Grease interceptor requirement

Ontario’s Building Code defines an interceptor as a receptacle designed and installed to prevent oil, grease, sand or other materials from passing into a drainage system. Restaurant buyers meet the requirement when reviewing approvals and maintenance. This entry covers the Ontario Building Code and the City of Toronto only; check the rules where the premises are.

What the Building Code and Toronto say

• Ontario’s Building Code, Sentence 7.4.4.3(1), says that, except for suites of residential occupancy, a fixture that discharges sewage including fats, oils or grease in an area where food is cooked, processed or prepared shall discharge through a grease interceptor.
• Where one is required by that Sentence, it must conform to CSA B481.1 or CSA B481.2 (Sentence 7.2.3.2(3)).
• Toronto’s Municipal Code, § 681-10B, requires the owner or operator of an industrial operation where food is cooked, heated, processed or prepared, and connected to a municipal sewer, to install a grease interceptor in compliance with the Building Code and operate and maintain it according to the Food Service Establishment Environmental Code of Practice.

What to check or ask

Ask the seller for the interceptor’s installation approval and its maintenance records, and ask the City whether anything is outstanding. Toronto’s code lets its General Manager require a new interceptor where an existing one is detrimentally affecting the sewage works (§ 681-10B(1)(c)). The answer on transferring a food premises licence covers the wider approvals; see also food premises permit.