2018 IMC commercial food service establishment?

[mtlogcabin]

COMMERCIAL COOKING APPLIANCES. Appliances used in a commercial food service establishment for heating or cooking food. For the purpose of this definition, a commercial food service establishment is where food is prepared for sale or is prepared on a scale that is by volume and frequency not representative of domestic household cooking

Any thoughts on what the volume or frequency might be acceptable?

Example: Daughter has 9 in her family which equates to 27 meals per day and on weekends there could be 4 or 5 more kids there so maybe 45 meals on the weekends

I can easily apply this to a office break room but applying this to a community facility in an apartment complex or residential subdivision would be much harder.

If domestic cooking appliances are permitted in a small community center or church then does IMC section 505 apply with regard to the type of hood required?
I am looking for input so we can make a determination and put some consistency to the application of this poorly written definition.

1. When would a domestic appliance be applicable for the volume and frequency of use?
2. Would a Type I hood be required over a domestic appliance that used in compliance with question 1

 

[Msradell]

I'm not sure what that your definition would be since the wording is so vague but I firmly believe that any cooking matter how many meals per day that was done in the residence for family and friends would not kick in this requirement. I agree with your thoughts that in office break room if it had true cooking appliances and not just microwave would probably fall under the definition and require a hood accepted was for a very small business with a limited number of employees. I do believe there are many applications were type I hoods could/would be required over domestic appliances.

 

[klarenbeek]

Here's another twist. IMC 507.1.2 requires commercial hoods over domestic cooking appliances used for commercial purposes, indicating that domestic appliances can be used for commercial purposes, so you could have a domestic range in a commercial kitchen.

If the range isn't in an actual commercial kitchen like a restaurant or school cafeteria here's the guidelines we use:

1. If the appliance is listed for commercial use only (not commercial grade residential appliance), a commercial hood system is required regardless of the location of the appliance. Listed commercial range BTU outputs are MUCH higher, at least 3 times more than even commercial grade residential, and listed commercial appliances don't have all the safety controls of residential. I actually bumped heads with our Fire department on this in a new fire station and was backed by my CBO.
2. If it is used as part of the business operation such as a stove in a daycare, a commercial hood system is required even if its a domestic style range. It is part of their daily commercial operation. This would include churches that run a daycare in the church.
3. Breakrooms, small church kitchens without a daycare, dorm common areas (there for residents use only, not a cafeteria style use kitchen), and apartment community centers with only domestic cooking appliances require domestic hood systems in accordance with section 505. They are typically used far less than a range in a typical home. The community center/ small church kitchen may have an occasional big event, but then may sit completely unused for 3 months. In my mind this doesn't meet the criteria of scale AND frequency more than residential use.
4. Domestic ranges in life skills classrooms require domestic hoods. Culinary chef classes are training for commercial chefs, commercial hood system required.

One example would be in my church. The main kitchen is a full commercial kitchen with a listed commercial range, deck oven and Type I hood. Full breakfasts are served on Sunday mornings and suppers on Wednesday evenings, sometimes as many as 250 people. The youth room has a residential range with a microwave hood over it. It gets occasional use for warming pizza rolls or precooked wings, special occasion get-togethers, and maybe for some craft projects.

 

[mtlogcabin]

Thank you very much for the input.

We where discussing using 303.1.1 for identifying community centers in apartments and residential subdivisions that would be considered to fall into the scale and frequency criteria. Any thoughts about that?

303.1.1 Small buildings and tenant spaces.
A building or tenant space used for assembly purposes with an occupant load of less than 50 persons shall be classified as a Group B occupancy.
.

 

[klarenbeek]

Might be a good criteria for a well defined cutoff point if needed. At least in my experience around here even the somewhat larger community centers that aren't used as actual banquet halls, the kitchen/stove area is primarily used as a staging/warming area for food that is brought in already cooked. I recently went to a birthday party at something similar, guessing about 75 people there, counter and outlets were the only things in the kitchen used because the food was precooked offsite and kept in countertop plug in roasters. This seems to be the typical use of these types of community centers even if the occupant load may be over 50, at least around here.

One of those hard to define code areas where its really just up to the AHJ to make the call based on local use and experience?

 

[steveray]

One of the few sections they are making more gray......Long discussion with BO and FM and owner letting them know if it gets out of hand they will be retro-ing a Type I hood....Sucky to enforce down the line, but it is what it is....

 

[klarenbeek]

One of the few sections they are making more gray......Long discussion with BO and FM and owner letting them know if it gets out of hand they will be retro-ing a Type I hood....Sucky to enforce down the line, but it is what it is....

And document the conversation.....