Bridgeport
City of Bridgeport Department of Health & Social Services, Environmental Health Division
In short
City of Bridgeport Department of Health & Social Services, Environmental Health Division issues 5 permits we publish for Bridgeport, last verified 2026-09-09. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Itinerant Vendor License (Food Trucks and Carts) | City of Bridgeport Department of Health & Social Services, Environmental Health Division | Vendor license: $300.00, renewing annually April 1 to March 31 (Municipal Code 8.20.590), with an $80.00 late charge if renewed after the due date. A separate Temporary Vendor - Festival license is $125.00 for a seasonal/event-limited engagement instead of the full annual license. | annual — April 1 to March 31 (or seasonal, for the festival alternative) | 2026-09-09 |
| Food Establishment License | City of Bridgeport Department of Health & Social Services, Environmental Health Division | Class 1 (limited service — the schedule's own examples are coffee shops, ice cream shops, and gas stations reheating prepackaged food), priced by floor area: $300.00 for 0-2,500 sq ft, $400.00 for 2,501+ sq ft, renewing annually July 1 to June 30 (Municipal Code 8.20.170). Classes 2-4 (simple preparation, complex preparation, and establishments serving vulnerable populations or using specialized processes — full-service restaurants generally fall in Class 3), priced identically by seating count: $230.00 for 0-50 seats, $290.00 for 51-100 seats, $425.00 for 101+ seats, renewing annually January 1 to December 31 (Municipal Code 8.20.250). A one-time $25.00 Food Handler Certification and a separate Plan Review fee (Municipal Code 8.20.560; $100.00 up to 1,000 sq ft, scaling to $250.00 or more above 4,000 sq ft, plus roughly $25.00 per additional 500 sq ft) apply on top for a new or renovated establishment. | annual — cycle depends on class (see formula) | 2026-09-09 |
| Certificate of Inspection — Day Care (Health Department) | City of Bridgeport Department of Health & Social Services, Environmental Health Division | $230 annual | annual — October 1 to September 30 | 2026-09-09 |
| Veterinary Clinic Licensing — City of Bridgeport positiononly if it applies to you | City of Bridgeport Department of Health & Social Services, Environmental Health Division | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-09 |
| Personal Services License (Barber, Beauty, Hair Braiding, Massage Therapy, Nail, Tattoo) | City of Bridgeport Department of Health & Social Services, Environmental Health Division | $175 per licensed category, per year (Barber, Beauty, Hair Braiding, Massage Therapy, Nail and Tattoo are each priced and licensed separately) | annual — June 1 to May 31 | 2026-09-09 |
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
Itinerant Vendor License (Food Trucks and Carts)
Required documents include a Fire Marshal safety inspection certificate for the vehicle/cart, a floor plan showing equipment locations, a menu or food list, a Food Protection Manager Certificate, a police permit from the Bridgeport Police Department, and government-issued photo ID; a 501(c)(3) veteran or nonprofit operator may qualify for different treatment. This is additional to, not a substitute for, the state Food Service Establishment License framework recorded at the state layer.
Food Establishment License
Bridgeport runs its own City health department rather than relying on a regional health district (see the file header), so this is the genuine local food-permitting authority behind Connecticut's own delegated food-service licensing framework (recorded at the state layer). New applicants or a change of ownership must also submit a Zoning Compliance Certificate, Building Department permits (if renovating), a Trade Name Certificate, a Fire Marshal kitchen approval, and a Food Protection Manager Certificate, among other documents, per the Environmental Health Division's own opening-procedure guide.
Certificate of Inspection — Day Care (Health Department)
This is the Health Department's own inspection certificate for a day care facility, additional to and separate from the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood's state license (recorded at the state layer) and from the Fire Marshal's and Zoning Department's own separate childcare-specific fees recorded below — three independent local charges stack on top of the state license here.
Veterinary Clinic Licensing — City of Bridgeport position
No fee applies at city level: no veterinary-, animal-hospital-, kennel- or pet-specific line item appears on Environmental Health's Licensing Schedule, the Fire Marshal's fee schedule, or the Zoning Department's fee schedule ; a veterinary clinic meets the building, sign, and zoning-compliance requirements its premises trigger (recorded above), on top of the Connecticut veterinary practice framework recorded at the state layer, which licenses the individual practitioner. Bridgeport's Code of Ordinances — Title 5 (Business Licenses and Regulations, 5.04 through 5.88), Title 6 (Animals — 6.04 Animal Control Regulations Generally and 6.08 Wild and Exotic Animal Acts) and Title 8 (Health and Safety), including 8.88 (Municipal Clinics, a City human-health-clinic governance chapter) and 8.92 (Miscellaneous Health Regulations, whose only animal-adjacent line is the § 8.92.120 poultry-inspection power) — contains no veterinary licensing provision; the Code's reference to veterinary care is the Animal Control Commission's power to recommend veterinary care for sheltered animals (§ 2.122.020), alongside unrelated incidental uses of those words in the noise, food-safety, recycling and sewer-discharge chapters.
Personal Services License (Barber, Beauty, Hair Braiding, Massage Therapy, Nail, Tattoo)
Unlike several other cities, Bridgeport does license personal-care premises directly, by named category rather than one general 'salon' license: Barber, Beauty (hairdresser/cosmetology), Hair Braiding, Massage Therapy, Nail, and Tattoo each cost a flat $175.00 a year, each renewing on the identical June 1-May 31 cycle with a matching $175.00 late charge, and each citing Municipal Code 5.16.010. A shop offering more than one of these services (for example, hair and nails) needs a separate $175.00 license for each category it offers, on top of whatever individual practitioner license Connecticut's own boards require (recorded at the state layer).
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Bridgeport
- Phone
- (203) 576-7474
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.
- Bridgeport Municipal Code (Supplement 24 Update 2, online content updated August 13, 2026) — chapter lists of Titles 5 (Business Licenses and Regulations), 6 (Animals) and 8 (Health and Safety)City of Bridgeport, codified by Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Environmental Health Licensing Schedule — personal services, food establishments, vendor, day care inspection, and other license fees (PDF version dated 6/11/2025 also published)City of Bridgeport, Department of Health & Social Services, Environmental Health Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-09
- Food Establishments — licensing process, required documents, and food establishment classificationsCity of Bridgeport, Environmental Health Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-09
- Food Trucks and Carts — itinerant vendor licensing process and required documentsCity of Bridgeport, Environmental Health Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-09
Other offices serving Bridgeport
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
Connecticut jurisdictions
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