DeKalb County

DeKalb Public Health (DKPH), Environmental Health Division

In short

DeKalb Public Health (DKPH), Environmental Health Division issues 7 permits we publish for DeKalb County, last verified 2026-10-02. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Fixed Food Service Establishment Permit	DeKalb Public Health (DKPH), Environmental Health Division	Plan review, by category: No Cook (Category 1) $300; Cook-Serve (Category 2) $350; Complex (Category 3) $500; Minor modification $200. Annual permit, scaled by category, inspection points and square footage: No Cook $250 (1-8 points), $500 (9-14 points) or $700 (over 14 points); Cook-Serve $500-$800; Complex $550-$800, with a surcharge above 2,000 square feet.	annual permit; plan review is one-time per project	2026-10-02
Pop-Up Food Service Permitonly if it applies to you	DeKalb Public Health (DKPH), Environmental Health Division	$140 per event; the same $140 fee applies to a Pop-Up Vendor permit or a Pop-Up Facilitator permit	per event	2026-10-02
Swimming Pool Permitonly if it applies to you	DeKalb Public Health (DKPH), Environmental Health Division	Plan review: Public pool $450, Residential pool $150. Annual permit: Seasonal pool $300, Year-round pool $450.	annual	2026-10-02
Body Art (Tattoo/Piercing) Studio Permitonly if it applies to you	DeKalb Public Health (DKPH), Environmental Health Division	Plan review (new facility or modification) $275. Annual studio permit $425. Temporary establishment permit (1-7 days) $150. Guest/temporary artist permit (per week) $100.	annual studio permit; temporary permits are per event or per week	2026-10-02
Mobile Food Service Permit	DeKalb Public Health (DKPH), Environmental Health Division	$240–$250 per year, by category: No Cook $240, Cook-Serve $245, Complex $250	annual	2026-10-02
Temporary Food Permitonly if it applies to you	DeKalb Public Health (DKPH), Environmental Health Division	$150 for 1-4 days, plus $20 for each additional day up to 14 days total. A Temporary Foodservice Organizer plan review is a separate $200.	per event	2026-10-02
Septic / Land Use Permitonly if it applies to you	DeKalb Public Health (DKPH), Environmental Health Division	Plan review/site approval: Residential lot $200, Commercial lot $400, Subdivision lot evaluation $120 per lot. Installation permits: Residential $250, Commercial under 2,000 gallons per day (GPD) $400, Commercial over 2,000 GPD $600. Repair permit $150.	per project	2026-10-02

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

Fixed Food Service Establishment Permit

A restaurant or coffee shop preparing or serving food anywhere in DeKalb County, including inside incorporated cities, needs this permit from DeKalb Public Health's Environmental Health Division, 445 Winn Way, Suite 320, Decatur, because DKPH is a county-wide public health district rather than an unincorporated-only county office. The fee schedule is dated effective January 1, 2024; DKPH's own live Environmental Health page, re-fetched October 2, 2026, still links this exact fee schedule as current, with no 2025- or 2026-dated successor published anywhere on the site. Plan review is required before construction, remodeling or a change of ownership, and the annual permit fee scales with the establishment's food-handling category, its inspection point score, and its square footage.

Pop-Up Food Service Permit

A pop-up food vendor or the facilitator organizing a pop-up food event in DeKalb County each pay $140, a separate, lower-tier category from the general Temporary Food Permit above for a specific pop-up event structure. The permit fee is the same $140 whether the applicant is the individual vendor or the event's facilitator. This fee schedule is dated effective January 1, 2024 and was confirmed still current, with no later successor published, as of October 2, 2026.

Swimming Pool Permit

A fitness studio in DeKalb County that operates a swimming pool needs this permit from DeKalb Public Health; a studio with no pool has no obligation under this program. Plan review before construction costs $450 for a public pool or $150 for a residential-type pool, and the annual operating permit is $300 for a seasonal pool or $450 for a year-round pool. This fee schedule is dated effective January 1, 2024 and was confirmed still the current version as of October 2, 2026.

Body Art (Tattoo/Piercing) Studio Permit

A salon in DeKalb County that offers tattoo or piercing services needs this body-art studio permit from DeKalb Public Health, separate from any general salon licensing. Plan review for a new or modified facility is $275, the annual studio permit is $425, a temporary establishment operating 1-7 days is $150, and a guest or temporary artist working at an existing studio is $100 per week. A salon offering only hair, nail or skin services with no tattooing or piercing has no obligation under this program. This fee schedule is dated effective January 1, 2024 and was confirmed still current as of October 2, 2026.

Mobile Food Service Permit

A food truck, cart or other mobile food unit operating anywhere in DeKalb County needs an annual Mobile Food Service permit from DeKalb Public Health, priced by the same No Cook/Cook-Serve/Complex categories used for fixed establishments: $240, $245 or $250 a year. The county's separately named 'Extended Food Service' permit category uses the identical $240/$245/$250 tiers on the same fee schedule. This fee schedule is dated effective January 1, 2024 and was confirmed still the current version linked from DKPH's live Environmental Health page as of October 2, 2026.

Temporary Food Permit

A restaurant, coffee shop or food truck operating at a one-off or short-run event in DeKalb County needs this permit rather than the annual fixed or mobile permit. The base fee is $150 for an event lasting one to four days, plus $20 for each additional day up to a 14-day maximum. An event organizer coordinating multiple food vendors separately needs a $200 Temporary Foodservice Organizer plan review. Applying less than 20 business days before the event adds a $50 late fee per permit. This fee schedule is dated effective January 1, 2024 and was confirmed still current as of October 2, 2026.

Septic / Land Use Permit

This permit applies only to a business sited on a septic system rather than public sewer, in DeKalb County. A commercial lot's plan review and site approval is $400, with installation at $400 for a system under 2,000 gallons per day or $600 above that threshold; a repair to an existing system is $150. A business already connected to public sewer has no obligation under this program. This fee schedule is dated effective January 1, 2024 and was confirmed still current, with no later successor published, as of October 2, 2026.

Contact

Jurisdiction: DeKalb County
Phone: 404-508-7900
Website: dekalbpublichealth.com/environmental-health/

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.

DeKalb Public Health, Environmental Health Division, Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2024DeKalb Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
DeKalb Public Health, Environmental Health main page — links the current Environmental Health Fee ScheduleDeKalb Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02

Other offices serving DeKalb County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

Business licenses in DeKalb County

Industry permit lists that include this agency

Georgia jurisdictions

Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.