Commercial kitchens need to meet often stringent fire codes and standards to maintain safe operation in their kitchens and stay open to the public. These standards include NFPA 96, which details fire safety standards for cooking equipment, particularly exhaust equipment in commercial facilities. What is the standard, and how can you meet it?
NFPA 96 is the “Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations.” Released by the National Fire Protection Agency, the standard provides the minimum fire safety requirements, both preventative and operation, related to the design, installation, operation, inspection, and maintenance of all public and private cooking operations.
The scope of the NFPA details standards for commercial cooking equipment and residential cooking equipment used for commercial purposes. The equipment includes:
Two major provisions of note for commercial kitchens regarding NFPA 96 are:
Melink Intelli-Hood® helps you maintain compliance with NFPA 96 standards with simple and compliant installation, easy maintenance and cleaning, and full-service support of your system after it is installed. We offer 24/7 staff support, a global technician network, and preventative maintenance and monitoring.
Demand control kitchen ventilation systems (DCKV) like Melink Intelli-Hood® also enhance fire safety in commercial kitchens by automatically detecting when the exhaust air temperature is too high. They can alert you to high air temperature, allowing you to correct the issue before it becomes a fire hazard.
Intelli-Hood® is also a temperature and optic sensor DCKV system. While some DCKV systems only use temperature sensors, activating the exhaust fans when higher temperatures are detected, Intelli-Hood® uses optic technology to recognize cooking effluent as well as increased temperatures. This allows the exhaust system to be more accurate and on top of venting out smoke, effluent, and hot air, creating a safer cooking environment that is less prone to fire hazards.
Intelli-Hood® can help you create a better, safer cooking environment for your kitchen staff, and it can also save you money by cutting down on your energy bills, too! To see the cost-savings capabilities of DCKV systems like Intelli-hood®, read more here.