Municipal

Fire inspection and kitchen fire safety

Two things. First, your municipality’s fire department may inspect a new restaurant, café, shop or kitchen — some before they issue your Business licenceYour municipality’s permission to do business there, renewed each year in most towns. It is separate from Island Health’s permits and from zoning: you usually need all three.All terms in the glossary, others on a yearly or risk-based schedule after you open. Second, any cooking that gives off grease-laden vapour — fryers, grills, woks, ranges — needs a hood, duct and automatic fire-suppression system built to the NFPA 96 standard, which the BC Building Code requires.

A change is coming

  • Nanaimo drops its own sprinkler requirement — proposed, no date set; it may not happen. What changes
Who issues it
Your fire department
Forms and pages

Do you need it?

You need it if

  • You open a restaurant, café, bakery, shop or commercial kitchen in a commercial space — your fire department may inspect it before your licence, or on its regular schedule after you open.
  • You cook with ranges, fryers, grills, woks, char-broilers or ovens roasting meat — anything that makes grease-laden vapour. That needs a hood, duct and fire-suppression system built to the NFPA 96 standard.

You don’t need it if

  • Your cooking makes no grease-laden vapour — pastry and baking ovens, conveyor pizza ovens, coffee makers, steamers, toasters. Nanaimo’s guide puts these under a lighter hood instead of an NFPA 96 system (you may still be inspected).
Where this comes from

Sources

How to get it

  1. 1

    Design the kitchen exhaust before you build

    For grease-vapour cooking: an NFPA 96 hood, duct and automatic suppression system, designed by a mechanical engineer and shown on your building permit drawings. Campbell River asks for engineered drawings with the application.

  2. 2

    Find out when your fire department inspects

    It differs by municipality (table below). Saanich, Sidney, North Cowichan and Courtenay inspect before the licence; Langford and Colwood route every licence through the fire department; Esquimalt, Oak Bay and Duncan inspect on a schedule after you open.

  3. 3

    Get ready for the inspection

    Extinguishers serviced and tagged within the last year; the suppression system serviced (every six months in Victoria’s and Campbell River’s checklists); hoods and ducts clean; exits clear; and a fire safety plan if your building needs one.

  4. 4

    Fix anything on the correction notice

    Deficiencies must be fixed before a licence is issued where the inspection comes first. The first inspection is usually free; repeat re-inspections cost $50 to $150.

Where this comes from

Sources

What a kitchen inspection looks at

  • Hood, duct and suppression system built and maintained to NFPA 96, with instructions for setting off the suppression by hand posted in the kitchen — a BC Fire Code rule everywhere.
  • Hoods and ducts cleaned at frequent intervals. Saanich says at least monthly; the Fire Code’s guidance is at least every 12 months, and every 3 months for deep frying or char-broiling. Campbell River sets inspection by how much you cook — monthly for solid fuel, quarterly for high-volume cooking, twice a year for moderate, yearly for low.
  • Suppression system serviced twice a year (Victoria, Campbell River).
  • A Class K extinguisher within 30 feet of the cooking (Campbell River), and every portable extinguisher serviced yearly with a tag.
  • Staff trained to use the extinguishers and set off the suppression system by hand (Campbell River).
  • A fire safety plan, written with the fire department and reviewed every 12 months: the Fire Code requires one in every building with a licensed restaurant, and in any assembly occupancy for more than 30 people.
  • Your occupant load, posted near the main entrance once it is over 60. Victoria and Campbell River calculate it for a fee, and Sidney sets a café’s seats from it.
Where this comes from

Sources

Fire inspections in each municipality

When the fire department inspects a restaurant, café, shop or kitchen, and what it costs.

  • The City may refer your licence application to the fire department’s Fire Prevention Division; an inspection done for a licence costs $100. A restaurant sends its seating plan and equipment layout with the licence application.

  • A Fire Prevention officer inspects before the licence is approved, and deficiencies must be fixed first. Book at 250-475-5500 once your construction permits are closed. Usually free; a second re-inspection costs $50. Kitchen hoods and ducts must be cleaned at least monthly.

  • The fire department reviews every licence application, with planning, bylaw and building; the whole review usually takes 2–4 weeks. No inspection fee is published.

  • No inspection before the licence is published. Fire inspectors visit commercial properties at least once a year; the scheduled inspection is free, and each re-inspection after a failed one costs $150.

  • No inspection before the licence is published. Inspections follow a risk-based schedule the Fire Chief sets; the first is free, and each follow-up for deficiencies costs $150.

  • The fire department is one of the departments that review a licence before it is issued. A commercial space may need an inspection — call 250-478-8321 and ask for the Prevention Division. No fee is published.

  • The Town’s licence and fire inspectors inspect the premises before the licence, at a time you arrange; every commercial space needs a 5 lb ABC extinguisher. A café or restaurant sends a floor plan to set its seats, posts its occupant load, and keeps an approved fire safety plan.

  • Depending on the business, Fire Code approval may be needed before the licence is issued. Regular inspections are free; a special inspection or a re-inspection costs $100.

  • No fire step in the licence process is published. Inspections are risk-based; one you request, or a second re-inspection, costs $110.

  • A food service needs a satisfactory fire department report before the licence; the inspection is booked after you apply, and the first is free (re-inspection $100). Restaurants are then inspected about every 12 months.

  • The building and fire inspectors inspect as part of the licence review — allow 2–3 weeks. Businesses are then inspected every year; there’s no routine fee, but repeated re-inspections cost $100 each.

  • Building and fire inspectors may inspect a commercial space before the licence. Routine inspections are free; others cost $133 an hour. In a restaurant kitchen: suppression serviced every 6 months, a Class K extinguisher within 30 ft, and the exhaust inspected monthly to yearly depending on how much you cook.

Where this comes from

Sources

Once you have it

  • Expect regular inspections. Since 2024 BC’s Fire Safety Act has each municipality inspect on a risk-based schedule it sets itself, and the Province ranks restaurants as low risk; one with a liquor-primary licence is high risk. In practice Courtenay, Esquimalt and North Cowichan say yearly; Saanich, Oak Bay, Nanaimo and Duncan leave the frequency to the Fire Chief.
  • Keep service tags current on the suppression system and extinguishers.
  • Review your fire safety plan every year and send updates to the fire department.
Where this comes from

Sources

What comes next

Municipal business licenceYour municipalityHealth operating permitIsland Health

Which businesses need it

Restaurants & cafésOpening or running a restaurant, café, take-out or coffee shop.BakeriesA hood only for frying or grilling; your licence may need a fire inspectionCaterers & personal chefsIf you build your own kitchenDelivery-only & ghost kitchensIf you build your own kitchenGrocers & specialty food shopsYour licence may need a fire inspectionButchers, delis & fishmongersYour licence may need a fire inspection

The rules behind this page

Last checked 5 November 2026. We check this guide regularly against Island Health, provincial and municipal sources, but regulations and laws change often and we can’t guarantee it is complete or current. Confirm with Island Health and your municipality before you apply, build or sell.

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