The city of Minneapolis is really cracking down on their requirements on kitchen exhaust cleaners. I’m not really sure if I like it or not. I like the idea, but not sure how it will work out.
They are asking for a lot of pictures from each cleaning, by each company. These will take hours to go through. If the inspectors would do their jobs in the first place and actually inspect the work, this would not be needed.
They all complain that they don’t have the time to inspect that many systems. Well, how in the world are they going to sit and look through hundreds and hundreds of pictures every week?
Like I said, I do like the idea, just don’t know how it will actually play out. The bad guys will figure out ways around it and the little guys or the not so computer savvy guys will be S.O.L.
Provide the following:
1. Clear digital photo of the work order # and building address and tenant.
2. Before and after photos of all hood components.
3. Before and after photos of the roof area around exhaust fans (including fans) from at least 2
adjacent sides, identify all pre-existing conditions.
4. Provide horizontal and vertical photos of building duct system and entire building trunk
system.
5. Provide before and after intake photos of fans.
6. Provide before and after photos of the back-side of fan blades.
7. Roof mounted system must provide a digital view of the vertical rise looking-up and a view
looking-down). one before and after photo of hinged roof-mounted fan opened and closed.
8. Provide before and after photos of horizontal and vertical access plates.
9. Provide photos that clearly identify all sides of vertical & horizontal runs & rises
10. Provide before and after photos of the back of the filter rails top and bottom.
11. Provide photos for the completed hoods with filters out and another with the filters properly in
place
I also wonder how it will effect the restaurant owners that already complain about the prices when they find that their price will probably go up to account for the extra time the hood cleaner will need to do this extra work?
I think companies should be doing this anyway, don’t get me wrong. I think I will try to put together a video for my readers to teach them how to take the pics, upload them, and email them or host them and send the link to the Fire Marshal.
Would that help you guys?
Note: Cleaning of commercial hood systems shall encompass the entire building’s
vertical and horizontal trunk systems. Cleaning only the commercial hood, plenum
and duct collar is not acceptable and the system will not be approved. The City of
Minneapolis doesn’t issue confined space entry permits; contractors must comply
with OSHA Standards.
This will hopefully work out for the good in the long run…
Here is the page for the requirements.
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Anthony here from Hood Cleaning Helper.com 
This week’s hood cleaning tip I want to deal with filters. If you do clean the filters for your customer, I hope his tip helps you get those filters sparkling so your customer will think you are the greatest thing sense sliced bread.
The first thing you want to do is pull the filters out of the hood before you get it wrapped.
I use an 18 gallon Rubbermaid tub that I got from Walmart for like $4. I actually have a couple of them in case there are a lot of filters. What you want to do is put about a cup – 8 oz – of dry caustic in the bottom of the tub. Using a hose, start filling the tub with COLD water until it’s about 3/4 of the way full. I sometimes put a little bit of Dawn or other surfactant in just before I turn off the hose. It will help separate the grease from the surface a little better.
Note: Your mixture for this does NOT have to be strong. Dwell time will be on your side, so you don’t have to have really strong chemicals for this.
Next, put in the filters all the same way. Now, leave them sitting for at least 10-15 minutes before their first rotation. Then every time you walk by them, just rotate them a quarter turn until you have gotten all sides. When you take them out to rinse, the grease should come off easily and save you tons of time with a pressure washer.
Now, be sure to neutralize your dirty water before you dispose of it properly. Another thing to consider for this is if the filters are galvanized, the chems will turn them black. If the filters are aluminum, there may not be filters left when you go to take them out of the tub. Caustic eats aluminum!!! Be careful.
Hope this tip helps, be on the lookout for next week’s tip. If you have any suggestions for tips, feel free to email or just post them in the comments below.
