Title 24 Requirements for Commercial Kitchens
A commercial kitchen is governed by its exhaust. Above 5,000 cfm of combined Type I and Type II hood airflow, demand ventilation is required on at least 75 per cent of the exhaust air, and the make-up air is separately limited.
The 5,000 cfm threshold
Section 140.9 sets it on the total Type I and Type II kitchen hood exhaust airflow rate for the kitchen or dining facility, not per hood. So three modest hoods can cross the line together where none of them would alone, and the calculation has to be done across the facility.
Above it, demand ventilation is required on at least 75 per cent of the exhaust air — meaning the system modulates with cooking activity rather than running at design flow whenever the kitchen is open.
Make-up air is limited, not just required
Every cubic foot exhausted has to be replaced, and conditioning that replacement air is where the energy goes. Mechanically heated or cooled make-up air delivered to a space with a kitchen hood is designed under Section 140.9(b)2A not to exceed the greater of specified limits — so the code constrains how much of the replacement air may be conditioned rather than leaving it to the designer.
Kitchens are a covered process
Which is why kitchen work is documented on the process-systems forms — NRCC-PRC for compliance and NRCI-PRC for installation — rather than only on the mechanical set. Covered process is a regulated component in its own right, alongside lighting, mechanical and the envelope.
The acceptance test with an unusual suffix
Commercial kitchen exhaust is acceptance tested on NRCA-PRC-02-F. The -F matters: it means a field technician may perform the test, rather than requiring a certified acceptance test technician as the -A forms do. That is a genuine simplification on a project already carrying several certified tests.
Where the design gets decided
By the appliance schedule. Hood type and size follow what is underneath them, exhaust flow follows the hoods, make-up air follows the exhaust, and the 5,000 cfm threshold follows the total. Settling the equipment first makes the compliance route obvious; leaving it open guarantees a reissue.