These are photos taken of a restaurant kitchen exhaust hood system in Santa Monica, California. The company cleaning this kitchen exhaust system is certified by a kitchen exhaust cleaning association that claims its members are held to a higher standard than non members, and they also emphatically state that their members clean kitchen exhaust systems to bare metal from top to bottom every time.
These pictures prove that this is a lie.
Notice the areas on the vertical ducts leading to the fans that were missed.
vertical grease duct
vertical grease duct
The accumulation in the lateral grease ducts is proof that parts of these kitchen exhaust systems have been neglected for many years.
lateral grease duct
lateral grease duct
If this restaurant were to have a fire that spread in to these ducts, the grease would most likely catch fire, and could possible spread to the building endangering lives.
It is the responsibility of every kitchen exhaust cleaning association to be on top of their members to make sure that partial cleanings like the one in these pictures do not happen.
I do see your point about associations staying on top of members but I’ve done quite a bit of research, and it is actually illegal for a non profit association to remove or prohibit a member from joining based on quality of performance. HOW FRUSTRATING!! I do hold to a higher standard and have done so for 18+ years, but according to my attorney it seems that Trade associations are bound by anti trust laws that really tie their hands. It basically sounds like a liscencing “for profit” org is the only way to really attack the poor quality ex system cleaning comapnies. love to hear your thoughts-Kev