Five-Day Hands-On Kitchen Hood Cleaning Training

Phil Ackland Training’s Five-Day Manager/Owner’s Course combines classroom instruction with hands-on kitchen hood cleaning training on real job sites. Students learn commercial kitchen exhaust systems, NFPA 96 principles, worker safety, cleaning methods, documentation, and the business skills needed to operate or manage a professional hood cleaning company.

What You'll Learn in the Five-Day Hood Cleaning Course

Understand the major components of a commercial kitchen exhaust system and how they work together.
Review NFPA 96 principles and applicable local fire-code requirements as they relate to kitchen exhaust cleaning.
Identify major worker-safety issues and safer job-site practices.
Recognize common access, cleaning, and system deficiencies and learn how to document and report them.
Understand insurance, documentation, and recordkeeping considerations for a professional kitchen exhaust cleaning business.
Learn how to estimate, sell, and market kitchen exhaust cleaning services responsibly.
Build productive relationships with customers, fire inspectors, and other authorities having jurisdiction.
Develop systems for customer management, job records, and follow-up.
Learn how to train and supervise crews using consistent professional cleaning practices.
Evaluate which types of hood cleaning jobs fit your business and which jobs may be poor fits.
Build an opening business strategy for launching or improving a kitchen exhaust cleaning company.
Identify appropriate add-on services and other opportunities that may support business growth.

Business Training for Owners and Managers

Business setup, insurance, documentation, and risk-management considerations.
Sales, marketing, estimating, and choosing the right types of jobs.
Customer relationships, inspector communication, and professional reporting.
Crew training, supervision, and building repeatable operating procedures.
Customer management, follow-up, and strategies for building recurring commercial accounts.

Hands-On Kitchen Hood Cleaning Training on Real Job Sites

Inspect actual kitchen exhaust systems and identify potential cleaning, access, and safety issues.
Tarp and contain a commercial kitchen hood before cleaning.
Mix and apply cleaning chemicals using appropriate job-site tools and procedures.
Apply chemicals to hoods and ducts using foamers, sprayers, and other cleaning equipment.
Remove grease buildup from exhaust hoods, ducts, and accessible system components.
Pressure wash an actual kitchen exhaust system using professional cleaning methods aligned with applicable NFPA 96 principles and local requirements.
Contain and dispose of wastewater in accordance with applicable environmental requirements.
Store, transport, and handle chemicals and cleaning equipment appropriately.
Maintain pressure-washing equipment and other tools used in commercial hood cleaning.
Review access panels, hinge kits, and rooftop grease-containment systems used in the field.
See how commercial kitchen hood cleaning trucks and equipment setups can be organized for efficient field work.

Hands-on training is a major part of the Five-Day Manager/Owner’s Course. Students work alongside experienced instructors on real kitchen exhaust systems so they can connect classroom concepts with actual field conditions. The goal is to build practical confidence with equipment, containment, cleaning procedures, safety considerations, documentation, and the judgment required on professional job sites.

Register for the Five-Day Manager/Owner's Hood Cleaning Course

What's Included With the Five-Day Course

Hood Cleaning Certification and Course Materials

Phil Ackland's Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning and Certification Manual.
Phil Ackland's Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Systems – Sales and Marketing Manual.
A current edition of NFPA 96 supplied as part of the course materials.
A course workbook to help prepare for the certification examination.
Forms and documentation resources used in commercial kitchen exhaust cleaning operations.
Hotel stay for the duration of the course, when included with the current course package.

The course includes a proctored, closed-book certification examination designed to evaluate knowledge of practical kitchen exhaust cleaning issues and relevant NFPA 96 principles. Phil Ackland Training administers its own certification program; NFPA does not issue or endorse the Phil Ackland credential.

Students who complete the course and certification process leave with documented training in commercial kitchen exhaust cleaning, along with the course materials and business resources provided with the program. The certification test is included with the course. Current certification-maintenance requirements and course inclusions should be confirmed at registration.