Ask the owner for the kitchen hood's mechanical performance certificate, then trace Seattle Fire's acceptance record separately. The first concerns hood operation; a Fire test submission or inspection note addresses a different part of the system. Match the site, hood and dates before using either paper to answer what is missing.
Which custodian has the record you need?
The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) commercial kitchen hood worksheet says a hood-system performance certificate is provided to the owner before final approval. It addresses operation, exhaust rate, makeup air, capture and containment. Its Record Number and Site Address blanks can help match a paper copy; treat them as matching aids rather than proof of public search fields or of a copy held by SDCI.
Seattle Fire's construction-inspection guidance describes pretesting systems that need functional tests and entering acceptance tests for new range hoods in TCE. In that guidance, TCE serves as a submission route rather than a public archive for retrieving a test or decision.
| Record question | Start with this custodian and ask for this evidence |
|---|---|
| Was the hood's mechanical performance documented? | Ask the owner or project file holder for the dated performance certificate and the hood/system it covers. If it is absent, ask SDCI only whether its records contain a copy or a related mechanical record. |
| What happened in the Fire acceptance process? | Identify the Fire-side test submission, inspection, any Field Notes or corrections, and the later recorded result. Ask Seattle Fire for the specific missing item it holds. |
This is a document-matching choice; either office may hold only part of the file. A mechanical certificate and a Fire inspection entry answer different questions: the certificate is the owner-held performance test, and the Fire entry records Fire acceptance. Look for both. Neither, by itself, proves building final approval or occupancy.
Keep the Fire events in their actual order
For an incomplete Fire folder, arrange the available papers by event rather than by filename:
- Identify the dated pretest and acceptance material said to have been entered in TCE. Record the system and project reference shown on the document you actually have.
- Match that material to the dated Seattle Fire inspection record. An appointment or request only schedules the inspection; the result is a later entry.
- Preserve any inspector Field Notes as their own record. The Fire engineering-inspection guidance describes missing or incomplete acceptance material being noted as a required correction; the later disposition is a separate entry.
- If there was a correction response, keep its date and scope, then look for the later Fire result. Leave an absent result blank rather than filling it with the response itself.
These are possible pieces of a record trail; a given file may hold fewer than four retrievable documents. The date of a test, the date something was sent and the date of an inspection can differ. A missing online item does not establish that a test was never performed, nor does a submitted test establish that Fire accepted it.
A fictional file with two different hoods
Imagine a fictional restaurant file: an owner-held performance certificate names Hood A and is dated March 4. A Fire test cover sheet dated March 12 names Hood B. A later note says corrections were supplied, but neither the note nor the later Fire result is in the folder. Calling the entire kitchen approved would erase two unresolved questions.
First check whether A and B are separate pieces of equipment, a renaming of one system, or a copied reference from another project. Compare the full site address, any SDCI record or permit reference, system designation, and document dates as clues supplied by the papers. Treat them as helpful details rather than required online inputs. If the certificate really covers A and the Fire material covers B, request the missing record for each named system rather than asking for a generic hood approval.
Next distinguish a correction's author and date from the Fire disposition. The inspector's later finding, rather than a contractor's statement that a correction was sent, shows whether it was resolved. Conversely, an unresolved Field Note alone is too thin to show that the present installation failed or is unsafe. Keep the mismatch visible until the exact record resolves it.
Recover a named copy without assuming a public hood archive
For permit context, SDCI's project-research guidance documents Search All Records in the Seattle Services Portal by address or record number, with general permit and inspection information from 2005 onward. It separates historical microfilm from that portal and names the Permit and Property Records library and Microfilm Library for older or unlocated material. That 2005 date covers general permit records; hood certificates and Fire acceptance records may follow a different range.
If the owner has no copy of the certificate, use SDCI's public-disclosure route to ask whether a specific mechanical record is held. For a Fire-side Field Note, test or later inspection result, Seattle Fire's contact guidance points to the City Public Records Request Center.
Describe the missing item with the site address as written, the known record or permit reference, the hood/system label, the date range and the document already held. If two papers disagree, identify both versions rather than silently making them match. Ask for the named missing record or for help identifying its custodian, rather than for a judgment on the whole project's approval.
The Seattle permit search guide helps locate general permit context. The final inspection status guide explains why an inspection request, a result and a final approval should be read separately. For the hood itself, you still need the certificate and the Fire acceptance trail.
Seattle SDCI and Seattle Fire pages checked October 6, 2026.