Fats, Oils, and Grease
If your restaurant or commercial kitchen cooking appliances produce any grease, fat or oil, the vapors from your cooking will discharge along with the air you are exhausting through your upblast exhaust fan. If your exhaust fan is located on a roof, it is required to have some form of a grease containment system installed. Learn more about why rooftop grease containment is required and the variety of options available to you for keeping your ventilation system in compliance with rules and regulations including the NFPA 96 fire code.
Why do I need rooftop grease containment?
Rooftop grease containment systems should be installed with every rooftop ventilator that is exhausting vapors laden with fats, oil, and, and grease. When these vapors cool and condense, they collect and will eventually drain out of your exhaust fan. Without a grease containment system, the fats, oil, and grease will leak out onto your roof.
Avoid potential problems caused by grease buildup
When this happens, it isn’t impossible to clean up, but it can be very difficult and time-consuming to remove the grease and if the grease is not removed properly, it can cause a number of problems including fire hazards and roof damage. We’ll talk about those in more depth in the next section when we discuss exactly what happens if you allow grease to build up on your roof.
Stay in compliance with codes and regulations
In addition to avoiding a number of potentially serious issues, another very good reason you need rooftop grease containment is because it is required by various local codes and regulations. One of these codes is the set of codes and standards for ventilation control and fire protection of commercial cooking operations established by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Known as NFPA 96 fire codes, these standards are followed by fire marshals and commercial cooking operations are required to adhere to them.
NFPA 96 fire codes require all commercial kitchens to install some form of grease containment such as a grease box, as well as a hinge kit, and an access panel on all upblast exhaust fans.
Watch this short video to learn more about NFPA 96 Fire Codes for rooftop grease containment:
What happens if grease builds up on my roof?
So why exactly is grease build up so bad? Let’s take a look at what happens when you allow fats, oils, and grease to build up on the surface of your roof.
Dangerous fire hazard
You probably already know about the importance of keeping fats, oils, and grease out of your duct work and your exhaust fan. Your rooftop is no different. The fats, oils, and grease from cooking are turned into aerosols during the cooking process and the exhaust fan pulls those aerosols up into the commercial vent hood and exhaust system.
The aerosols go through the ductwork and as they do, some grease and oil effluent will adhere the the inside of various parts of the commercial hood system but a lot of it will travel all the way up into the exhaust fan. There, the aerosols will settle and eventually begin to seep out of the exhaust fan, on onto the roof. When grease builds up on the roof around the exhaust fan, it becomes fuel for potential fires and if your roof catches on fire, it puts the entire building at risk, jeopardizing the safety of everyone inside.
Weakens the structure of your roof
Grease and oil can be extremely detrimental to your roof, weakening the membrane, turning bitumious roof systems soft and spongy, and damaging seam adhesives and tapes. In addition, if you allow grease to build up and cause these issues, you are probably voiding the manufacturer’s warranty for your roof so any repair costs will come out of your own pocket. And if you let it get bad enough, it will lead to leaks, which can then lead to even bigger problems such as damage to ceilings and walls, mold growth, foul smelling odors, and eventually, major structural damage.
Environmental hazard
Often overlooked are the environmental issues that grease buildup can cause. If you do not have a rooftop grease containment system installed, grease will get on your roof and can be washed away into your local stormwater supply any time that it rains. The fats, oils, and grease can also be washed into nearby streams or rivers. Not only is this bad for the environment, it also puts you at risk for possible EPA and code violations and expensive fees for non-compliance.
Attracts pests
Unless you keep grease off of your roof with a grease containment system, you also run the risk of dealing with a variety of pests including mice, rats and insects that are attracted to the fats, oil, and grease on your roof. These vermin bring along their own problems too, which only adds to your problems. If droppings and urine aren’t enough, roof pests can also cause damage to your roof by chewing holes in your roof membrane, flashing, soffits, or eaves. They can also cause all kinds of damage to any wires that they may be able to access, causing electrical and fire hazards on top of everything else.
Slip and fall safety hazard
If you don’t install a rooftop grease containment system around your upblast exhaust fan, the runoff may become dangerous to employees and other workers that are accessing the ventilation equipment on the roof. When the areas of the rooftop around the exhaust fan become coated with a slimy film of grease and oil, it can also lead to serious slip and fall hazards.
How do I protect my roof?
The best way to protect your roof from the hazards of grease buildup is to keep the grease from ever having reached the roof to begin with. And the best way to do that is by installing a rooftop grease containment system. In doing so, you can keep fats, oils, and grease off of the roof’s surface as well as out of the stormwater supply. By capturing and containing the grease in a containment system making it easy to dispose of properly.
Installing the right equipment will help ensure you are preventing any grease from leaking out onto your roof so that you can avoid increased fire risk, damage to the structure of your roof, vermin and insect infestation, EPA stormwater code violations, slip and fall accidents, and even voiding the manufacturer’s roof warranty.
What kind of rooftop grease containment system should I get?
There are a number of different ways to keep grease from ever reaching your rooftop. Depending on the amount of fats, oils, and grease particles being exhausted through your vent hood, you could use something as simple as a disposable pail grease filter, or a low volume grease containment box like the Grease Box Jr. with replaceable, hydrophobic grease pillows that repel water but quickly soak up grease and oil.
Some applications may not work as well with a typical grease catching or grease box system or you might want a more robust solution due to the high volume of fats, oils, and grease being produced at your restaurant.
For this type of situation, a system offering 360° of protection may be best. Systems like the Roof Guardian from Omni Containment Systems or the Hi-Capacity Grease Gutter can be the ideal solution to help keep your roof fat, oil, and grease free.
Deciding to install a rooftop grease containment system
Recent statistics suggest that as much as 80% or more of restaurants will require expensive repairs due to problems caused by not having a rooftop grease containment system installed. When you consider the high cost of long-term damage in addition to fire risk, potential fines, safety issues, and the many other potential problems that come from grease buildup on your roof, the decision to install a rooftop grease containment system should be an easy one to make.
As well as being required by NFPA 96 standards as well as a variety of other local regulations and often insurance policies, it’s easy to see the many benefits of installing a rooftop grease containment system. If your kitchen exhausts aerosols created by cooking foods with fats, oils, or grease, you need to install some form of rooftop grease containment.
You can find a wide selection of rooftop grease containment systems on our website to protect your investment, give you peace of mind, and help keep your commercial kitchen ventilation system running smoothly and safely. We also carry many other helpful products such as a wall mount grease containment system, grease and oil spill absorbent, and rooftop grease neutralizer. Check out all of our grease containment accessories online.
If you have questions or need assistance in selecting the rooftop grease containment system that’s right for you, just give us a call at 877-394-9731 or send us an email. Our product specialists would be happy to help.