Restaurant Hood Cleaning in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland
Restaurants in Vancouver need their full kitchen exhaust system (hood, filters, ductwork and rooftop fan) cleaned on a schedule set by how much and what kind of cooking they do. Most full-service kitchens land at every six months, wok and high-volume lines at every three months, and wood or charcoal cooking every month. Hire a crew whose technicians hold an ASTTBC registration in kitchen exhaust cleaning, and keep the service report where an inspector can see it.
Which rules apply in Vancouver versus the suburbs
The Lower Mainland has two fire code regimes, and it matters which one your address falls under.
- City of Vancouver. Vancouver has its own charter and writes its own Building By-law and Fire By-law instead of using the provincial codes directly. Vancouver Fire Rescue Services inspects restaurants under that by-law.
- Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam, Delta and the rest of BC. These follow the British Columbia Fire Code, enforced by each municipality's fire department.
In practical terms both lead to the same place. The BC Fire Code sends the use, inspection and maintenance of commercial cooking exhaust systems to NFPA 96, the US standard that most of North America relies on for kitchen ventilation. It also bans flammable solvents for cleaning these systems. Vancouver's by-law tracks the same standard closely. If you want the full breakdown of the NFPA 96 frequency tiers and what an inspector checks, see our NFPA 96 kitchen exhaust guide.
How often a Vancouver kitchen should be cleaned
Frequency follows cooking volume and fuel, not the calendar or how the hood looks from the line.
| Kitchen type | Common schedule |
|---|---|
| Wood-fired pizza, charcoal grill, tandoor, smokers | Monthly |
| Wok stations, 24-hour diners, high-volume fryers and grills | Quarterly |
| Typical full-service restaurant or pub | Every six months |
| Low-volume kitchens: churches, seasonal cafés, day camps | Yearly |
Vancouver has a lot of kitchens in the quarterly group. Cantonese and Sichuan wok lines in Richmond, Chinatown and along Kingsway push a lot of grease vapour into the duct, as do the izakaya and yakitori grills downtown. Busy wok lines should plan on quarterly cleaning, whatever a previous vendor sold.
The inspector has the final say. If they find grease buildup between visits, expect to be asked to clean more often.
What a full cleaning should include
A proper job covers the whole path the grease takes, from the filters to the fan on the roof. Ask any vendor to confirm in writing that the visit includes:
- Hood interior and plenum scraped and washed with a hot water, low-solvent degreaser.
- Baffle filters soaked or pressure washed (or swapped from a clean set).
- Vertical and horizontal duct cleaned to bare metal, through access panels where the duct turns or runs long.
- Rooftop exhaust fan tilted on its hinge, with the fan bowl, blades and housing degreased.
- Grease containment at the fan checked and the absorbent changed if it is saturated.
- Before and after photos of each section, including any part they could not reach.
- A service label on the hood showing the date, the company and the areas cleaned.
"Hood polish" visits that only wipe the canopy and swap the filters leave the duct and the fan untouched. The duct and fan are where kitchen fires spread, so this is the most common way restaurants end up out of compliance while thinking they are covered.
ASTTBC registration and what to ask for
In British Columbia, the Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of BC (ASTTBC) runs registration for fire protection technicians, and that program has a category for commercial kitchen exhaust cleaning. Many Lower Mainland employers list an ASTTBC kitchen exhaust or Registered Fire Protection Technician designation as a hiring requirement, and some fire departments and insurers expect to see it.
Before you book, ask:
- Which technicians will do your job, and what ASTTBC category each one holds.
- Whether the report will carry the technician's registration number.
- Whether they also service the fire suppression system, or whether you need a separate fire protection company for that.
The suppression system (the wet chemical nozzles above the appliances) usually has its own semi-annual inspection by a fire protection contractor. Book the hood cleaning just before it, so the suppression technician checks clean nozzles and links rather than greasy ones.
Wash water and the storm drain problem
Hood cleaning makes a lot of greasy, alkaline wash water. In Vancouver this matters more than in most cities, because many storm drains run straight to False Creek, the Fraser River or local streams with no treatment.
- Wash water and scraped grease must never go into a storm drain, a lane catch basin or a rooftop drain.
- Metro Vancouver's food sector grease interceptor bylaw already limits how much grease restaurants can send to the sanitary sewer, and municipalities enforce their own discharge rules on top of it.
- A reputable crew tarps the roof around the fan, collects runoff in a containment trough or bags, and takes the waste away or disposes of it the way local rules require.
Ask a vendor directly how they contain and dispose of wash water. A vague answer is a reason to keep looking.
Typical costs in Vancouver
These are typical ranges in Canadian dollars per cleaning visit, not quotes. Lower Mainland labour and disposal costs tend to put them at the upper end of what kitchens pay elsewhere in Canada.
| Kitchen setup | Typical range per visit |
|---|---|
| Café or small kitchen, one hood, short vertical duct | $400 to $700 |
| Full-service restaurant, one or two hoods | $600 to $1,300 |
| High-volume wok or charbroil line | $900 to $2,000 |
| Several hoods, long horizontal runs, multiple fans | $1,800 to $3,500+ |
What pushes a job up or down:
- Grease load. The first cleaning after a long gap can take twice as long as a routine visit.
- Duct length and access. Horizontal runs through a multi-storey building, or ducts with no access panels, add hours. Adding panels is a one-time cost that makes every later visit faster.
- Roof access. Fans reached only by ladder, on a sloped or wet roof, need extra fall protection under WorkSafeBC rules and more crew time.
- Night work. Most cleanings happen after close, and very late or weekend slots may cost more.
- Frequency. Quarterly kitchens often pay less per visit than twice-a-year kitchens, because the grease never gets thick.
For comparison with a lower cost market, our Winnipeg hood cleaning cost guide breaks down the same factors.
Timing around the rainy season
From October to March, wet roofs slow rooftop work and heavy rain can push runoff past careless containment. Book the fall cleaning in September or early October if your cycle allows, and fix roof hatches or ladders before the visit.
Frequently asked questions
Does Vancouver require ASTTBC certified hood cleaners?
The fire by-laws focus on the result: the system has to be cleaned to NFPA 96 at the right interval and documented. ASTTBC registration is how BC verifies that a technician has the training to do that, and many fire inspectors and insurers expect to see it on the service report. Hiring a registered technician is the simplest way to avoid disputes over the quality of the work.
How long does a restaurant hood cleaning take?
A single hood with a short duct and one fan usually takes two to four hours. Larger kitchens with several hoods or long horizontal duct runs can take a full night or two visits. Crews generally work after closing, so the kitchen is ready for the next morning's prep.
Who is responsible for hood cleaning in a leased restaurant space?
Usually the tenant, since the system serves their kitchen, but the lease decides. Some landlords of food halls and mixed-use buildings run the shared duct and rooftop fans on their own contract and bill tenants back. Check the lease and confirm who holds the service records, because the fire inspector will ask the operator for them.
Can a restaurant clean its own exhaust hood?
Staff can and should wash the baffle filters regularly, often weekly in busy kitchens. The duct and rooftop fan are a different matter: NFPA 96 calls for cleaning by properly trained, qualified people, and inspectors expect a documented professional service. Cleaning those parts yourself also creates fall and chemical hazards.
Book a cleaning in the Lower Mainland
Vulcair works with restaurants, institutional kitchens and property managers across Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond and Surrey. Send us your hood count, the type of cooking and when your last cleaning was, and we will put together a written quote for the right cleaning interval. Request a quote.