NFPA 96: Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations, 2021 Edition

NFPA 96, Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations, provides broad-based preventive and operative fire safety requirements for the design, installation, operation, inspection, and maintenance of commercial cooking equipment.

The standard covers requirements for all types of cooking equipment in public and private kitchens, including fans, stove exhaust hoods, grease removal devices, cooking exhaust systems, fire-suppression systems, and clearance to combustibles. 

The 2021 edition offers the latest information and criteria for commercial kitchen safety and compliance. Important updates include:

• A new chapter on mobile and temporary cooking operations (this content, formerly located in Annex B, has been moved into the body of the standard to provide the minimum fire safety requirements for mobile and temporary cooking operations)
• Removal of duplicate requirements related to mobile and temporary cooking operations and modified language throughout the standard to clarify the provisions for buildings as well as mobile and temporary cooking operations
• Addition of the equivalent UL standards to be used in Canada
• Replacement of the term activate with the proper term actuate throughout the standard