What the canopy does
The canopy, or hood, sits over the cooking equipment and captures rising heat, smoke, steam and grease-laden air. The filters in it catch the heavier grease. The plenum behind the filters collects what gets through and channels it toward the duct. Grease troughs and drain cups along the edges collect what condenses and runs down.
Because it is stainless steel and visible from the cooking line, the canopy is the part that gets wiped, and it is the part inspectors look at first because it is the part they can see. That is why a shiny canopy over a filthy duct is the most common state a commercial kitchen exhaust is found in.
What a canopy clean involves
- Equipment protected. Cooktops, fryers and benches covered, floor sheeted, drains protected. Degreasing produces a lot of dirty water.
- Filters out. Removed and set aside for cleaning or exchange.
- Plenum degreased. The chamber behind the filters, where grease collects unseen. Hot alkaline degreaser, agitated, dwell time, rinsed.
- Hood degreased. Inside surfaces, the underside, the front face, the edges.
- Troughs and cups. Grease troughs emptied and cleaned, drain cups cleared. A blocked trough overflows onto the cooktop.
- Lights. Covers removed and cleaned, since grease on a light cover is both a fire risk and a hygiene mark.
- Rinsed and polished. Then filters refitted.
- Photographed. Before and after, so the record exists.
What it does not cover
The canopy stops at the duct collar. Everything from there upward, the ductwork and the fan, is a separate part of the system and a separate part of a quote.
This matters because canopy cleaning is the cheap job and the quick job, and a lot of what is sold as "exhaust cleaning" is canopy cleaning only. It keeps the visible part presentable. It does very little for fire risk, because the fuel load is above the ceiling, and it does not produce a report that satisfies an inspector or insurer asking about the whole system.
If you only want the canopy done between full system cleans, that is a legitimate choice. Just know that is what you are buying.
Canopy degrease versus full system clean, and when each makes sense
Interval
Canopy and filters need attention more often than the duct, because they take the first and heaviest hit. A busy Sunshine Coast venue is usually on a three to six monthly cycle for professional canopy cleaning, with filters cleaned weekly in-house between visits.
Signs it is due before the schedule says so: grease dripping from the canopy edge, filters that look saturated, troughs overflowing, or a hood that has gone dull and tacky to the touch.
Materials
Canopies are stainless steel and clean up well with the right chemistry. Alkaline degreasers break down grease; acid products do not and can mark the steel. Abrasive pads leave scratches that hold grease next time. A canopy that has been cleaned aggressively over years shows it.
Powder coated or painted canopies exist, mostly in older or budget fitouts, and need gentler treatment or the finish lifts.
Check the current requirements before you rely on this
This page describes kitchen exhaust cleaning standards and practice as they stood in September 2026. Standards are revised, and what applies to a particular venue depends on its equipment, its building, its council and its insurer.
AS 1851 is published by Standards Australia at standards.org.au. Food premises requirements in Queensland sit under the Food Act 2006 and are administered by your council, Sunshine Coast Council at sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au or Noosa Council at noosa.qld.gov.au. Building fire safety is administered by Queensland Fire Department. Where anything here differs from those sources, they are right and we are not.
We are not fire engineers, council officers or insurers. For what applies to your venue, speak to your council's environmental health team, your insurer or a fire safety adviser.