North Carolina — statewide
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Environmental Health Section
In short
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Environmental Health Section issues 2 permits we publish for North Carolina — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certified Food Protection Manageronly if it applies to you | North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Environmental Health Section | No fee | not stated in North Carolina law — the certifying programme sets its own | 2026-09-03 |
| Food Establishment Permit | North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Environmental Health Section | $120 a year, statewide | the permit does not expire; the fee is reassessed annually | 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
Certified Food Protection Manager
North Carolina charges nothing and issues nothing — an accredited programme certifies, and its exam fee is what you pay. The person in charge must hold it, with two narrow exemptions the base food code does not have: congregate nutrition sites, and risk category I establishments serving only non-hazardous foods. A normal restaurant is category II or higher and is not exempt. A training course alone will not do; the rule requires passing the accredited test. New permit holders get two hundred and ten days to comply. There is no statewide food handler card in North Carolina — the word handler does not appear anywhere in the sanitation rules — so rank-and-file food employees need no state credential. The five-year validity often quoted belongs to the certifying programme, not to North Carolina law, which sets no term at all.
Food Establishment Permit
One number for the whole state, which makes North Carolina unlike almost every other. The statute sets $120 a year and local boards of health are barred from adopting any rule about grading, operating or permitting food facilities, so no county charges its own annual restaurant fee — Wake County's schedule footnotes every permit line back to the $120 paid to the state. Seventy of every hundred and twenty dollars is passed back to the county health department that does the inspecting. The permit itself never expires while you trade; only the fee recurs, and it expires a year after an establishment closes. What a county may still charge is plan review, capped by statute at $250, and a mandatory $75 for a temporary event. Late payment adds $25 after forty-five days and reinstatement after a suspension costs $150. Chain and franchise plans approved by the state need no further local review.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- North Carolina — statewide
- Phone
- (919) 707-5854
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.
- 15A NCAC 18A .2652 — adoption of the FDA Food Code, including the certified food protection manager requirementNorth Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- G.S. 130A-248 — food establishment permits: the $120 Department permit fee and its exclusions (d), the $25 late and $150 reinstatement fees (d1), the mandatory $75 temporary and limited food service fee (d2) and the $250 local plan review ceiling (f)North Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- G.S. 130A-39(g) — a local board of health may impose cost-related fees for wastewater, public swimming pool and tattooing services on a plan approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissionersNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
Other North Carolina statewide offices
- North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, Business Registration Division
- North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Investigative Services Unit
- North Carolina Board of Barber and Electrolysis Examiners
- North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners
- North Carolina Department of Revenue
- North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education
- North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors
- North Carolina Veterinary Medical Board
North Carolina jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.