Des Moines
City of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office
In short
City of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office issues 8 permits we publish for Des Moines, last verified 2026-09-10. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile Food Vendor License | City of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office | Annual Application Fee $570 (only $50 is retained if the application is denied); Des Moines Fire Department Inspection $100 (refundable if no inspection occurs; free on subsequent renewals of the same vehicle); Cash Bond $200 (refundable on request 120 days after the license expires); Meter Hood $1,180 each, two required if the vehicle needs two parking spaces; Meter Hood Deposit $35 (refundable on return). First-year total is $2,085 for a single-space vehicle rising to roughly $3,265 for a two-hood vehicle; subsequent-year renewals total $1,750 (single hood) with no new bond or deposit. | annual — valid March 1 through February 28 | 2026-09-10 |
| Premise Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office | $100 annual | annual | 2026-09-10 |
| Auto Repair Shop Licensing — City Clerk License List (Des Moines)only if it applies to you | City of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-10 |
| General Business License — City of Des Moines positiononly if it applies to you | City of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-10 |
| Childcare Centre — State License and State Fire Marshal Inspection (Des Moines)only if it applies to you | City of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-10 |
| Salon Licensing — State Board License Applies (Des Moines)only if it applies to you | City of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-10 |
| Fitness Studio Licensing — City Clerk License List (Des Moines)only if it applies to you | City of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-10 |
| Veterinary Clinic Licensing — City Clerk License List (Des Moines)only if it applies to you | City of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-10 |
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
Mobile Food Vendor License
Requires $1,000,000 automobile liability and $1,000,000 commercial general liability insurance, a copy of the state-issued Mobile Food Unit License and, if applicable, the food establishment license covering any commissary kitchen (both issued directly by Iowa DIAL, recorded at the state layer), a Certified Food Protection Manager on staff, and a copy of the applicant's driver's license. This is the city's vehicle-as-a-business license for operating at one of the four designated on-street Mobile Vendor Zones downtown; a vendor operating instead from private commercial or industrial property needs the separate Premise Permit recorded below rather than the meter-hood fees. Fire inspections run walk-in on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, 8–11 a.m., at Fire Department Administration (2715 Dean Avenue).
Premise Permit
Only needed when a mobile food vendor or transient merchant sets up on private property rather than at one of the four downtown on-street Mobile Vendor Zones — the permit is issued to the property owner, who must be in a commercial or industrial zone (never residential), and only one licensed vendor may operate on the premises at a time. Applied for through the same City Clerk's Office that issues the Mobile Food Vendor License recorded above.
Auto Repair Shop Licensing — City Clerk License List (Des Moines)
The City Clerk's own Business Licenses & Permits page lists no auto-repair, garage or service-station category, so there is no city license fee for the shop itself; an auto-repair or body shop pays only the generic building permit, sign permit and certificate of occupancy recorded above. A shop that stores paints, solvents or fuel above threshold quantities may separately trigger the Fire Prevention Bureau's hazardous-materials permit recorded below.
General Business License — City of Des Moines position
The City Clerk's own Business Licenses & Permits page states that licenses and permits are required 'when it comes to running a food, merchandise, entertainment, or specific service industry business' and lists them by name (alcohol, tobacco, transient merchant, mobile food vendor, peddler, premise, pawn shop, theater, street performer, haunted house, coin-operated machine, solid waste hauler, salvage dealer, donation bin and similar permits); that page names no general business license, so there is no general business license fee. Under that list, a restaurant, retail store, salon, fitness studio, veterinary clinic, auto-repair shop or contractor's office that does not fall into one of the named categories holds no City Clerk business license.
Childcare Centre — State License and State Fire Marshal Inspection (Des Moines)
There is no city-level fee for this step. The state's own licensing standards document (Iowa HHS Comm. 204) states that the State Fire Marshal establishes and enforces the fire safety requirements for child care centres and that a centre must obtain an approved State Fire Marshal's certificate, so the inspection is part of the state licensing cycle rather than a separate Des Moines Fire Department permit, and the City Clerk's Business Licenses & Permits page lists no childcare category either. A childcare centre here needs only the generic building permit and certificate of occupancy recorded above — the day-care occupancy classification itself is handled inside the building code (Municipal Code § 26-325.1) rather than through a distinct operational permit — on top of the Iowa HHS child care centre license recorded at the state layer.
Salon Licensing — State Board License Applies (Des Moines)
The City Clerk's Business Licenses & Permits page lists no salon, barbershop or cosmetology category, so there is no city license fee for the salon itself. A Des Moines salon needs only the generic building permit, sign permit and certificate of occupancy above, on top of the Iowa barbering/cosmetology establishment license recorded at the state layer, which is itself the actual premises-level credential.
Fitness Studio Licensing — City Clerk License List (Des Moines)
The City Clerk's Business Licenses & Permits page lists its licensed activities by name — alcohol, tobacco, transient merchant, mobile food vendor, peddler, pawn shop, theater and similar permits — and lists no fitness, gym or health-club category, so there is no city license fee for the studio itself. A fitness studio here pays only the generic building permit, sign permit and certificate of occupancy recorded above.
Veterinary Clinic Licensing — City Clerk License List (Des Moines)
The City Clerk's Business Licenses & Permits page, which lists every specifically-licensed activity, names no veterinary, animal-hospital or kennel category, so there is no city license fee for a clinic. A Des Moines veterinary clinic needs only the generic building permit, sign permit and certificate of occupancy recorded above, on top of the Iowa Board of Veterinary Medicine's own individual-practitioner license recorded at the state layer, which does not extend to premises at all.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Des Moines
- Phone
- (515) 283-4209
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.
- Business Licenses & Permits — confirming that licensing applies only to specific named activities (alcohol, tobacco, transient merchant, mobile food vendor, peddler, premise permit, pawnshop, theater, street performer, haunted house, coin-operated machine, solid waste hauler, salvage dealer, donation bin, going-out-of-business sale, address curb painting), not a general business licenseCity of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
- Iowa Department of Health and Human Services — child care centres and preschools licensing standards, revised July 2025Iowa Department of Health and Human Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Mobile Food Vendor Application — fee table (Annual Application Fee, Fire Department Inspection, Cash Bond, Meter Hood and Meter Hood Deposit) and required-documentation checklistCity of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
- Transient Merchant & Mobile Food Vendor Permit Facts and Information — fee summary for the Transient Merchant, Mobile Vendor and Premise Permit licensesCity of Des Moines, City Clerk's Office · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
Other offices serving Des Moines
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
Iowa jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.