Los Angeles
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division
In short
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division issues 3 permits we publish for Los Angeles, last verified 2026-09-03. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Facility Plan Checkonly if it applies to you | Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division | $1,044–$2,723 one-time, banded by floor area; expedited review costs half as much again | one-time, per project | 2026-09-03 |
| Mobile Food Facility Permit | Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division | $126–$761 a year, by vehicle type and risk | annual, on the County fiscal year — 1 July to 30 June | 2026-09-03 |
| Public Health Permit — Restaurant | Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division | $319–$1,438 a year, banded by seating capacity and risk category | annual, on the County fiscal year — 1 July to 30 June | 2026-09-03 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Food Facility Plan Check
Only new construction or major remodelling triggers this — the County defines that as renovation or addition to a food preparation area involving replacement or addition of equipment or fixtures, so taking over a working kitchen unchanged does not. Five bands by floor area, $1,044 under five hundred square feet up to $2,723 at ten thousand or more, and every expedited fee is exactly one and a half times the standard one. The sequence trips people up: Environmental Health approves the plans first, then LADBS, then you build, then LADBS signs off, and only then does Environmental Health do its final. Getting the last two the wrong way round means going back.
Mobile Food Facility Permit
Two different permits hide behind the phrase food truck. A compact mobile food operation is an unenclosed, non-motorised cart and runs $126, $299 or $592 by risk; a mobile food facility is a motorised vehicle and runs $325, $598 or $761. Risk here is predictable, unlike a restaurant's: prepackaged goods are low, precooked meats and smoothies moderate, raw meat high — so a taco or barbecue truck is a high-risk mobile food facility at $761. A commissary is generally required and permitted separately at $678 or $779. And this County permit is not sufficient on its own inside the City: vending on a City sidewalk or in a City park needs the StreetsLA permit as well.
Public Health Permit — Restaurant
This is a County permit, not a City one, and the mistake costs weeks. Public Health enforces the state food code everywhere in Los Angeles County except Long Beach, Pasadena and Vernon — and the City of Los Angeles is not one of those exceptions. The fee is a twelve-cell grid: four seating bands crossed with three risk categories, from $319 for up to thirty seats at low risk to $1,438 for a hundred and fifty-one seats or more at high risk. Risk is assigned by the County from the food served, the preparation methods and the operating history, not chosen by the operator, so at nought to thirty seats the real spread is $319 to $1,206 and cannot be predicted precisely in advance. It also sets inspection frequency. Do not pay before you are invoiced — the County says so explicitly. A re-inspection after a failure is billed at $145.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Los Angeles
- Phone
- (888) 700-9995
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Los Angeles County Department of Public Health — food trucks and carts, and the cities Public Health does not coverLos Angeles County Department of Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Los Angeles County Department of Public Health — FY 2026-2027 public health and financial management fee scheduleLos Angeles County Department of Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
Other offices serving Los Angeles
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
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Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.