The heart of any restaurant is the kitchen – without good food and good service, what’s there to keep your restaurant operational?

But all too often it can be easy to get caught up in the design features of your restaurant and overlook how important the back-of-the-house kitchen equipment is to the overall buildout – specifically the professional hood system.

As commercial contractors who have completed numerous restaurant projects in South Florida, we’ve seen just how essential it is to ensure that the hood system installation is done right. Here are some big reasons why:

• Inspections – A safe, well-operating hood system is important not just for the health and safety of your employees and customers, but it also needs to meet the Florida Fire Prevention Code if a hood is required by the establishment. If things go wrong during installation or with the build, there could be long-term implications for your operation and restaurant safety.
• Impact on design plans – Your hood system needs to mesh with your life safety components as well as all mechanical, electrical, and plumbing needs. It’s imperative that the hood functions properly in concert with the fire alarm and HVAC system, which means the location of such components will dictate where your hood system can go.
• Permitting – Your professional hood and its installation needs to be up-to-code in order to secure permitting approval. And without a permit, you can’t build your restaurant, so it’s imperative to get it right.
• Exhaust problems – If the fumes are not extracted properly, the mess it creates is astronomical. There can be fumes throughout the restaurant, including in the seating area, and it creates a much greater risk for fire hazards.

In addition to the above factors, there also needs to be coordination with the professional hood company during installation. As contractors, we work very closely with the hood companies when they are onsite in order to align our efforts during installation. We’ve found that working as a team with reputable professional hood companies, like CaptiveAire, makes the installation process run smoothly and successfully.

During a restaurant buildout, so much of construction rides on the successful installation of the professional hood system. The ability to get the equipment right during the build is not only important for construction, but also for the long-term success and sustainability of running a safe and operational restaurant.

If you have questions about restaurant buildouts in South Florida or are ready to get started with yours, call us today at 786-433-8740.