San Jose · Fire and Food Safety
San Jose Commercial Kitchen Compliance
A commercial kitchen in San Jose answers to three different agencies: the San Jose Fire Department for fire safety, the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health for food safety, and the City of San Jose Environmental Services Department for grease. Here is who does what, and what each one expects to see.
Who Enforces Fire Code in San Jose
Inside city limits, fire code is enforced by the San Jose Fire Department's Bureau of Fire Prevention. The bureau conducts annual, state-mandated fire and life safety inspections of buildings across the city. An inspector walks the property with you, and any violation comes as a written Notice of Violation with a set time to correct it.
The city adopts the California Fire Code, with its own local amendments, as the City of San Jose Fire Code in Chapter 17.12 of the San Jose Municipal Code. The 2025 California Fire Code has been in effect statewide since January 1, 2026, and it is the path by which NFPA 96, the standard for commercial kitchen exhaust systems, applies to your hood, ducts and fan, in the edition California has adopted.
In practice, that means a San Jose fire inspector can ask for proof that your exhaust system is cleaned on the frequency your cooking calls for, and that your suppression system has been serviced on schedule. If your business holds an operational fire permit, it must be signed and kept on the premises, ready for the inspector.
Who Inspects Food Safety in San Jose
Food safety in San Jose is inspected by the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health, not by the city.
Santa Clara County uses two signals at once. The placard is green for pass (no more than one major violation, corrected on the spot), yellow for a conditional pass (two or more major violations corrected during the inspection, with a reinspection that can come within three business days), and red for closure. Separately, each inspection gets a numerical score for overall compliance, and both are published online.
What's Local: Grease
San Jose regulates grease through the Environmental Services Department's Fats, Oils and Grease Control Program, under Chapter 15.14 of the San Jose Municipal Code. There are no permits or fees for the program's inspections or plan checks.
The usable part: the city offers a free online service, SwiftComply, for your grease control device's pump-out records. Records uploaded there satisfy the recordkeeping requirement in section 15.14.650, your service provider can upload them for you, and enrolled kitchens can see fewer in-person inspections.
San Jose Follows Santa Clara County's Framework
For how Santa Clara County placards, scores and publishes inspections, and how it compares with the rest of California, see the Santa Clara County page.