Kitchen exhaust systems serve only the restaurant space and benefit no other tenant. Billing their maintenance, repair, or replacement as a shared CAM expense is a common billing error in food-service leases. CAMAudit flags this under both the excluded-service-charges rule and the common-area-misclassification rule because kitchen exhaust is neither a common area nor a shared service.
TL;DR
Kitchen exhaust charges billed to CAM inflate every tenant's bill because the cost is spread across the pro-rata pool; disputing it both removes the charge from your bill and may reduce other tenants' charges as well.
Who this is for
Restaurant tenants in multi-tenant properties who see line items for kitchen exhaust, grease trap, hood cleaning, or commercial kitchen ventilation on their CAM reconciliation.
Who this is not for
Restaurant tenants whose lease explicitly includes kitchen exhaust maintenance as a recoverable shared cost, or where the kitchen exhaust system serves multiple tenant spaces.
Excluded Service Charges
CAMAudit identifies kitchen exhaust and grease trap services as tenant-specific expenses that serve only the restaurant space and flags them when they appear in the shared CAM pool.
Common Area Misclassification
The scan flags kitchen exhaust line items as non-common-area services that have been incorrectly classified as shared operating expenses.
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Next Best Step
Scenario pages should bridge from diagnosis into the dispute path and audit proof.
Use the audit process if you still need to validate the billing error.
Use the dispute playbook if the issue is already active.
Run the free audit once you are ready to quantify the overcharge.
Ready to skip the reading and document the overcharge directly?
Find My OverchargesThis page provides general educational information. It is not legal advice and may not reflect the most current law in your state. Consult a licensed attorney for advice specific to your situation.