Durham County, Forsyth County and Guilford County
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 4 permits we publish for Durham County, Forsyth County and Guilford County, last verified 2026-09-30. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
Issued in Durham County
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Establishment Permit (NC DHHS permit, Durham County inspection) | North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health — Environmental Health Section | $120 a year per permit, paid to NC DHHS rather than to Durham County, and reassessed annually for permits that do not expire | the permit does not expire while the establishment operates, and G.S. 130A-248(b1) expires it one year after the establishment closes; the $120.00 fee is reassessed annually, with a $25.00 late payment fee 45 days after billing, suspension permitted after 60 days and a $150.00 reinstatement fee under G.S. 130A-248(d1) | 2026-09-30 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
Issued in Forsyth County
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Establishment Permit and Annual Permit Fee (NC DHHS through Forsyth County) | North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health — Environmental Health Section | $120 a year per permit, charged by NC DHHS rather than by Forsyth County under G.S. 130A-248(d), and reassessed annually for permits that do not expire | the permit does not expire while the establishment operates and the fee is reassessed annually; G.S. 130A-248(b1) provides that a permit shall expire one year after an establishment closes, (b) provides that the permit is not transferable and that a new permit is needed if the location changes, and (c) requires the new owner or lessee to apply for a new permit on a transfer, with a transitional permit available | 2026-09-30 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
Issued in Guilford County
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Food Establishment Permit Fee (NC DHHS) | North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health — Environmental Health Section | $120 a year per permit, paid to NC DHHS rather than to Guilford County, and reassessed annually for permits that do not expire | the food establishment permit itself does not expire; G.S. 130A-248(d) requires the $120 fee to be reassessed annually, with a $25 late payment fee where it is unpaid 45 days after the Department bills it and a $150 reinstatement fee after a suspension under G.S. 130A-248(d1) | 2026-09-30 |
| Prototype Franchised or Chain Food Establishment Plan Review (NC DHHS)only if it applies to you | North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health — Environmental Health Section | $250 per review, charged by NC DHHS instead of the Guilford County plan review fee; a food establishment that pays this fee is not liable for the county fee | one-off, before construction of the prototype or chain facility | 2026-09-30 |
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
Food Establishment Permit (NC DHHS permit, Durham County inspection)Durham County
A restaurant, coffee shop, food stand, caterer, commissary, meat market, mobile food vendor or hot dog cart operating in Durham County holds a food establishment permit, and the charge attached to it is a state charge rather than a county one, so it should not be added to the county's plan review fee as a single 'Durham County food fee'. G.S. 130A-248(b) provides that no establishment shall commence or continue operation without a permit or transitional permit issued by the Department, and subsection (d) has the Department charge each establishment subject to the section a fee of one hundred twenty dollars ($120.00) for each permit issued, reassessed annually for permits that do not expire. NC DHHS's own Inspections, Statistics and Fees page states that permit fees collected from food and lodging establishments support the programme and that $70.00 out of every $120.00 collected is distributed to county health departments to improve environmental health inspection programs. The Durham County side of this is inspection and plan review, not the permit fee: Environmental Health's General Inspections page states that the section 'is responsible for plan review, permits and /or inspections of facilities regulated in State rules' and lists restaurants, caterers, commissaries, food stands, school lunchrooms, mobile food vendors, hot dog vendors, meat markets and special events selling food to the public among the facilities it covers, and the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 adopted fee schedule carries plan review and re-review lines without any county charge for the food permit itself. The $120.00 is excluded by statute for nutrition programmes for the elderly, establishments preparing and selling meat food products or poultry products, temporary food establishments, limited food services establishments and public school cafeterias, each of which is priced separately or not at all. Permits are not transferable and are void on issuance of a new permit for the same location under G.S. 130A-248(b) and (c), so a sale of the business means a new permit for the buyer.
Food Establishment Permit and Annual Permit Fee (NC DHHS through Forsyth County)Forsyth County
G.S. 130A-248(b) provides that no establishment shall commence or continue operation without a permit or transitional permit issued by the Department, that the permit is issued to the owner or operator and is not transferable, and that a new permit must be obtained if the location of an establishment changes. The permit is administered locally: G.S. 130A-4(b) provides that when requested by the Secretary a local health department shall enforce the rules of the Commission under the supervision of the Department, and in Forsyth County that is the Division of Environmental Health at 799 N. Highland Avenue, Winston-Salem, (336) 703-3225, which inspects food and lodging establishments countywide. The annual charge is a state fee rather than a county one, and the distinction is in the statute's own wording: G.S. 130A-248(d) provides that the Department shall charge each establishment subject to the section a fee of one hundred twenty dollars ($120.00) for each permit issued, reassessed annually for permits that do not expire, with nutrition programmes for the elderly, establishments that prepare and sell meat food products or poultry products, temporary food establishments, limited food service establishments and public school cafeterias excepted. G.S. 130A-248(d1) adds a $25.00 late payment fee where the fee is unpaid 45 days after billing, permit suspension available after 60 days, and a $150.00 reinstatement fee. The $120 is not a line item on Forsyth County Public Health's own FY 26-27 Fee Schedule, whose Environmental Health block prices plan review and the other county services instead, so a restaurant or coffee shop opening in the county should budget the county plan review fee and this state permit fee separately rather than adding them into one county figure. A mobile food unit is permitted on the same basis: G.S. 130A-248(c1) requires a mobile food unit to meet all the sanitation requirements of a permitted commissary or to have a permitted restaurant or commissary serving as its base of operation.
Annual Food Establishment Permit Fee (NC DHHS)Guilford County
This is a State charge that a Guilford County food business pays on top of the county's own plan review fee, and the two are kept as separate records here because adding them would misstate who charges what. G.S. 130A-248(d) provides that 'The Department shall charge each establishment subject to this section … a fee of one hundred twenty dollars ($120.00) for each permit issued. This fee shall be reassessed annually for permits that do not expire.' The same subsection directs that fees collected be used for State and local food, lodging and institution sanitation programmes and caps the State's share: 'No more than fifty dollars ($50.00) of each fee collected under this subsection may be used to support State health programs and activities.' The statute excludes from the $120 charge nutrition programmes for the elderly administered by the Division of Aging and Adult Services, establishments that prepare and sell meat food products or poultry products, temporary food establishments, limited food services establishments, and public school cafeterias — so a temporary event vendor or a limited food service establishment paying the mandatory $75 under G.S. 130A-248(d2) does not owe this $120 as well. G.S. 130A-248(d1) adds a $25 late payment fee where the fee is unpaid 45 days after billing, allows suspension of the permit after 60 days, and sets a $150 reinstatement fee. A mobile food unit or push cart is a food establishment and falls outside those exclusions, so a Guilford County food truck owes the $120 annually too. The permit itself is a Department permit that the rules have Guilford County Environmental Health administer as the authorized agent: 15A NCAC 18A .2600 defines 'Regulatory Authority' as 'the Department or authorized agent of the Department'. A Guilford County business starts with the county at 336-641-3771 and is then billed by NC DHHS for this fee.
Prototype Franchised or Chain Food Establishment Plan Review (NC DHHS)Guilford County
A franchised or chain restaurant or coffee shop opening in Guilford County sends its plans to the State rather than to the county, and pays the State's fee rather than the county's. 15A NCAC 18A .2651, amending Food Code section 8-201.11, provides that 'Plans drawn to scale for franchised or chain food establishments shall be submitted for review and approval to the Environmental Health Services Branch, N.C. Division of Public Health. Plans drawn to scale for independent food establishments shall be submitted for review and approval to the local health department.' G.S. 130A-248(e) then allows the Department to charge 'a fee of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for plan review of plans for prototype franchised or chain facilities for food establishments subject to this section', and G.S. 130A-248(f) closes the loop: 'No food establishment that pays a fee under subsection (e) of this section is liable for a fee under this subsection.' The two $250 plan review fees are therefore alternatives and never both — an independent operator pays Guilford County, a chain or franchise pays NC DHHS, and the amount happens to be the same. Everything else stays with the county: the permit itself is issued by Guilford County Environmental Health as the Department's authorized agent, the inspections are the county's, and the $120 annual permit fee under G.S. 130A-248(d) is still owed. A chain operator should confirm with Guilford County Environmental Health on 336-641-3771 that its State approval letter is on file before the county permit is issued, because the county's own plan review fee is waived only where the State fee has been paid.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Durham County, Forsyth County and Guilford County
- Phone
- Not verified — use the website
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 .2600, Rules Governing the Sanitation of Food Establishments — 'Regulatory Authority' means the Department or authorized agent of the Department; .2651 sends franchised or chain plans to the State Environmental Health Services Branch and independent plans to the local health department; .2659(a) bars a permit before a compliant evaluation and allows 210 days for the certified food protection manager requirement; .2651(20) defines the temporary food establishment and its 21-day limitNorth Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- Durham County Environmental Health Fee Schedule (department web page) — food, pool, on-site wastewater, well, water sample and tattoo lines, including the note that a tract greater than 2 acres previously evaluated by a licensed soil scientist with a sealed report is charged $200.00 for the area the consultant specifiesDurham County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- Durham County Environmental Health General Inspections — the section 'is responsible for plan review, permits and /or inspections of facilities regulated in State rules', listing restaurants, caterers, commissaries, food stands, school lunchrooms, mobile food vendors, hot dog vendors, meat markets, special events selling food to the public, childcare centers, institutions, lodging and tattoo artistsDurham County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- Forsyth County Environmental Health Food Plan Review — the county's own page for food establishment plan submission and permittingForsyth County Department of Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- Forsyth County Public Health FY 26-27 Fee Schedule — 11 pages, column header 'FY 26-27 Fee', last modified June 23, 2026, covering the Environmental Health plan review, pool, tattoo, septic and well line itemsForsyth County Department of Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- 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-248, Regulation of food and lodging establishments — the $120 Department permit fee and its exclusions (d), the $25 late payment and $150 reinstatement fees (d1), the mandatory $75 temporary and limited food service fee (d2), the $250 State prototype chain plan review fee (e) and the $250 local plan review ceiling with its no-double-charge sentence (f)North Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- G.S. 130A-4(b) — when requested by the Secretary, a local health department shall enforce the rules of the Commission under the supervision of the DepartmentNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- Guilford County Food, Lodging and Institutions — countywide inspection scope, the mobile food unit description including 'All units are required to submit an application and go through plan review before being permitted', the commissary requirement, the schedule-of-operations notification duty, and the push cart menu limitationGuilford County Division of Public Health, Environmental Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- Guilford County FY2027 Adopted Budget Ordinance and Fee Schedule — adopted and effective the 25th day of June, 2026; Section 10.A adopts the attached fee schedule in accordance with §153A-102; the schedule is headed 'This fee schedule includes Guilford County fees for the Fiscal Year 2027' and prints FY2025, FY2026 and FY2027 columns for Environmental Health, Inspections, Emergency Services and Planning & DevelopmentGuilford County, North Carolina · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- NC DHHS Food, Lodging and Institutional Sanitation — Inspections, Statistics and Fees: permit fees support the programme and $70 out of every $120 collected is distributed to county health departmentsNorth Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
Other offices serving Durham County and Forsyth County and nearby
- Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division
- Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division
- Guilford County Division of Public Health — Environmental Health
- Guilford County Inspections Department
- Forsyth County Department of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health
- Guilford County Planning & Development
- Durham County Engineering & Environmental Services
- Guilford County Emergency Services, Fire Marshal's Office
- Durham County Emergency Services — Fire Prevention & Life Safety
- Durham City-County Building & Safety Department
- Forsyth County Fire Department, Office of the Fire Marshal
- Forsyth County Office of Environmental Assistance and Protection
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