Buying a Reno Restaurant: The Grease Interceptor Is Your Problem From Day One

The clause

RMC 12.16.555(b)(6)(i)d: on a change of ownership, the new applicant “shall have the burden to demonstrate that a properly sized and functioning grease interceptor is installed.” The seller’s permit does not transfer the seller’s problems away. If the tank is undersized for the menu you plan, or the baffles are gone, that is your finding to fix.

Five things to ask for in due diligence

1. The last three years of trip tickets. The code requires them on site ((ii)f). Gaps mean the tank was not serviced or the records were not kept; both are now yours.
2. The percent-full reading on the most recent ticket. A tank at 20% was being maintained. A ticket with no reading was a skim.
3. The EC permit and the frequency written into it. Environmental Control, (775) 334-4230, can confirm the permit status.
4. The tank size against the sizing formula for your menu and hours. A sandwich shop’s 750-gallon minimum does not become a fryer restaurant’s tank by changing the sign. The formula, worked →
5. A lid lift. Twenty minutes with the lids off tells you more than the paperwork: cracked tees, a missing baffle, a cap thick enough to stand on.

What we do for a buyer

A pre-purchase pump-out and inspection with a written report: capacity, condition of baffles and tees, percent-full on arrival, and whether the tank fits the formula for the kitchen you intend to run. The report is the document you hand the seller for a price adjustment, or hand Environmental Control to show you met the burden.