BinderIs the sticker on the hood enough for an inspection?
No, and this is the single most common gap we hear about. The sticker on the hood and the certificate on the premises are two different requirements, and the sticker is the one everybody has.
What the sticker is
After a cleaning, the servicing company applies a label to the hood or the duct showing who cleaned it and when, and usually the date the next service is due. It is a visible marker. An inspector can see it from where they are standing, which is exactly what it is for.
What the certificate is
Separately, NFPA 96 calls for a certificate showing the name of the servicing company, the name of the person who performed the work, and the date of the inspection or cleaning, maintained on the premises. A full report typically also records what was cleaned, the condition before and after, any deficiencies found, and the technician's certification.
That certificate is the document. The sticker is a summary of it stuck to a wall.
Why this catches people
A hood with a current sticker looks compliant, and for a walkthrough it often passes. The problem arrives when the question changes from "was this cleaned" to "show me the last two years," which is what happens after a fire, during an insurance claim, or when a new inspector works the district.
At that point the sticker shows one date, and the certificates that would show the rest are in an email account belonging to a manager who left in March.
What to do about it
- Ask your cleaner for the last two years of certificates. They have them. This is a normal request and most will send them the same week. It costs you one phone call and it closes the gap immediately.
- Ask them to send the report every time, not just apply the sticker. Most already email a report to whoever booked the appointment. The problem is usually where it lands, not whether it exists.
- Put it somewhere that is not a person's inbox. The failure is almost never that the document was not created. It is that the only copy was in a mailbox that got closed.
This page describes what published standards say. It is not legal advice and it is not a determination about any premises. The requirements that apply to your building, including how often work must be done and what must be kept, are set by your authority having jurisdiction, which is usually your local fire marshal or health department. Where this page and your inspector disagree, your inspector is right.
Keeping this straight without thinking about it
Give your hood cleaner one email address for the location and ask them to copy it. Every certificate they send from then on is filed against that location automatically, and the two years you asked them to resend can be forwarded in once and are then permanently on the record.
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