A range hood is not required in the kitchen of a site-built house unless an open-top broiler is installed, according to both the Florida Building Code (FBC) and International Residential Code (IRC). However, if you do install a range hood in a kitchen without an open-top broiler, it must exhaust to the exterior (not allowed to terminate in attic or crawl space), except that a range hood that is specifically designed to be ductless (listed and labeled) is not required to discharge to the outdoors as long as the kitchen has some other form of mechanical or natural ventilation. (M1505.1 and M1503).
Mobile/manufactured homes are required by HUD to have a kitchen exhaust fan that provides a minimum of 100 cfm. It can be either a through-the-wall exhaust type or range hood that discharges to the exterior.
While we hope you find this series of articles about home inspection helpful, they should not be considered an alternative to an actual home inspection by a local inspector. Also, construction standards vary in different parts of the country and it is possible that important issues related to your area may not be covered here.
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