Most kitchen managers we work with treat exhaust cleaning as a maintenance line item - a quarterly chore that costs a few hundred dollars and gets ticked off. Most insurers and councils treat it very differently: as a fire-risk control that, if neglected, materially changes the outcome of a claim. Reconciling those two views starts with understanding what AS 1851 actually says.
This post is a plain-English summary of the standard as it applies to commercial kitchen exhaust systems - what it requires, how often it requires it, and what auditors look for.
What is AS 1851?
AS 1851 - Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment - is the Australian standard for the maintenance of fire-protection equipment. It covers a lot of things; kitchen exhaust systems are one of them. The relevant section requires routine cleaning, inspection, and documentation of exhaust hoods, filters, ductwork, fans, and ancillary fire-suppression equipment.
The standard isn’t law, but it’s referenced in most state-based fire codes, in nearly every commercial insurance policy, and in the operating conditions for most strata, food-court and shopping-centre kitchens. In practice, treating AS 1851 as non-optional is the right starting point.
How often does the standard require cleaning?
The interval depends on cooking volume and the fats involved. The standard references categories along the lines of:
- High-volume / solid-fuel operations - quarterly cleaning
- Moderate-volume restaurants / cafés - six-monthly
- Low-volume institutional kitchens - annually
- Inspection-only visits between cleans
We won’t pretend you can pick an interval off a single table - the right answer depends on what you’re cooking, how much, how often, and how the system is built. A scheduled programme should be set with a competent contractor and documented.
What “a clean” actually includes
A compliance-grade kitchen exhaust clean isn’t a quick wipe of the hood. The scope should cover, at minimum:
- Hood interior - including the grease-channel and capture surfaces
- Filters - clean or replace, depending on type and condition
- Plenum - the manifold behind the filters
- Riser duct - vertical sections leading to the roof fan
- Roof fan - internals, impeller, housing
- Fire-suppression components - inspection of nozzles and any cartridge readiness indicators
Anything less than that and the system isn’t at a defensible standard, regardless of how clean the front-of-house hood looks. We cover the full scope as part of our Commercial Kitchen & Exhaust service.
The reporting matters as much as the cleaning
We can’t overstate this. The most common reason an insurance claim involving a kitchen fire is reduced or refused isn’t that the cleaning wasn’t done - it’s that the cleaning wasn’t documented to AS 1851 standard. After a fire, the loss adjuster will want:
- A current maintenance schedule
- Cleaning records covering the prior 12 months
- Before/after imagery per visit
- Identifiable technician sign-off
- Evidence that any defects flagged were actioned
You should be able to produce all of that within minutes, not days. If your current programme can’t do that, the programme needs reworking.
What we recommend
For most operators, the right answer is a scheduled programme delivered by a single contractor, with consolidated digital reporting that you can share with stakeholders on demand. That’s how we run our kitchen exhaust work - overnight scheduling around service, AS 1851-format reporting, copies to your nominated stakeholders.
If you’re running a commercial kitchen and you’re not sure whether your current programme would hold up to an insurance audit, get in touch. We’ll review your last 12 months of records and tell you, honestly, whether they’d pass.