Bismarck
Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, Environmental Health Division
In short
Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, Environmental Health Division issues 3 permits we publish for Bismarck, last verified 2026-09-14. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salon Licensing — State Board License Applies (Bismarck; body art and tanning city-licensed)only if it applies to you | Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, Environmental Health Division | No fee | not applicable to a salon; a body art license runs to March 31 | 2026-09-14 |
| Food Establishment License | Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, Environmental Health Division | Tiered by risk level, then banded by floor area, on the City's own 2026 schedule. Level 1 (pre-packaged or limited reheat — convenience stores, bakeries, coffee shops heating milk only): $165.00 under 5,000 square feet, $195.00 from 5,000 to 10,000, $220.00 over 10,000. Level 2 (same-day preparation of time and temperature controlled food — grocery, sandwich shops, most fast food): $275.00, $305.00 and $330.00 across the same bands. Level 3 (extensive menu with more than two complex processes — a full restaurant): $385.00 under 5,000 square feet, $415.00 from 5,000 to 10,000, $440.00 from 10,001 to 20,000, and $550.00 over 20,000. Institutions are priced separately: Type 1, covering schools, childcare facilities, churches, fraternal clubs and non-profits, is $165.00, and Type 2, covering hospitals and assisted living or nursing homes, is $275.00. A temporary food permit is $85.00 with no proration, and a concession is $85.00. | annual, running April 1 to March 31 under City Code §8-03-09 | 2026-09-14 |
| Mobile Food Unit License | Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, Environmental Health Division | Priced by risk level on the City's own 2026 schedule: Mobile Food I at risk level 1 is $85.00 and Mobile Food II at risk level 2 is $165.00, each per license year. A separate City vendor permit of $50.00 per year applies only where the operator wants to use the City's designated vending areas, and is issued by Engineering rather than by public health. | annual; the City's designated vending areas are usable May 1 through October 31 each year | 2026-09-14 |
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
Salon Licensing — State Board License Applies (Bismarck; body art and tanning city-licensed)
The chapter list of Bismarck's Title 8 (Health) includes body art (ch. 8-11) and tanning facilities (ch. 8-13) but names no cosmetology chapter, Title 5's chapter list names nothing on the trade, and the City's New Business Licenses and Permits page states that Bismarck 'does not presently have a general business license' — so no city fee applies to a hair or nail salon at city level. Establishment licensing is a state function: N.D.A.C. 32-03-01-01 requires that 'All individuals, firms, associations, corporations, partnerships, and other entities desiring to operate an establishment shall make application to the board for a license prior to commencing business,' with N.D.C.C. 43-11-28 setting maximum fees of $150.00 for an original establishment license and $100.00 annually to renew. Two adjacent trades do carry a real Bismarck license, and a salon adding either picks up a city obligation: tattoo and body art at $165.00, running to March 31 like the food license year, and a tanning permit at $110.00 for one to ten beds or $165.00 for more than ten. Both are administered by Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health.
Food Establishment License
Unlike Fargo, whose equivalent fee is set by resolution and not printed, Bismarck publishes its food license schedule. City Code §8-03-05(1) carries the requirement: 'It is unlawful for any person without a license to operate a food-processing establishment, food-establishment or a temporary food establishment in the city or its police jurisdiction,' and §8-03-09 sets the term: 'The license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall cover the period commencing April 1st and ending March 31st of the following year.' Risk-level definitions come from the City's own application: Level 1 is pre-packaged or limited reheat, Level 2 involves same-day preparation of time and temperature controlled food, and Level 3 means an extensive menu with more than two complex processes. A retail store falls in scope only if it sells food, under the same level structure. One oddity is recorded as printed rather than corrected: on the 2026 schedule the Level 1 band above 10,000 square feet decreases from the prior year's $250.00 to $220.00. The consolidated document carrying every 2026 food fee is the 2026 column of the City's 2026 Preliminary Budget fee appendix dated August 2025; the City's current Bismarck Food License Application sets out the Level 1 to Level 3 and Mobile Food Unit 1 and 2 categories but prints no fee amounts.
Mobile Food Unit License
Two distinct obligations, and only the first is universal. Every mobile food operator needs the Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health license, priced at $85.00 or $165.00 by risk level. A truck licensed elsewhere in North Dakota still needs it: the state's own mobile food unit guidance records that reciprocity is statewide 'EXCEPT for Fargo Cass Public Health, Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, and tribal jurisdictions.' The second obligation applies only to operators wanting the City's designated vending spots — Title 10 §10-05.1-02(2)(g) requires a mobile vendor license through Engineering, supported by a public health inspection letter and insurance of $250,000 per individual and $1,000,000 per occurrence, with the designated areas available May 1 through October 31. Operating on private property needs only the health license. One labelling caveat is disclosed: the matching 2026 fee line reads 'Vendor Permits 50.00/year' without naming mobile vending, so the mapping to this permit is inferred from the issuing department rather than stated on the schedule, and the $50.00 is recorded here in the note rather than folded into the license fee above.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Bismarck
- Phone
- (701) 355-3400
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.
- Areas of Licensing Jurisdiction — North Dakota HHS's own statement that food licensing and inspection is delegated to eight local health units by Memorandum of Understanding, with Fargo Cass Public Health named for the City of FargoNorth Dakota Health and Human Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
- City of Bismarck Fees and Charges, 2026 — the consolidated schedule carrying the Environmental Health food, mobile food, temporary food, body art and tanning fees, the fire permit and inspection fees, the mechanical contractor license fees and the alcoholic beverage license classesCity of Bismarck · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
- Food Establishments — Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health's own current page stating that the Environmental Health Division licenses and inspects all food establishments in Bismarck and that operating without a license is unlawfulBismarck-Burleigh Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
- New Business Licenses and Permits — the City's own current page stating that Bismarck has no general business license and that only certain occupations require a use-specific license or permitCity of Bismarck · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-14
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