San Jose
Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health
In short
Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health issues 2 permits we publish for San Jose, last verified 2026-09-05. 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 Establishment Permit | Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health | Priced on employee count and a three-tier risk category at once, effective March 1, 2026: 0–5 employees — $664.00 (Risk Category 1), $1,377.00 (Risk Category 2), $2,281.00 (Risk Category 3); 6–25 employees — $848.00 / $1,453.00 / $2,478.00; 26 or more employees — $909.00 / $1,549.00 / $2,839.00. A separate $423.00 facility evaluation application fee applies to a new, remodeled or takeover facility before this operating permit issues. | annual | 2026-09-05 |
| Mobile Food Facility Permit | Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health | $493–$1,026 a year — $493.00 with no food preparation on board, $795.00 for limited food preparation, $1,026.00 for full food preparation | annual | 2026-09-05 |
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 Establishment Permit
San Jose itself runs no restaurant permitting program — Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health is the sole permitting and inspecting authority for every food facility in the county, confirmed across the department's own site structure and the state's environmental health department directory. There is no single 'food establishment permit fee' — risk category is assigned by the county based on the complexity of food handling, so two restaurants with the same headcount can pay very different amounts. Before an operating permit issues, a new, remodeled or takeover facility must also pass the $423.00 facility evaluation, priced separately from the annual permit itself.
Mobile Food Facility Permit
Priced by how much food preparation actually happens on board, not by employee count the way a fixed restaurant is — a genuinely different axis from the food-establishment permit above. Santa Clara County DEH is the same sole health permitting authority for mobile units as for fixed facilities. The City separately regulates where and how food is sold from vehicles and carts: under San José Municipal Code Chapter 6.54 a peddler business selling food on public streets needs a peddler business permit from the chief of police (and §6.54.215.D requires food peddlers to display this County permit), ice cream trucks are permitted under Chapter 6.39, and §20.80.810 requires a Planning administrative permit for a stationary vending facility on private property — those City permits are separate records.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- San Jose
- Phone
- (408) 918-3400
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.
- Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health — food facility permit fee schedule, effective March 1, 2026; content supplied directly by the requester after this domain returned 403 to every automated attemptSanta Clara County Department of Environmental Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-05
Other offices serving San Jose
- San José Police Department, Permits Unit
- City of San José Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, Code Enforcement Division
- City of San José Finance Department, Business Tax and Registration
- City of San José Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, Planning Division
- City of San José Department of Public Works, Development Services
- San José Fire Department, Bureau of Fire Prevention
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
California jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.