Determine whether a piece of commercial cooking equipment requires a Type I or Type II exhaust hood under the International Mechanical Code

Steps

1. Identify what the equipment produces: grease-laden vapors (frying, griddling, broiling, charbroiling, open-flame cooking) versus only heat and moisture with no measurable grease (dishwashers, steam tables, some ovens, salamanders without grease-producing food contact)
2. Assign Type I hood coverage to any grease-producing appliance per IMC Chapter 5 (Exhaust Systems) — this is required regardless of how light-duty the operator considers the cooking
3. Assign Type II hood coverage to heat/moisture-only appliances; note Type II construction requirements (duct material, clearances) are less stringent than Type I grease-duct rules
4. Where a single appliance line mixes grease-producing and non-grease equipment, size and hood each appliance according to its own emission type rather than defaulting the whole line to Type II
5. Confirm the determination against the specific IMC edition adopted locally, since section numbers (e.g., 507.2/507.3) can shift between editions, and check for local amendments