About · Owner & crew
He left the bigger shops so the work he'd sign his name to would exist.
A short history of why Platinum exists, who runs it, and the standard every operator on the crew is trained to.
- Years in trade
- 17
- Owner sign-off
- 1
- Photos per job
- ~68
- Failed inspections
- 0
Act I
Platinum, since 2008.
Victor started Platinum in 2008 after learning the trade inside larger commercial cleaning shops. He knew what the work required, and what he didn't want his own company to become.
The pattern was always the same. A truck of three operators arrives at a kitchen at 11pm. The senior operator opens the hood, scans the job, makes a judgment about what can be skipped to make the next stop on time. The cleanout port on the horizontal duct is rusted shut — so it doesn't get opened. The fan-unit cover hasn't been pulled in eight months and the belt is past spec — but checking the belt isn't on the per-stop schedule. The certificate gets stamped anyway. The truck rolls.
He started Platinum in 2008, bought a Northstar hot-water unit on credit, registered the LLC, and drove to his first job the next morning. The first three years were residential. He picked up commercial work one account at a time — by referral, because the kitchens he'd serviced as a senior operator at the previous shop already knew his name. What they got from him personally was different from what they'd gotten from the shop's rotating crews. The certificate listed every NFPA-96 clause he'd actually executed. The photos were dated. The cleanouts were all open or fabricated. The fan belt got checked.
The brand promise was owner-operated. It worked. It also had a ceiling.
The pivot
He could cap the business at one truck. Or train people the way he wished he'd been trained.
Act II
A crew, trained to the standard.
The training arc is ninety days. No shortcuts, no auto-promote. Victor signs off in person on every operator's first solo commercial hood — or the timer resets.
By year five Victor had more demand than one person could service correctly. He picked the second option because the first one was just the old shop pattern in a smaller package — capping meant turning away kitchens he could help, or staying so booked that the work he did take suffered. Neither honored what he'd left the bigger shops to do.
The crew today is small on purpose. Big enough to run a 22-account commercial program with monthly cadence; small enough that Victor still knows what's happening at every site every week. He works alongside the crew on the largest jobs and sensitive accounts. He runs the rooftop fan re-spec personally on every account at least once a year — that work has the longest tail of consequence if it's done inattentively.
- DAY 01
Hire day
OSHA-10, rig walkthrough, SOP binder, residential ride-along.
- DAY 14
Residential
Softwash routes solo. Photo checklist on every job.
- DAY 30
Commercial shadow
Hood-side support with crew leaders. Cleanout protocol, baffle handling, riser brushwork.
- DAY 60
Cert language
Documentation deep-dive. Photo standard, NFPA clause citations, customer-facing language.
- DAY 90
Sign-off
Victor signs off in person on first solo commercial hood — or the timer resets.
03 · The crew
Who's on the wand.
Every crew leader below has more than five years in the trade, carries NFPA-96 certification, and runs the same documented SOP on every job.
- VOwner
Victor.
Founded Platinum in 2008. Trains every operator. Hood-side on the largest commercial jobs, rooftop on every fan-unit re-spec.
17 yrs in the trade NFPA-96 Certified · Licensed · $2M Liability Insured - BCrew Leader
Brent.
Crew leader with more than five years in the trade. Runs the same NFPA-96 checklist and photo standard on every job.
5+ yrs in the trade NFPA-96 Certified · OSHA-10 - DCrew Leader
David.
Crew leader with more than five years in the trade. Works across commercial kitchen, industrial steam, and softwash routes.
5+ yrs in the trade NFPA-96 Certified · OSHA-10 - MCrew Leader
Marcus.
Crew leader with more than five years in the trade. Leads field work under Platinum's documented operating standard.
5+ yrs in the trade NFPA-96 Certified · OSHA-10
04 · What every operator carries
Standards, not aspirations.
- NFPA-96 Certified
- Every commercial kitchen exhaust job ships with NFPA-96 compliance documentation.
- Licensed & Insured
- Michigan-licensed commercial contractor with $2M general liability coverage.
- Owner on every job
- Victor Lyons founded Platinum in 2008, runs the wand, and signs the paperwork. No subcontractors.
- Equipment
- Northstar · 4,200 PSI · 240°F. Same rig across the crew.
Platinum exists because the people paying the bill should know the people doing the work — and the work should hold up whether or not I'm the one holding the wand. We train every operator to the standard I'd hold myself to, and we photograph every job so the proof doesn't depend on memory.