Most commercial kitchens assume NFPA 96 applies as published. It does not.
States adopt fire codes by reference — and rarely the newest edition. Your state names a specific edition of NFPA 96 inside the fire code it adopts, on a multi-year cycle, so the edition your fire authority enforces can trail the newest one by years. Your local fire authority can then add requirements on top — a cleaning frequency, a permit, an inspection interval. It can add to the state minimum. It cannot drop below it.
So what the National Fire Protection Association published and what your authority enforces may differ — by edition and by substance. If a citation is written, it names the code adopted at your address, not the edition you happened to have.
To find which standard governs:
1. Identify your fire authority — it depends on your address, not your ZIP code.
2. Confirm the edition of NFPA 96 named in the fire code your state has adopted.
3. Ask that authority for any local amendments it has added.
Where the public record is incomplete, we say so rather than fill the gap.
You usually find out something slipped after it's already cost you. EvidLY sees it coming — while it's still small and easier to manage.
Need the applicable edition identified for your county? We'll pull it.
