# 2018 IMC Definition?



## mtlogcabin (Sep 17, 2019)

So the 2018 IMC includes a definition within a definition that is left open ended for the building official to make a determination. Specifically I am looking at how or what you may use to determine "volume and frequency" for domestic cooking. The commentary was of little help for making a distinction between commercial and domestic volume or frequency.

COMMERCIAL COOKING APPLIANCES. Appliances used in a commercial food service establishment for heating or cooking food. For the purpose of this definition, a commercial food service establishment is where food is prepared for sale or is prepared on a scale that is by volume and frequency not representative of domestic household cooking.

I am trying to come up with a policy to clarify the definition when we have the 2018 adopted at the end of the year. Any help or ideas is greatly appreciated

[A] 104.1 General.
The code official is hereby authorized and directed to enforce the provisions of this code. The code official shall have the authority to render interpretations of this code and to adopt policies and procedures in order to clarify the application of its provisions. Such interpretations, policies and procedures shall be in compliance with the intent and purpose of this code. Such policies and procedures shall not have the effect of waiving requirements specifically provided for in this code.


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## cda (Sep 17, 2019)

Are you trying to exclude some places??

Churches
Fire stations
Day cares
Community centers 

Other???


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## rgrace (Sep 17, 2019)

I don't know if this will helpful, but here is the reason statement from the ICC Code Action Committee, who submitted this change (M3-15):
(as a side note, this definition is also in the IFC, but was not changed in 2018, so if you adopt both, we have two different definitions now)

*Reason:*
1) The current definition is circular in that Chapter 5 uses the term and dictates where a hood is required for such appliances, yet
this definition says that a commercial cooking appliance is something that requires a hood (local exhaust system). The current
definition is flawed because if Chapter 5 does not require a hood for a particular cooking appliance, then this definition would
say that it is no longer a commercial cooking appliance.
2) The laundry list of appliances in this definition is incomplete and is redundant with and overlaps the definitions of light-,
medium- and heavy-duty cooking appliances. The overlap among the definitions creates confusion.
3) There is no accepted definition for "commercial" therefore this proposal attempts to reunite the term with its roots.
"Commercial" means commerce which means money exchanging hands, buying and selling. Clearly the cooking of food for
sale is commercial, however, it becomes muddy when the cooking is large scale and frequent, but food is not sold. Consider
charity kitchens, some church kitchens and some institutional occupancies. If food is not being sold, then other considerations
such as volume and frequency of cooking must dictate what is commercial, because as the volume and frequency increase, so
too do the hazards associated with such cooking.
4) The current definition says that ANY building or portion thereof used for preparing food is a food service establishment. This is
extremely broad and could include, for example, a kitchenette (lunch/break room) in an office building. Food service
establishments include, but are not limited to: restaurants, cafeterias, institutional kitchens, charity kitchens, dormitory and
barrack kitchens, cooking schools, church kitchens, school cafeteria kitchens, mercantile kitchens, banquet and catering
facilities, bakeries, wholesale production kitchens, and similar occupancies. The volume and frequency of cooking in these
occupancies is not representative of domestic household cooking.
The revised definition dumps the appliance laundry list and describes what would be considered as commercial food service
establishments, which is the intent of the definition. Chapter 5 determines where hoods are required, not this definition. The revised
text nails down what is commercial by tying it to sales, and attempts to categorize the non-sales cooking facilities by contrasting
them with domestic cooking. This is as close as we can get to defining "commercial." If the cooking looks, smells, sounds and tastes
like domestic cooking, then the code does not intend to treat it as commercial because the fire and health hazards just aren't there.


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## cda (Sep 17, 2019)

What he said


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## cda (Sep 17, 2019)

Who writes these codes anyway???


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## steveray (Sep 17, 2019)

3 meals a day 4 people....20 meals?


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## cda (Sep 17, 2019)

steveray said:


> 3 meals a day 4 people....20 meals?




Someone eats good


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## Builder Bob (Sep 17, 2019)

To open ended and very subject to interpretations - so much for "International" codes when this puts a major kink into the definition of commercial operations....

I liked it better with residential (domestic) style cooking equipment or commercial kitchen grade equipment. Fairly cut and dried there.


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## mtlogcabin (Sep 17, 2019)

rgrace
That is exactly what the commentary says which is nothing definitive when you read the last sentence.
" If the cooking looks, smells, sounds and tastes like domestic cooking, then the code does not intend to treat it as commercial because the fire and health hazards just aren't there."
I have a proposed youth counseling office that also teaches the teens how to prepare meals, maximum 10 teens any day Monday through Friday. No problem everything is domestic and I believe that is the intent of the definition.

Maybe it is just one of those things that you will know it when you see it.


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## Rick18071 (Sep 18, 2019)

I already let them use residential hoods and stoves for a rehab center where they teach people how to live at home and at home- ed classrooms. This sounds like the same thing.


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## ADAguy (Sep 20, 2019)

mtlogcabin said:


> rgrace
> That is exactly what the commentary says which is nothing definitive when you read the last sentence.
> " If the cooking looks, smells, sounds and tastes like domestic cooking, then the code does not intend to treat it as commercial because the fire and health hazards just aren't there."
> I have a proposed youth counseling office that also teaches the teens how to prepare meals, maximum 10 teens any day Monday through Friday. No problem everything is domestic and I believe that is the intent of the definition.
> ...



Try this: if it requires a health dept permit its commercial, consider that kitchens in group homes don't require health dept permits.


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