Georgia Fire Inspectors Association

A Commercial Kitchen Hood is required above all cooking equipment appliances that produce smoke or grease laden vapors such as deep fat fryers, ranges, griddles, broilers, woks, tilt skillets/ braising pans which have surfaces that often become ignited by the user-operator and are open to the plenum/ductwork, etc., per NFPA 96 (2001), Section 4.1.1 [see Figure 5.1.8.1, and Section 5.1.8.1, for ovens that produce grease laden vapors ~ the use of environmental air as an exhaust for cooking operations is not acceptable. If oven has to be periodically cleaned of grease residue, then it produces grease laden vapors!]. The NFPA 96 committee has formally interpreted that kettles are required to be protected based upon coverage limitations provided for deep vat fryers since they are typically utilized for boiling meats (stewing) or cooking soups thus producing grease-laden vapors. A suppression system complying with UL 300 is required per Section 10.1.1 to be provided for the hood/duct/grease removal devices, and per Section 10.1.2 to be provided for cooking equipment that might be a source of ignition (fryers, ranges, broilers, grills, etc.). A minimum Class K type Fire Extinguisher shall be located within 30-feet of travel distance from the cooking appliances per NFPA 10. Hood to be mounted to provide for thorough cleaning of its surfaces. Clearances per NFPA 96 (2001), Table A.3.3.34 shall be provided from any limited-combustible (3”) or combustible (18”) construction. The manual release for the hood suppression system is to be no closer than 10-feet and no further than 20-feet from hood along path of egress from the area as required by 2003 IFC, Section 904.11.1. Activation of suppression system shall automatically shut down fuel supply to equipment with the reset being manual per NFPA 96 (2001), Section 10.4.4. Any make-up air fans are also required to be shut-down after the extinguishing system discharges per the exception to Section 8.3.2. Plans by the installing contractor for the hood suppression system is required for review. The shop drawings by the suppression system installing contractor shall include the following information as applicable so that the construction plans may be properly reviewed (see NFPA 17A [1994], Chap.4):
a. Fire Suppression Systems and Portable Fire Extinguisher Contractor’s license holder’s name & license number. Include a completed Transmittal Form.
b. Plan view of layout drawn to scale indicating location of equipment (hood, agent cylinder, pull station, extinguisher, etc.). Indicate piping sizes and lengths, fittings, nozzle type and location, etc. on an isometric view. Include a graphic scale. All cooking equipment located below the hood shall be indicated.
c. Kitchen Hood details, sections, etc., including grease filters or listed grease extraction methods.
d. Technical Data Sheets on the equipment used (shutoff valves, nozzles, switches, etc.). Provide Pre-Engineered system information (manufacturer’s distribution piping requirement data, or manufacturer’s limitation data sheets, with piping calculations including volumes, lengths, equivalent lengths, etc.)

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Special Occupancies permitted by Code Amendments to use a Residential Hood:

A 120-3-3-.04(70)(a) modifies NFPA 96 (2001), Section 1.1.4, permitting a residential kitchen range to have a Residential Style Hood system equipped with a listed Residential Hood Fire Suppression System provided ALL the listed conditions are met (e.g. four-burner residential range, not within an assembly occupancy [other than a place of worship with limited cooking - that would be kitchen in a place of worship not attached to a large serving area such as a dining room, fellowship hall, multipurpose room, etc. that is capable of serving >50], etc.). The installing contractor for the hood suppression system should comply with all applicable NFPA 96 provisions that may be feasible. System shall be installed per the manufacturer’s listing requirements. The extinguishing unit shall disconnect electrical power to electric stoves, or shut off the gas supply to gas stoves, with a manual reset. A signed ‘Letter of Intent’ shall be submitted from the owner indicating the hood will be used for ‘food warming and limited cooking only’ as one of the requirements for using this option ~ see item (3) in Section 1.1.4 [note: kitchens serving a large seating area (e.g. with 50 or more occupant load = assembly occupancy), located in a Mercantile Occupancy, or with frying operations, are no longer ‘limited cooking’]. Hood unit shall be ventilated to the exterior of the building per item (4) in Section 1.1.4. Hood to be mounted to provide for thorough cleaning of its surfaces. A minimum Class K Fire Extinguisher should be located within 30-feet of travel distance from the cooking range per NFPA 10.
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Recirculating (Ventless) Hood protection

NFPA 96 (2001), Section 13.1(9) for recirculating hood systems (Auto-Fry, etc.) requires compliance with all of Chapter 13, and Section 13.5 requires the listing to provide an appropriate fire protection system (i.e. Ansul, Pyrochem, etc.). Furthermore, the UL Listing for these devices all include the required suppression. The Georgia amendment to 120-3-3 for section 13.2 requiring the room with the unit to be sprinklered was because of the outcry from local Fire Marshal's over allowing these devices in the first place, because these things are so portable, they can be easily moved near combustibles in addition to the high probability that inspectors will overlook the un-conventional things. Plus that the safety lockouts can be easily bypassed, maintenance ignored (usually a dirty filter, jury-rigged switch, etc., is burned-up in the process so evidence has a high probability of being obscured, etc.).

Georgia's change to the standard was to allow the use the “up to 6-sprinklers off of the domestic water” provision of the 2000 LSC to provide additional reliable protection to the protection from the integrated suppression system of the unit required by the listing and the standard - which works as long as the room did not exceeded the area that 6 sprinklers could cover (otherwise requiring an equivalency say, by allowing the use of an 8-inch ‘lintel’ draft-stop to reduce the area as a ‘compartment’ verses a ‘room’ which requires full height walls). Typically records of the equipment placement is in so much flux that by the time the building is occupied, the layout has significantly changed so placing a sprinkler only over the equipment would be unreliable. Sprinklering the whole room allows for moving the equipment in the future as well.