kitchen space used to prepare large amounts of food but that isn’t for sale or for profit, where the occupants and / or employees living and working in said building are the ones who consume the food.

In these types of situations it could be confusing what codes you need to abide by. Building codes give a general framework for contractors to work off of when determining which hood to use for which application. Primary building codes for commercial buildings are the National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code (NFPA 101), the International Building Code (IBC), and the International Mechanic Code (IMC). Type I and Type II kitchen exhaust hoods are required regardless of the appliance type provided the kitchen uses the appliance to sell foods for profit according to IMC Section 507. You find yourself in a gray area in situations like fire stations and college dorms though when the food ...