Denver's commercial-kitchen rules are unusually plan-review driven. A restaurant in RiNo, LoDo, Cherry Creek, or South Broadway is not governed simply by its neighborhood name: the building's sanitary connection, food-service process, and current Sewer Use and Drainage Permit (SUDP) review determine what pretreatment is required. That distinction matters when a tenant takes over an older space or changes a menu.
The City and County of Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) Wastewater Management operates the municipal sanitary-sewer system and reviews SUDP work. Denver Water bills sanitary-sewer charges, but billing and food-establishment health licensing are not substitutes for DOTI wastewater review. Confirm the address, connection, and current permit path with DOTI before relying on a prior tenant's interceptor or on a county rule.
Denver's actual review path
Denver's SUDP food-and-beverage guidance says grease-interceptor designs belong in the restaurant's building-permit documents. It describes interceptors as required at nonresidential premises where food is prepared or processed, or where an industrial process involves organic waste, while allowing a project-specific variance process for facilities that generate little or no grease or solids. Existing interceptors may need inspection for condition and size before approval. A change in mode of operation, such as a new process, menu, seating capacity, equipment, or space, triggers additional review even when ownership alone might not. Keep the approved plans, fixture schedule, inspection findings, and any variance together; a service receipt cannot replace a design review when the use changes.
Fixture routing is not one-size-fits-all
Denver's current SUDP answers make the local distinction concrete: kitchen, food-preparation, and ware-washing dishwashers and hand-wash sinks in those areas route through the interceptor; beverage-service bar dishwashers generally do not. A beverage-only station or a coffee shop serving prepackaged or heat-and-serve food may not need the same system, but DOTI makes the final determination. An interceptor in a basement can be permitted when maintenance access is provided; an ejector upstream of it is not allowed. Ask the reviewer before plumbing a shared tenant space. The same caution applies to a mop sink: location and whether it is the tenant's only mop sink can change the routing analysis.
Corridor planning and truck access
RiNo breweries and restaurants, LoDo's tight historic blocks, Cherry Creek's structured parking, and the older South Broadway and Globeville commercial stock create different access problems. This is planning advice, not a claim that the city assigns different frequencies by neighborhood: walk the route from the interceptor lid or pump-out port to a legal truck position, check alley and loading restrictions, and coordinate with a landlord before booking. For a shared building, identify which tenant fixtures drain to the device and leave the lid, cleanouts, and remote ports unobstructed. In a basement or structured-parking setting, confirm fixed-port or hose access with the designer; do not assume a truck can park directly over the tank.
Records, manifests, and two different grease streams
Treat pumped interceptor contents as commercial wastewater waste, not as a used-cooking-oil recycling pickup. Keep the service report, measured condition, date, and destination documentation with the SUDP and maintenance file, and ask DOTI or the receiving authority what records the permit requires. Used fryer oil or yellow grease should be collected separately for a qualified recycler or hauler. Denver's public wastewater pages do not establish a city drop-off or acceptance program for a restaurant's hauled grease, so never describe a disposal site as approved without written confirmation. Drain screens and dry wiping reduce what reaches the device, but they do not waive an interceptor, inspection, or hauling obligation.
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