Routine cleaning, pumping, and inspection of grease traps and interceptors that serve food service areas in the property, as required by local plumbing codes.
Key Takeaways
| Lease Type | Recoverable? | Controllable? |
|---|---|---|
| NNN | Yes | Yes |
| Modified Gross | Yes | Yes |
| Full-Service Gross | No | Yes |
CapEx Risk: This line item is commonly used to disguise capital expenditures as operating expenses. Verify all invoices against GAAP standards.
Approximate budget share: 0.2-1% of total CAM pool.
Grease trap maintenance covers the routine servicing of grease interceptors that capture fats, oils, and grease (FOG) from food service operations before they enter the municipal sewer system. Local plumbing codes typically require pumping and cleaning on a quarterly basis, along with periodic inspections to verify the trap is functioning correctly and meeting discharge limits. These are predictable, recurring costs directly attributable to food service operations. The primary dispute for non-food tenants is allocation. Grease trap maintenance is a cost generated exclusively by food service tenants, and allocating it to the general CAM pool forces non-food tenants to subsidize a service they do not use. Properties with food courts or multiple food tenants should maintain a food service sub-pool for these costs. The secondary dispute is capital vs. operating classification. A grease trap has a useful life of 15-25 years. When it reaches end of life and requires full replacement, or when the plumbing system connecting it requires reconstruction, those costs are capital expenditures that must be amortized, not expensed in a single year.
Overcharge Risk
$500-$4,000/year
typical annual overcharge when this line item is disputed
Landlords allocate grease trap maintenance for food service tenants to the entire CAM pool, making non-food tenants pay for a service they do not use or benefit from. Also, grease trap replacement costs are sometimes disguised as maintenance.
This line item is commonly used to disguise capital expenditures as operating expenses. Capital expenditures must be excluded from CAM or amortized over their useful life per GAAP. If you see unusually high or one-time charges in this category, request all invoices and scope-of-work documentation before paying.
| Legitimate Charge | Suspicious Charge |
|---|---|
| Quarterly grease trap pumping and cleaning allocated to food service tenants | Grease trap costs allocated to the general CAM pool including non-food tenants |
| Annual grease trap inspection and compliance reporting per local code | Grease trap replacement or interceptor installation billed as "routine maintenance" |
| Minor repairs to existing grease trap components at predictable intervals | Plumbing reconstruction costs bundled with grease trap cleaning in the same invoice |
Challenge the allocation: grease trap maintenance should be charged to food service tenants, not the general CAM pool. Also demand vendor invoices that distinguish routine pumping and cleaning from grease trap replacement or plumbing reconstruction, which are capital expenditures.
Check Your Grease Trap Maintenance Charges
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