Colorado — statewide
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability
In short
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability issues 2 permits we publish for Colorado — statewide, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Food Establishment License | Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability | $244–$1,063 a year for 2026, banded by establishment type and size; the schedule rises in 2027 and 2028 | annual | 2026-09-03 |
| Certified Food Protection Manageronly if it applies to you | Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability | No fee | set by the certifying programme, not by Colorado | 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
Retail Food Establishment License
Colorado now writes these fees into statute on a three-year escalator, so the number depends on the year as well as the business. For 2026 a restaurant or caterer pays $481 up to a hundred seats, $538 to two hundred and $581 above; a limited food service establishment $338; a grocery $244 or $441 by floor area, or $469 and $894 with a deli; a full-service mobile unit $481 and a prepackaged one $338. Every one of those rises on 1 January 2027 and again in 2028, after which the 2028 figures continue until a new schedule is set. Two qualifications matter. The statutory figures are a ceiling: a county or district board of health may charge less, and Denver may set its own by ordinance. And the state itself only licenses in nine counties — Clear Creek, Dolores, Gilpin, Moffat, Ouray, Park, Pitkin outside Aspen, Rio Blanco and San Juan — with local public health agencies doing it everywhere else. Plan review is separate at $155 plus actual cost; the statute caps that at $900 while the department's own page still says $580, so confirm before budgeting.
Certified Food Protection Manager
No state fee, because Colorado runs no certification scheme of its own — it adopts the 2022 federal food code by reference and with it the certified food protection manager requirement, which took effect on 1 March 2025. The certificate comes from an accredited private programme at that programme's price and on its term. Colorado excludes four provisions of that code when adopting it, on patio dogs, preoperational inspections, the permit to operate and inspection follow-up, but the manager provision is not among the exclusions. There is no statewide food handler card — the phrase appears nowhere in the regulations — though an individual local public health agency may expect training of its own.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Colorado — statewide
- Phone
- (303) 692-3645
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.
- 6 CCR 1010-2 — Colorado retail food establishment regulations, adopting the 2022 FDA Food Code and the certified food protection manager requirement from 1 March 2025Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment — retail food licensing, and the nine counties the state licenses directlyColorado Department of Public Health and Environment · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Colorado Senate Bill 25-285, chapter 296 of the 2025 session laws — the statutory retail food establishment fee schedule for 2026, 2027 and 2028Colorado General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
Other Colorado statewide offices
- Colorado Secretary of State, Business Division
- Colorado Department of Early Childhood, Division of Early Learning Licensing and Administration
- Colorado State Electrical Board, Division of Professions and Occupations
- Colorado Auto Industry Division, Department of Revenue
- Colorado Department of Revenue, Taxation Division
- Colorado Office of Barber and Cosmetology Licensure, Division of Professions and Occupations
- Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine, Division of Professions and Occupations
Colorado jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.