How to Know If You Need a Kitchen Hood
You need a Type I kitchen hood wherever cooking appliances produce grease or smoke (Florida Building Code, Mechanical, section 507.2).
At Reach Commercial Real Estate, we represent tenants. We help you find locations, compare costs, investigate property questions and negotiate the lease.
1. Find out when a kitchen hood is required
A Type I hood is required over medium-duty, heavy-duty and extra-heavy-duty cooking appliances (Florida Building Code, Mechanical, section 507.2).
Hoods are Type I or Type II. Both are designed to capture and confine cooking vapors and residues (section 507.1).
2. Check the exceptions to the kitchen hood rule
The rule excuses an electric appliance when documentation from an approved testing agency shows its effluent contains 5 mg/m3 or less of grease when tested at 500 cfm under UL 710B (Florida Building Code, Mechanical, section 507.2).
A second exception covers listed pizza ovens that are direct-vented per NFPA 96.
3. Look at any hood already in the space
Before we put any value on an existing hood and exhaust equipment, we ask who owns it, what records exist and whether your team finds it suitable for your operation.
We also compare what the landlord offers against what your contractor expects the space to need.
For promising spaces, bring your contractor and design professional into the review. We help gather property information. They evaluate the technical work and cost.
4. Check what a change of occupancy brings
A change of occupancy can bring different kitchen exhaust requirements or increased mechanical ventilation requirements. If it does, the new occupancy has to comply with the Florida Building Code, Mechanical (Florida Building Code, Existing Building, section 1009.1).
5. Check the permit and the state plan review
You need a permit to install, alter or replace a mechanical system (Florida Building Code, Building, section 105.1). Melbourne's Building Section lists plumbing, electrical, gas or HVAC work among the work that requires a permit.
For a public food service establishment, the plans show equipment location, design and installation. They include the type of proposed fixed equipment and facilities (Rule 61C-1.002).
6. Compare the full cost of the space
We compare more than base rent. Your occupancy review should include:
Base rent.
CAM and other additional charges.
Scheduled increases.
Utilities.
Repairs and maintenance assigned to you.
Construction and equipment installation.
Deposits.
Rent due before opening.
7. Put the kitchen hood into the lease and track the dates
Our lease checklist asks what the lease says about landlord work versus tenant work. It also asks for a TI allowance and a permit contingency.
Once you pick a property, we negotiate rent and concessions, then CAM caps, HVAC, escalations and assignment. After signing, keep track of:
Possession and delivery dates.
Landlord work.
Improvement-allowance submissions.
Construction deadlines.
Insurance requirements.
Rent commencement.
Extra items to add to your list
Type II hoods. Dishwashers and appliances that give off heat or moisture, but no grease or smoke, need a Type II hood (Florida Building Code, Mechanical, section 507.3). The exception is where the heat and moisture loads are built into the HVAC system design or into a separate removal system.
When DBPR plan review applies. DBPR's plan review page lists newly built, converted from another use, remodeled and re-opened after being closed at least 18 months.
What DBPR asks for. A complete application, a scale drawing of the floor plan with equipment labeled, and a sample menu.
An opening inspection. A new DBPR licensee has to pass an opening inspection by the division before the license is issued (Rule 61C-1.002).
Start your search with Reach
You do not need to find the property before calling us. In most deals the landlord pays our fee.
Call 321-514-0876 with your menu, equipment list, budget and target opening date, or with the address of a space you have found.
Related: the leasing guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does adding kitchen equipment count as a remodel?
Yes. Adding new equipment, removing existing equipment or moving equipment from its previously approved location counts as a remodel at a public food service establishment (Rule 61C-1.002). Plan review is not required for a remodel if DBPR can otherwise determine that it won't have an impact on any sanitation and safety requirements in law or rule.
Who approves a change of occupancy?
The code official. A change of occupancy cannot be made to a structure without the code official's approval, and a certificate of occupancy is issued once the requirements for the change are met (Florida Building Code, Existing Building, section 1001.2).
Sources
Written by Cassandra Hartford, founder and CEO of Reach Commercial Real Estate. She has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 17 years, representing buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants across Florida's Space Coast.
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