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Wake County

Wake County Environmental Health & Safety

In short

Wake County Environmental Health & Safety issues 6 permits we publish for Wake 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.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Public Swimming Pool Annual Operation Permitonly if it applies to youWake County Environmental Health & Safety$300 a year per pool, county-only, payable before the permitting inspection can be scheduled; a further $75 re-inspection fee is due before a second permitting visit after a failed inspectionannual; year-round pools with state ID numbers beginning 53, 54, 55 or 57 are invoiced each December and inspected throughout the year, while seasonal pools beginning 50, 51, 52 or 56 are invoiced each March with inspections beginning April 12026-09-30
Tattoo Permit (applied for and paid through Wake County)only if it applies to youWake County Environmental Health & Safety$150–$300 county-collected: $300 a year for a new tattoo permit and for each annual renewal, and $150 for a temporary permit valid 1 to 14 consecutive daysannual, renewed each year by applying to NC DHHS for a permit renewal under G.S. 130A-283(c); a temporary permit runs 1 to 14 consecutive days2026-09-30
Food Service Establishment Plan ReviewWake County Environmental Health & Safety$250 per plan review, county-only; each plan re-review is a further $100, charged only for facilities that were charged an original feeone-off, at construction, renovation, modification or a change of ownership; the food service permit that follows does not expire, and permits do not transfer at the sale of a business, though staff may evaluate a site for a transitional permit2026-09-30
Temporary Food Establishment Permitonly if it applies to youWake County Environmental Health & Safety$75 per permit per event, collected by Wake County Environmental Health & Safety; G.S. 130A-248(d2) makes the charge mandatory rather than discretionaryper event; the county page states that a TFE permit is good only for a specific event and lapses at the end of that event, and coordinator applications, vendor applications and vendor fees must reach the county at least 15 calendar days before the event2026-09-30
Public Swimming Pool Plan Reviewonly if it applies to youWake County Environmental Health & Safety$250 per pool, county-only, due at the time of submittalone-off, for a new or remodelled pool; the $300 annual operation permit is a separate, recurring charge on the same pool2026-09-30
Child Care Sanitation Plan Review and PermitWake County Environmental Health & SafetyWake County's Health and Safety Plan Review and Permit Fee Schedule marks both .2800 child care rows — 6 to 13 children, and more than 13 children — as requiring plan review and a permit, and leaves the plan review and permit fee cells for those rows empty, without the marker that flags the $120 NC DHHS annual fee on other rows of the same schedule. That schedule, the county's Child Care, Adult Day Care and Group Homes page and the county's December 2025 childcare, hotels and institutions submittal guide each describe the requirement and state no amount for it. Contact Wake County Environmental Health & Safety on 919-856-5700 or healthandsafety@wake.gov for the amount charged.a permit rather than a dated license; the county page states that child day care facilities are inspected twice a year, while adult day care centres and group homes are inspected once a year2026-09-30

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

Public Swimming Pool Annual Operation Permit

A fitness studio, gym, hotel or apartment community operating a public swimming pool in Wake County needs an annual operation permit from Environmental Health & Safety. The county's 2026-season Public Swimming Pools page states that the cost for the annual operation permit is $300 and that this fee must be paid before the permitting inspection can be scheduled to open the pool, and that if the pool fails the permitting inspection a $75 re-inspection fee is required prior to a second permitting visit and cannot be waived. Both figures match the county's Health and Safety Plan Review and Permit Fee Schedule. The county's own Regulations Governing Public Swimming Pools were revised and approved by the Wake County Health & Human Services Board on January 22, 2026 and rolled out for the 2026 pool season, as the FY2027 Adopted Budget also records. The fee authority is G.S. 130A-39(g), which lets a local board of health impose cost-related fees for public swimming pool services on a plan approved by the board of health and the county board of commissioners. Inspections are scheduled within three business days of a request and will not be scheduled until the pool permit fee has been received; a seasonal pool aiming to open for the Memorial Day holiday must complete the requirements by May 11. The programme is countywide and covers more than 1,400 public pools; private pools at homes are exempt from the rules, and a fitness studio without a pool, spa or hot tub on site has no pool permit to obtain. Contact: Dipatrimarki Farkas, 919-210-8155.

Tattoo Permit (applied for and paid through Wake County)

A salon or studio where tattooing is performed in Wake County applies and pays through county Environmental Health & Safety, although the permit itself is a state permit: G.S. 130A-283(b) states that no person shall engage in tattooing without first obtaining a tattooing permit from the Department, and subsection (c) has the Department act through the local health department to inspect the premises, instruments, utensils, equipment and procedures, with the permit valid for one year and renewed annually by applying to the Department. The county's Tattoos page states there is an annual permit fee of $300 for both new tattoo permits and annual permit renewals, and that a temporary permit fee, valid for 1 to 14 consecutive days, is $150; both match the county's Health and Safety Plan Review and Permit Fee Schedule, and the county's authority to collect them is G.S. 130A-39(g). Permits are issued to each artist at a particular establishment, so an artist moving location needs a new permit, and the county page states that tattoo establishments are not permitted in residences. Payment may be made online, by cheque, or in person at the Wake County Office Building, Suite 630, 336 Fayetteville St., Raleigh. Ordinary cosmetic art work is a different regime entirely: hair, nail and skin care salons are licensed by the NC Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners under Chapter 88B, whose G.S. 88B-20 fees include $25 for inspection of a newly established cosmetic art shop and $3.00 per active booth per year, and those are state fees. A cosmetic art salon without a tattoo artist working in it has no tattoo permit to buy.

Food Service Establishment Plan Review

A restaurant, coffee shop, food stand, meat market, school lunchroom or elderly nutrition site in Wake County submits plans to Environmental Health & Safety and is invoiced $250 for the review, with each re-review a further $100. This is a Wake County charge, separate from the $120 annual permit fee that NC DHHS bills under G.S. 130A-248(d) and that is listed as a separate Wake County requirement. The $250 is the maximum a local health department may charge: G.S. 130A-248(f) allows a plan review fee not to exceed $250 for food establishments not subject to subsection (e). The figure appears in the county's Health and Safety Plan Review and Permit Fee Schedule, updated December 2021, which the county's current Plan Review & Permits page still links as its fee schedule, and it is restated at step 8 of the county's Submittal Guide for Food Service Permit dated August 2025, which invoices the $250 plan review fee. The permit programme is countywide because Wake County Environmental Health & Safety is the county health department required by G.S. 130A-34, so it reaches establishments inside Raleigh and all 12 municipalities, not only the unincorporated area. Prototype or chain facility plans submitted with a State approval letter are exempt from Wake County plan review fees, which matches G.S. 130A-248(e1): plans for a franchised or chain food establishment already reviewed and approved by the Department require no further local review. Restaurants are inspected one to four times a year depending on menu items and food processes.

Temporary Food Establishment Permit

A food or drink vendor trading at a fair, festival or other special event in Wake County needs a Temporary Food Establishment permit from Environmental Health & Safety, and the county page states there is a $75 fee for each TFE permit issued. The amount is fixed by statute rather than by the county: G.S. 130A-248(d2) provides that a local health department shall charge each temporary food establishment and each limited food services establishment a fee of $75 for each permit issued, so a Limited Food Service Establishment carries the same $75. The $120 annual NC DHHS permit fee listed as a separate Wake County requirement is excluded by G.S. 130A-248(d) for temporary and limited food service establishments, so it is not owed on top of this one. The county page states that yard sales, auctions, farmers markets and flea markets are examples of events that do not qualify for a TFE permit. Citing G.S. 130A-250(7), the same page exempts drink-only vendors selling lemonade, coffee, soda and tea in single-service cups, and vendors selling only dipped ice cream, popcorn, candied apples, cotton candy, funnel cakes, doughnuts, peanuts and commercially prepackaged chips and candy — a carve-out that takes many coffee and snack stalls out of the requirement altogether. The programme is countywide, so the same $75 applies at an event inside Raleigh or any of the towns. Event contact: Ginger Johnson, 919-612-5597, TFE.Permits@wake.gov.

Public Swimming Pool Plan Review

Building a new public swimming pool in Wake County, or remodelling an existing one, requires plan review by Environmental Health & Safety before construction. The county's current Public Swimming Pools page states there is a $250 plan review fee due at the time of submittal, and the same amount appears on the county's Health and Safety Plan Review and Permit Fee Schedule. This is a Wake County fee charged under a board-of-health fee plan authorised by G.S. 130A-39(g), which allows cost-related fees for services performed under the public swimming pool rules on a plan approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners; the technical standards are 15A NCAC 18A .2500 together with the county's own Regulations Governing Public Swimming Pools as revised on January 22, 2026 for the 2026 season. Plan review is a separate, one-off charge from the recurring $300 annual operation permit listed as a separate Wake County requirement, and a pool pays both in its first year. The programme is countywide, so a pool inside Raleigh or any of the 12 municipalities is reviewed by the county rather than by the city. A fitness studio without a pool has no plan review to submit.

Child Care Sanitation Plan Review and Permit

A child care facility in Wake County is inspected for sanitation by county Environmental Health & Safety under 15A NCAC 18A .2800, and the county's fee schedule marks the two .2800 rows — 6 to 13 children, and more than 13 children — as requiring both plan review and a permit. A facility caring for five children or fewer is listed on that schedule without either mark. The county's page states that child daycare facilities are inspected twice a year. This county role is sanitation only: the operating license for a child care centre comes from the NC DHHS Division of Child Development and Early Education, which the county's own Plan Review & Permits page lists among the other bodies an applicant must check with. The sanitation programme is countywide, reaching facilities inside Raleigh and all 12 municipalities. A separate county charge does apply to child care in the unincorporated area only: the Planning & Development Services fee schedule prices a Care Facilities approval at $110, listed as a separate Wake County requirement. A childcare centre with a kitchen is also subject to the food establishment rules, and one on a non-sewered site needs the county's onsite wastewater permits.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Wake County
Phone
919-856-5700

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.

  1. 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
  2. G.S. 130A-283 — no person shall engage in tattooing without a permit from the Department, which acts through the local health department to inspect; the permit is valid one year and renewed annuallyNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  3. G.S. 130A-34 — a county shall provide public health services and shall operate a county health departmentNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  4. 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
  5. G.S. 88B-20 — NC Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners fees, including $25 for inspection of a newly established cosmetic art shop and $3.00 per active booth per yearNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  6. Wake County Child Care, Adult Day Care and Group Homes — child day care facilities inspected twice a year, adult day care centres and group homes once a yearWake County Environmental Health & Safety · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  7. Wake County Environmental Health & Safety — Plan Review & Permits: opening a new facility or buying an existing oneWake County · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
  8. Wake County Environmental Health and Safety — plan review and permit fee matrixWake County · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  9. Wake County Fairs, Festivals and Fundraisers — the $75 fee for each temporary food establishment permit, the 15-calendar-day deadline and the qualifying-event and exempt-vendor listsWake County Environmental Health & Safety · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  10. Wake County FY2027 Adopted Budget — the User Fee Policy setting fees under G.S. 153A-102, and the record of the revised Wake County Regulations Governing Public Swimming Pools adopted for the 2026 pool seasonWake County Budget & Management Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  11. Wake County Public Swimming Pools (2026 season) — $300 annual operation permit, $250 plan review, $75 re-inspection that cannot be waived, and the December and March invoicing cyclesWake County Environmental Health & Safety · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  12. Wake County Submittal Guide — Childcare, Hotels and Institutions (December 2025), walking through the online application for the .2800, .1800 and .1300 facility typesWake County Environmental Health & Safety · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  13. Wake County Submittal Guide for Food Service Permit (August 2025) — step 8 invoices the $250 plan review feeWake County Environmental Health & Safety · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  14. Wake County Tattoos — $300 annual permit fee for new permits and renewals, $150 temporary permit valid 1 to 14 consecutive days, per-artist permits and the residence prohibitionWake County Environmental Health & Safety · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30

Other offices serving Wake County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

Industry permit lists that include this agency

North Carolina jurisdictions

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