Phil Ackland
KEC Expert
Below is a newly formatted section of the upcoming Cleaning and Certification Manual.
It attempts to answer some of the more common situations where inaccessible areas are found and what to do about them. This is a first draft. If anyone would like to make further recommendations we will look at adding them to this section of the manual with credit.
If you have any photos that illustrate any of these scenarios we would appreciate using them.
Any suggestions???
Phil
Cleaning and Inspecting Inaccessible Areas
As stated, one of the biggest concerns for exhaust cleaners is inaccessible areas within the system. The following is a diminishing list of possibilities to resolve inaccessible areas.
There are several ways that the exhaust system could be in accessible. We will deal with a number of them, but there will be other rare occasions where these recommendations will not work. In those cases, if the cleaner considers the buildup serious, the owner of the system and possibly the AHJ should be notified.
In nearly all cases, when a cleaner first discovers an inaccessible area they must notify the owner of the situation. In most cases the cleaner should be able to provide recommendations on how the matter can be solved.
However, there can be many situations that are beyond the skill or knowledge of the cleaner to resolve safely, (such as installing safe access to a fan on a high pitched roof, or the need to penetrate building walls or ceilings to gain access to the duct). In these cases, the cleaner should notify the owner of the need for expert assistance.
If the owner of the restaurant is not willing to make the recommended repairs to ensure the system is fire safe the cleaner should likely notify the AHJ.
The following are some situations beyond the obvious solutions of simply installing an access panel on the duct or a hinge kit on the fan.
Solving Inaccessible Areas
Scenario: There is a hood with a damper and fire suppression piping at the throat of the duct that does not all for cleaning above.
This is a serious issue because the grease accumulation that will result is close to the most probably points of origin of a fire -- the appliances.
Access should be installed into the duct above the sub ceiling. The difficulty with this is that there will likely have to be some remodeling of the sub ceiling in the kitchen and the security of the sub ceiling to hold the weight of personnel must be taken into consideration. These requirements will need expertise beyond that of the average cleaner.
Scenario: In an old building that has been remodeled several times the ductwork disappears about one of the layers of sub ceiling and does not reappear until it reaches the fan. This can be a serious situation; in the case of a fire in the duct, it will be difficult to identify where the fire actually is within the building.
The cleaner must recommend that the duct be located in sufficient locations so access panels can be installed and proper grease removal take place.
Of equal importance is what sort of construction materials are in close proximity to the duct. In many cases wood and other combustibles are much too close. This too needs to be brought to the attention of the owner. The cleaner should remind whoever is charged with inspecting and finding the duct, to look for combustibles that are too close to the duct.
Scenario: There is a multi-story building and the ductwork is either on the outside of the building or in locations throughout that are not practically accessible (various occupied spaces or just architecturally impossible to reach).
It is imperative that the first 30 to 50 feet of the duct from the hood must be thoroughly and continuously cleaned. This may require an increased cleaning frequency to this area. The reasoning is that if there is a fire, and there is not fuel in this first section, then there is less chance for the fire to reach the area where there is grease buildup.
If the ductwork runs to the outside of the building, a high lift might be employed to reach up to install access and clean from that point up and down back to the hood.
The rest of the duct from the fan down should be spinjetted. If this is not practical and the duct is showing serious grease accumulation, then the AHJ should be notified of the issue.
Another possibility is to have increased fire suppression nozzles installed into the duct at the throat or the furthest accessible duct area.
Scenario: Long horizontal ducting running through various occupied spaces not belonging to the restaurant. This situation is common in food courts and in downtown buildings. I have known ductwork that runs across the length of a ceiling of a ground floor of a building occupied by half a dozen other stores or offices.
The best way to clean this type of duct is manual scraping. Under normal circumstances a pressure washer should not be used for risk of duct leakage. Ensure that building security knows what you are doing.
One time we were cleaning a long horizontal duct in a food court. The duct ran about the t-bar ceiling of a number of high-end stores. You can imagine my horror when I was looking through the windows of the stores (just in case) and first noticed discoloration of the t-bar ceiling tile in a fancy women's clothing store. We watched as moisture started to drip off the tile, by the time I got back with security, the tile was sagging. Before we could stop the leaking and get into the store, the tile collapsed. Fortunately the tile slid out of the t-bar in such a way as to just miss a rack of very expensive dresses.
Scenario: High or steep pitched roofs.
NFPA requires safe access and work area around the fan. Exhaust cleaners should not have to risk their lives just to clean the system.
It attempts to answer some of the more common situations where inaccessible areas are found and what to do about them. This is a first draft. If anyone would like to make further recommendations we will look at adding them to this section of the manual with credit.
If you have any photos that illustrate any of these scenarios we would appreciate using them.
Any suggestions???
Phil
Cleaning and Inspecting Inaccessible Areas
As stated, one of the biggest concerns for exhaust cleaners is inaccessible areas within the system. The following is a diminishing list of possibilities to resolve inaccessible areas.
There are several ways that the exhaust system could be in accessible. We will deal with a number of them, but there will be other rare occasions where these recommendations will not work. In those cases, if the cleaner considers the buildup serious, the owner of the system and possibly the AHJ should be notified.
In nearly all cases, when a cleaner first discovers an inaccessible area they must notify the owner of the situation. In most cases the cleaner should be able to provide recommendations on how the matter can be solved.
However, there can be many situations that are beyond the skill or knowledge of the cleaner to resolve safely, (such as installing safe access to a fan on a high pitched roof, or the need to penetrate building walls or ceilings to gain access to the duct). In these cases, the cleaner should notify the owner of the need for expert assistance.
If the owner of the restaurant is not willing to make the recommended repairs to ensure the system is fire safe the cleaner should likely notify the AHJ.
The following are some situations beyond the obvious solutions of simply installing an access panel on the duct or a hinge kit on the fan.
Solving Inaccessible Areas
Scenario: There is a hood with a damper and fire suppression piping at the throat of the duct that does not all for cleaning above.
This is a serious issue because the grease accumulation that will result is close to the most probably points of origin of a fire -- the appliances.
Access should be installed into the duct above the sub ceiling. The difficulty with this is that there will likely have to be some remodeling of the sub ceiling in the kitchen and the security of the sub ceiling to hold the weight of personnel must be taken into consideration. These requirements will need expertise beyond that of the average cleaner.
Scenario: In an old building that has been remodeled several times the ductwork disappears about one of the layers of sub ceiling and does not reappear until it reaches the fan. This can be a serious situation; in the case of a fire in the duct, it will be difficult to identify where the fire actually is within the building.
The cleaner must recommend that the duct be located in sufficient locations so access panels can be installed and proper grease removal take place.
Of equal importance is what sort of construction materials are in close proximity to the duct. In many cases wood and other combustibles are much too close. This too needs to be brought to the attention of the owner. The cleaner should remind whoever is charged with inspecting and finding the duct, to look for combustibles that are too close to the duct.
Scenario: There is a multi-story building and the ductwork is either on the outside of the building or in locations throughout that are not practically accessible (various occupied spaces or just architecturally impossible to reach).
It is imperative that the first 30 to 50 feet of the duct from the hood must be thoroughly and continuously cleaned. This may require an increased cleaning frequency to this area. The reasoning is that if there is a fire, and there is not fuel in this first section, then there is less chance for the fire to reach the area where there is grease buildup.
If the ductwork runs to the outside of the building, a high lift might be employed to reach up to install access and clean from that point up and down back to the hood.
The rest of the duct from the fan down should be spinjetted. If this is not practical and the duct is showing serious grease accumulation, then the AHJ should be notified of the issue.
Another possibility is to have increased fire suppression nozzles installed into the duct at the throat or the furthest accessible duct area.
Scenario: Long horizontal ducting running through various occupied spaces not belonging to the restaurant. This situation is common in food courts and in downtown buildings. I have known ductwork that runs across the length of a ceiling of a ground floor of a building occupied by half a dozen other stores or offices.
The best way to clean this type of duct is manual scraping. Under normal circumstances a pressure washer should not be used for risk of duct leakage. Ensure that building security knows what you are doing.
One time we were cleaning a long horizontal duct in a food court. The duct ran about the t-bar ceiling of a number of high-end stores. You can imagine my horror when I was looking through the windows of the stores (just in case) and first noticed discoloration of the t-bar ceiling tile in a fancy women's clothing store. We watched as moisture started to drip off the tile, by the time I got back with security, the tile was sagging. Before we could stop the leaking and get into the store, the tile collapsed. Fortunately the tile slid out of the t-bar in such a way as to just miss a rack of very expensive dresses.
Scenario: High or steep pitched roofs.
NFPA requires safe access and work area around the fan. Exhaust cleaners should not have to risk their lives just to clean the system.