How often must kitchen exhaust ducts be cleaned?

Answer

The Fire Code requires the entire kitchen exhaust duct and hood, inside and out, to be degreased and cleaned at least once every 12 months by a specialist, with records kept by the owner or operator for the authorities. NEA's Code of Practice on Environmental Health refers to the same requirement. Many landlords set shorter intervals in their fit-out or house rules.

From the RRD Field Guide, checked against the sources cited in F&B and Commercial Kitchen Fit-Out Approvals in Singapore: SFA, NEA, PUB, SCDF, EMA and the Landlord. General information, not advice for your project.

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A Singapore F&B fit-out needs the use cleared first (URA, HDB or JTC), then SFA's approval of the kitchen layout before renovation, an NEA-compliant exhaust with air cleaning, a PUB-compliant grease trap, SCDF approval for fire safety works such as exhaust ducts, hood suppression and LPG, gas work by EMA-licensed gas service workers, and the landlord's fit-out approval.

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Key facts

SFA Food Shop Licence: S$195 a year; layout reviewed within 7 working days
Minimum kitchen area (food shop): 10 m², or 16 m² with catering, excluding servery
Grease traps: Required for all food shops; exemption only for no cooking and no dine-in, with PUB's permission
Kitchen hood and exhaust duct cleaning: Degreased by a specialist at least once every 12 months
LPG cylinders, commercial buildings: Outdoors and at ground level; indoor only if SCDF approves in special circumstances

Approvals and compliance

Which approvals A&A and fit-out works need, how to tell a structural wall from a partition, what a PE endorsement is, why the engineer should work for the owner, and how unauthorised works are regularised.

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RRD surveys the site, lists cost risks before you sign and plans the approvals first.

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How often must kitchen exhaust ducts be cleaned?

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