Glossary
The vocabulary of restaurant conversion.
The technical language of a restaurant permit set — BTU, MUA, NFPA 96, Type I hood, AHJ, IECC, plan check — in plain English. Bookmark this page; every guide and blog post on this site deep-links here so a defined term is always one click away.
Mechanical
Mechanical terms
- BTU (British Thermal Unit)· BTU
- The unit of energy a gas-fired cooking appliance consumes per hour. A standard residential burner is ~12,000 BTU; a commercial wok burner is 100,000–150,000 BTU per ring.
- CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute)· CFM
- The volumetric flow rate of an exhaust hood or make-up air unit. A typical commercial pizza hood pulls 1,500–2,500 CFM; a high-BTU wok hood can pull 4,000+ CFM.
- Make-Up Air· MUA
- Conditioned outside air drawn into the kitchen to replace what the hood exhausts. Sized at 80–85% of exhaust CFM as a tempered, dedicated unit.
- Type I Hood
- A grease-rated commercial exhaust hood with stainless construction, filter banks, and fire-suppression integration. Required over all grease-producing appliances per NFPA 96.
- Type II Hood
- A low-velocity hood rated for steam, heat, and odor — but NOT grease. Used over dishwashers, steam tables, ovens that vent steam only.
- Capture Velocity
- The face-velocity at the hood opening required to actually capture rising cooking effluent. NFPA 96 specifies 150 FPM minimum for most Type I applications.
- Ember Collector
- A baffle / pan assembly inside a Type I hood that catches embers and sparks rising from solid-fuel appliances (wood ovens, charcoal smokers, charcoal grills).
- Spark Arrestor
- A wire-mesh device at the rooftop termination of a solid-fuel exhaust duct that prevents burning embers from escaping into the atmosphere.
- Climate Zone
- The ASHRAE / IECC classification of a project's climate (1A – 8) used to set envelope, HVAC, and energy compliance paths. Phoenix is 2B (hot-dry); Houston is 2A (hot-humid).
Why it matters: Hood, MUA, gas-line, and meter sizing all flow from total BTU load. Under-sizing here is the single most expensive correction in a restaurant conversion.
Link →Why it matters: NFPA 96 sets capture-velocity minimums in CFM per linear foot of hood. Inherited hoods sized for a sandwich line cannot satisfy a wok line.
Link →Why it matters: Without MUA, the hood pulls negative pressure through the front door — slamming it, chasing customers out, and starving combustion appliances of oxygen.
Link →Why it matters: Almost every restaurant conversion needs at least one Type I hood; some need two (gas-line + solid-fuel) because they cannot share ductwork.
Link →Why it matters: Spec-ing Type II over a flour-dusting bakery station or espresso bar keeps the cleaner work zone code-compliant without the cost of a Type I.
Link →Why it matters: A hood at the right CFM can still fail plan-check if the face-velocity geometry is wrong. Houston enforces this aggressively.
Link →Why it matters: NFPA 96 requires this on every solid-fuel hood. A gas-line hood without it cannot legally serve a wood-fired pizza oven.
Link →Why it matters: Code-required for every solid-fuel duct. Missing spark-arrestors are a top-three cause of restaurant rooftop fires.
Link →Why it matters: Same hood schedule needs different MUA tempering depending on climate. A Phoenix design dropped into Houston without re-engineering will create humidity problems.
Link →Plumbing
Plumbing terms
- Grease Interceptor
- An in-ground or in-line tank that separates fats, oils, and grease (FOG) from kitchen wastewater before it enters the sewer. Sized per IPC §1003 fixture-unit math.
- Fats, Oils, and Grease· FOG
- The grease load a kitchen sends to its interceptor. Wok cooking generates 2–3× the FOG of a sauté line; fried-chicken 4-vat lines generate more again.
- Floor Drain
- A floor-level drain typically required under hood, sink, and ice-machine areas. Min 2" pipe diameter for most commercial uses; 3" for high-volume.
- Indirect Waste
- A drain that discharges to a floor sink with an air gap (not a direct connection to the sewer). Required for ice machines, food-prep sinks, and most refrigeration condensate lines.
Why it matters: Under-sized interceptors back up monthly and fail health inspection. Re-sizing after slab pour can be a six-figure rework.
Link →Why it matters: Local FOG rules vary materially. Phoenix and Houston enforce strict sizing; some smaller jurisdictions are looser but local pump-out frequency is higher.
Link →Why it matters: If the existing slab does not have drains in the right spots, saw-cutting concrete to add them is $3K–$8K per drain plus permit time.
Link →Why it matters: Inherited spaces often have direct-waste connections that need to be re-plumbed before health-department sign-off.
Link →Electrical
Electrical terms
- Three-Phase Power· 3-phase
- A 208V or 480V power service that delivers three alternating-current phases — required for most large commercial equipment (mixers, batch freezers, induction tables, large dish machines).
- Amperage
- The current draw of a circuit, measured in amperes (A). A 3-group espresso machine pulls 30–40A at 208V; a pressure fryer pulls 30–50A.
- Sub-Panel
- A secondary electrical panel fed from the main service, used to localize circuits in a specific zone (kitchen, basement, rooftop).
Why it matters: Most retail shells were single-phase 120/240V. Upgrading to 3-phase is a $5K–$25K transformer + service rework depending on utility coordination.
Link →Why it matters: Inherited 20A receptacles cannot serve most commercial cook-line equipment. New dedicated circuits and panel capacity are mandatory line items.
Link →Why it matters: High-amperage kitchens often need a dedicated sub-panel; expect $4K–$9K including conduit, wire, and labor.
Link →Code
Code terms
- Authority Having Jurisdiction· AHJ
- The local government body that issues building permits and enforces code in a specific jurisdiction — typically the city building department.
- International Building Code· IBC
- The model commercial building code published by the International Code Council and adopted (with state amendments) by most U.S. jurisdictions. Current edition: IBC 2024.
- International Residential Code· IRC
- The model residential code (1- and 2-family dwellings). Applies to custom homes and most ADUs; not to commercial restaurant TI.
- International Energy Conservation Code· IECC
- The model energy code governing building envelope, HVAC efficiency, lighting power density, and commissioning. Current edition: IECC 2024.
- NFPA 96
- The National Fire Protection Association standard for the ventilation control and fire protection of commercial cooking operations. The default rulebook for hoods, ducts, and suppression.
- International Plumbing Code· IPC
- The model plumbing code. Section 1003 sets grease-interceptor sizing; Section 802 covers indirect waste; numerous others govern fixture-unit math and drain venting.
- Americans with Disabilities Act· ADA
- Federal civil-rights law requiring accessible design in public-accommodation spaces. Implemented through the 2010 ADA Standards (federal) and Chapter 11 of the IBC (state-adopted).
- Occupancy Classification
- The IBC category that controls a building's required egress, sprinkler load, fire separation, and bathroom count. Restaurants are typically A-2 (Assembly, dining) or B (Business, ≤50 occupants).
- Occupant Load
- The IBC-prescribed maximum number of people permitted in a space. Calculated by dividing net floor area by an occupancy-specific factor (15 sq ft / person for dining; 7 for standing assembly).
Why it matters: Two restaurants 8 miles apart can have wildly different plan-check rhythms and code interpretations because they sit under different AHJs.
Link →Why it matters: Restaurant TI plan-check is anchored in IBC + the local amendment overlay. Knowing both is the difference between one and three correction cycles.
Link →Why it matters: Live/work or attached-restaurant projects sometimes straddle IBC + IRC; pulling the right code path early avoids late-stage re-engineering.
Link →Why it matters: Restaurants are energy-intensive; IECC compliance on hood schedules, MUA, and lighting routinely surprises operators coming from older shells.
Link →Why it matters: Every restaurant conversion is graded against NFPA 96. Hood gaps, duct clearances, and access-panel rules originate here.
Link →Why it matters: IPC §1003 is the single most-cited interceptor sizing reference in restaurant plan review — know it before you bid the lease.
Link →Why it matters: California enforces ADA aggressively (CBC §11B); LA + Bay AHJs correct nearly every first review. 5% of seating min 1 must be accessible.
Link →Why it matters: Crossing the 50-occupant threshold flips a small café from B to A-2 — different exit count, different bathroom math. The threshold is binary.
Link →Why it matters: Occupant load drives bathroom count, exit-door width, and emergency-lighting math. A 2,000 SF bar = 133 occupants = full A-2 bathroom rules.
Link →Process
Process terms
- Plan Check
- The AHJ's formal review of a submitted permit set against code. Reviewers issue corrections; the design team responds; the cycle repeats until the set clears.
- Permit-Ready Set
- A complete architectural drawing set sufficient for plan-check submission — code analysis, site, floor plan, RCP, elevations, schedules, MEP coordination notes.
- Code Memo
- A pre-drafting deliverable identifying applicable codes, occupant load, IBC section analysis, and flagged compliance risks BEFORE any sheets are drawn.
- Request for Information· RFI
- A formal question from the contractor or AHJ during construction asking the designer to clarify intent, dimension, or specification of the drawings.
- Certificate of Occupancy· CO
- The final AHJ document permitting the building to be occupied — issued after final inspection passes building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, and fire-marshal sign-offs.
Why it matters: Anticipating plan-check pre-submission is what separates a 2-cycle permit from a 5-cycle one. Phoenix DSD averages 4–6 business days first review.
Link →Why it matters: Not the same as a construction set. Permit-ready clears AHJ review; CD-level adds the granular detail GCs need to build from. APD's default deliverable is permit-ready.
Link →Why it matters: A 72-hour code memo at kickoff catches deal-breaker issues (occupancy crossover, hood clearance) while there's still time to renegotiate the lease.
Link →Why it matters: Tracked, dated, and resolved cleanly, an RFI log keeps a project moving. Sloppy logs are how 2-week delays become 2-month delays.
Link →Why it matters: No CO = no opening day. The full sign-off chain (building + fire + health) is the last 2-4 weeks of every restaurant project.
Link →Walking a space and tripping on a term that's not on this page yet? Send it over — we'll add it.
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