FOG Compliance Checklist
A complete fats, oils, and grease compliance checklist for commercial kitchens. Work through all five compliance areas, track your progress, and print a completed record for your FOG binder or health department inspection.
Printable Grease Trap Maintenance Checklist
Use this checklist after every inspection or service visit. Check each item, add the date and technician initials, then print or save the completed page with your manifests.
- ☐ Inspect grease and solids depth; record the measurement.
- ☐ Check lids, gaskets, baffles, flow controls, and visible piping.
- ☐ Confirm the trap was fully pumped, scraped, and refilled after service.
- ☐ Record the service company, hauler, disposal site, date, and manifest number.
- ☐ Check for odors, slow drainage, leaks, backups, or pest activity.
- ☐ Confirm staff are scraping dishes and keeping food solids out of drains.
- ☐ Schedule the next inspection and pump-out before the local limit is reached.
Need dates and annual cost projections? Use the grease trap cleaning schedule planner.
Be Ready Before an Inspector Arrives
FOG compliance inspections are typically unannounced. Inspectors from your local sewer authority or health department can request to see your grease trap, your service records, and your waste manifests at any time. Operators who can produce a complete, organized compliance record on the spot rarely receive fines. Operators who can't often do — even when the underlying work was done correctly.
This checklist covers all five compliance areas: trap installation and sizing, cleaning frequency and documentation, waste manifest records, best management practices (BMPs), and staff training. Check each item off as you verify it. When complete, print the page for your FOG compliance binder.
Note: This checklist reflects common requirements across US and Canadian FOG ordinances. Your specific jurisdiction may have additional requirements. When in doubt, contact your local sewer authority or municipal FOG coordinator for the applicable ordinance.
FOG Compliance Checklist
Check each item to track your compliance status. Progress saves while you work.
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Printable Grease Trap Maintenance Checklist
Use this checklist after every inspection or service visit. Check each item, add the date and technician initials, then print or save the completed page with your manifests.
- ☐ Inspect grease and solids depth; record the measurement.
- ☐ Check lids, gaskets, baffles, flow controls, and visible piping.
- ☐ Confirm the trap was fully pumped, scraped, and refilled after service.
- ☐ Record the service company, hauler, disposal site, date, and manifest number.
- ☐ Check for odors, slow drainage, leaks, backups, or pest activity.
- ☐ Confirm staff are scraping dishes and keeping food solids out of drains.
- ☐ Schedule the next inspection and pump-out before the local limit is reached.
Need dates and annual cost projections? Use the grease trap cleaning schedule planner.
What FOG Inspectors Actually Look For
Municipal FOG inspectors vary in how they conduct inspections, but the core documentation request is consistent across jurisdictions: they want to see that your trap is properly sized, being cleaned on schedule, and that you have the paperwork to prove it. A well-maintained binder with organized service reports and waste manifests communicates competence and good faith — inspectors are human, and paperwork demonstrating proactive compliance changes the tone of an inspection.
The most common violations found during inspections are not catastrophic failures. They're documentation gaps: missing waste manifests, service reports with incomplete information (no gallons removed, no before/after measurements), or cleaning intervals that have slipped by a few weeks without a written reason. These are easy to fix before an inspection and costly to explain during one.
The BMP section of this checklist is frequently overlooked. Enzyme and bacterial additives are marketed to restaurant operators as a way to reduce cleaning frequency, but they can loosen FOG enough to carry it past the trap and into the sewer, which is exactly what FOG rules exist to prevent. Some local programs prohibit them outright: Calgary's wastewater bylaw, for example, sets a $1,000 fine for using emulsifiers, enzymes, bacteria or other agents to push FOG through an interceptor. Check your local sewer-use rules before using any additive.
FOG Compliance — Common Questions
Based on common municipal FOG ordinance requirements across the US and Canada.
It varies significantly by jurisdiction. Some municipalities inspect all food service operations annually; others only inspect in response to complaints or sewer blockage events traced to a specific area. High-risk operations (large volume, history of violations) are inspected more frequently. In jurisdictions with active FOG programs like NYC, LA, and Dallas, inspections can happen without advance notice at any time the kitchen is operating. The safest assumption is that your documentation could be requested any day.
How a violation is handled depends on the local program: some issue a corrective notice with time to fix documentation problems, others fine immediately. Fines for operational violations (a trap above 25%, FOG discharged to the sewer, prohibited additives) vary widely. Calgary sets $1,000 for using additives to push FOG through an interceptor, and New York City's maximum penalty is $10,000 per day, per violation. Our FOG violation fines database lists city-by-city figures with their sources. Some cities can also recover the cost of clearing a sewer blockage from the business that caused it.
It depends on the jurisdiction. Some prohibit using enzymes, emulsifiers, bacteria or other agents to push FOG through a trap, because loosened FOG can pass into the sewer and defeat the purpose of the trap. Calgary, for example, fines this at $1,000. Others allow approved biological treatments as a supplement to, not a replacement for, regular pumping. Never use an additive without first confirming with your local sewer authority that the specific product is permitted.
Most FOG ordinances apply to any food service establishment that discharges to the municipal sewer — including cafes, bakeries, and food trucks with a commissary connection. The threshold is typically any operation that prepares or serves food using cooking processes that generate FOG. Low-volume operations may qualify for a passive under-sink trap rather than an outdoor interceptor, and cleaning intervals may be less frequent — but the documentation requirements (service records, waste manifests, BMP compliance) generally apply regardless of size. Check your local ordinance for any small-establishment exemptions.
Respond within the timeframe specified — typically 30 days for a corrective action notice. Schedule immediate cleaning if the violation involved trap condition. Assemble your compliance documentation (service records, manifests, schedule) and submit a written response demonstrating corrective action taken and the steps you've put in place to prevent recurrence. Municipalities respond well to operators who engage proactively. If the violation involves a fine, you typically have the right to request an administrative hearing — document everything and attend prepared with your compliance binder.
Official Sources
- International Code Council — 2021 International Plumbing Code, Chapter 10: Traps, Interceptors and Separators (grease interceptor sizing and installation)
- City of Toronto — Grease Interceptor Maintenance (an example of the 25% rule in local code: service every four weeks or before grease and solids reach 25% of liquid volume; records kept at least seven years)
- City of Calgary — Wastewater Bylaw 14M2012 penalties (section 27(4): $1,000 for using enzymes, bacteria or other agents to push FOG through an interceptor)
- NYC Department of Environmental Protection — Disposing of Grease as a Business (maximum penalty $10,000 per day, per violation)
Fact-checked September 23, 2026.
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