Can strip center restaurants share a grease interceptor?

Peoria goes the other way: its code (Sec. 25-173(c)) lets the Director grant a written variance for shared or common interceptors when they meet the city's engineering guidelines. The other cities we reviewed do not publish a shared-interceptor rule the way Scottsdale does, so a shared tank in Chandler, Mesa or Tempe is a question for the plan reviewer, not something to assume. What they do publish is who carries the responsibility:

• Scottsdale 49-95(d): the interceptor is maintained by the industrial user at their expense, with written cleaning, repair and maintenance records kept at the facility for three years.
• Chandler: the owner of the FOG treatment device assumes the cost of cleaning and any maintenance or repairs.
• Mesa 8-4-22: the owner maintains the interceptor at the owner's expense and keeps records at the facility for three years.

When two tenants drain into one tank, nobody controls the fill rate. The tenant with the fryers can push the tank past 25 percent long before the quieter neighbor sees a problem, and the city looks to the owner or user of the device for the pump-out and the paper trail. If the records are not at your suite because the landlord hired the hauler, you still can't show them on inspection day.

1. 1Get the lease language. Who schedules the pump-out, who pays, who keeps the tickets?
2. 2Ask for copies of every service record. You want them at your facility if the city requires that.
3. 3Ask the city how it treats the device. Some existing centers were built under older rules.
4. 4Watch for a change of use. A remodel can trigger new requirements; see do I need a new grease interceptor for a former retail space.

Who pays for what is a lease question first. Our commercial plumbing tenant vs landlord page explains the usual split, and what size grease interceptor a restaurant needs covers sizing for a dedicated tank. HQ can review the existing plumbing and give a free estimate on adding a dedicated device.