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Franklin County

Franklin County Public Health

In short

Franklin County Public Health issues 7 permits we publish for Franklin County, last verified 2026-09-28. 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
Mobile Food License (FCPH)only if it applies to youFranklin County Public Health$157.74 a year (FY2023 calculated-maximum figure), per mobile food unitannual, same license year as the Permanent Food Facility License (expires March 1); a pre-operation inspection is required before the unit's first use2026-09-28
Body Art Establishment Licenseonly if it applies to youFranklin County Public HealthOhio does not require a state tattoo-artist license, but state law (ORC Chapter 3730, OAC Chapter 3701-9) requires a board of health inspection and written plan approval before a body-art establishment may operate, administered locally by FCPH outside Columbus and Worthington. A Franklin-County dollar figure for this license is not published on FCPH's program pages, and the FY2023 food-license cost-analysis filing covers the food program only. Contact FCPH's Body Art Program directly for the current fee.annual, on the licensing cycle set by whichever health district (FCPH or, in Columbus and Worthington, Columbus Public Health) has jurisdiction2026-09-28
Public Swimming Pool / Spa Licenseonly if it applies to youFranklin County Public HealthOhio's public swimming pool program (ORC Chapter 3749, OAC Chapter 3701-31) requires a license from the local city or general health district for any public pool, spa or special-use pool, administered by FCPH outside Columbus and Worthington. A Franklin-County dollar figure for this license is not published on FCPH's program pages or fee documents; contact FCPH's Pools Program directly for the current fee.annual, on the licensing cycle set by whichever health district (FCPH or, in Columbus and Worthington, Columbus Public Health) has jurisdiction2026-09-28
Veterinary Licensing — State Board License Applies (Franklin County)only if it applies to youFranklin County Public HealthNo feenot applicable — veterinarians are licensed by the Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board2026-09-28
Permanent Food Facility License (FCPH)only if it applies to youFranklin County Public HealthFY2023 FCPH cost-analysis calculated-maximum figures (board.myfcph.org 'Certification of Cost Analysis (M-2)'), the most recent available and closely matching FY2023 actual collected revenue: Level 1, under 25,000 sq ft: $216.00; Level 2, under 25,000 sq ft: $243.42; Level 3, under 25,000 sq ft: $466.02; Level 4, under 25,000 sq ft: $591.04; Level 1, 25,000 sq ft and over: $312.50; Level 2, 25,000 sq ft and over: $328.95; Level 3, 25,000 sq ft and over: $1,167.85; Level 4, 25,000 sq ft and over: $1,238.03. A separate vending-machine-location license under the same filing calculates to up to $16.56.annual; license year runs to February 28/29, renewal window opens February 1, expires March 1, with a 20% late fee on or after March 12026-09-28
Temporary Food License (FCPH)only if it applies to youFranklin County Public Health$73.98–$123.23 FY2023 calculated-maximum figures: up to $73.98 per day of operation, or up to $123.23 per event, depending on which basis FCPH appliesper event; limited to not more than 10 temporary licenses per licensing period to the same person or government entity under ORC 3717.43, one license per particular event2026-09-28
Rabies Control Obligations (tag issuance and recordkeeping)Franklin County Public HealthNo feestanding operational duty performed at each vaccination — not a licensed term2026-09-28

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 License (FCPH)

A food truck, cart or trailer based outside Columbus and Worthington needs a Mobile Food License from Franklin County Public Health before operating: a pre-operation inspection is required, and FCPH's own Food Safety page states the mobile unit 'must move the mobile to a new location every 40 days.' A unit whose commissary or base of operations is inside Columbus or Worthington instead falls under Columbus Public Health, the independent city health department — CPH's own page states its inspections cover 'the cities of Columbus and Worthington' specifically, not the rest of the county. The FY2023 cost-analysis figure above ($157.74) is the calculated maximum for the mobile facility category, the most recent figure FCPH has filed; FY2023 actual collected revenue for this category averaged closer to $85 per unit, so a truck owner should confirm the currently charged amount with the Food Safety Program directly. A food truck also needs the county Vendor's License if it sells goods subject to Ohio sales tax from a fixed base location.

Body Art Establishment License

A salon offering tattooing or body piercing — but not an ordinary hair or nail salon that offers neither — needs a Body Art Establishment License from whichever health district has jurisdiction over its address: Franklin County Public Health outside Columbus and Worthington, or Columbus Public Health within those two cities, the same split that governs FCPH's food licensing. Ohio's body-art framework is set at the state level (ORC Chapter 3730, OAC Chapter 3701-9), which the Ohio Department of Health's own program page describes as requiring board of health approval before any business may offer body-art services, and requiring plans for a body-art facility's layout and equipment to be accepted in writing by the local board of health before construction, installation or a substantial alteration. Standard cosmetology and barbering salons are licensed by the state Cosmetology and Barber Board (listed separately), and this body-art license applies to them only if they also offer tattooing or piercing. The Franklin-County-specific fee for this license is not printed on FCPH's program pages, so contact FCPH directly for the current amount before budgeting for it.

Public Swimming Pool / Spa License

A gym or fitness studio with a swimming pool, spa or hot tub on-site needs a public swimming pool/spa license from whichever health district has jurisdiction over its address — Franklin County Public Health outside Columbus and Worthington, or Columbus Public Health within those two cities, the same split that governs FCPH's food and body-art licensing. The requirement itself is a uniform state framework (ORC Chapter 3749, OAC Chapter 3701-31), administered locally: the Ohio Department of Health's own program page confirms that public pools, spas and special-use pools are licensed and inspected by the local city or general health district, not set independently by each county. A fitness studio without a pool, spa or hot tub on-site does not trigger this license. FCPH's fee documents do not print a specific Franklin-County dollar figure for this license; contact FCPH's Pools Program directly for the current amount before budgeting for it.

Veterinary Licensing — State Board License Applies (Franklin County)

Veterinary practice in Ohio is licensed by the Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board under ORC Chapter 4741, a state credential separate from any county process, and the Franklin County Auditor's Licensing Types page lists no veterinary clinic license among the county's licenses; this record carries no fee. A Franklin County veterinary clinic's county-level touchpoints are narrow and are listed separately: the rabies-control recordkeeping and tag-issuance duty that applies to every clinic administering rabies vaccinations, and the kennel license only if the clinic is also operating a commercial dog-breeding kennel on-site rather than providing ordinary veterinary medical care or boarding. Neither of those is a substitute for, or version of, the state veterinary practice license itself.

Permanent Food Facility License (FCPH)

Franklin County Public Health licenses 'any business that sells food' outside Columbus and Worthington — restaurants, coffee shops, grocery and retail stores selling food, gas stations, schools and daycares, hospitals and care facilities — through its Food Safety Program, at 280 E. Broad St., Columbus. This is the single biggest jurisdictional trap in Franklin County: Columbus Public Health, an independent CITY agency and not a Franklin County office, states on its own page that 'Inspections are done to verify the safety of Columbus' food supply for all people who live, work or visit the cities of Columbus and Worthington' — so a restaurant, coffee shop, retail food seller or food-serving childcare center physically located in Columbus or Worthington is licensed by CPH, not FCPH, and this record does not apply to it. Everywhere else in Franklin County, FCPH is the licensor. The fee figures above come from FCPH's own state-mandated FY2023 Certification of Cost Analysis filing, the most recent one available, and represent calculated maximum fees that track FY2023's actual collected revenue closely (for example, Level 1 facilities under 25,000 sq ft calculated at $216.00 against roughly $218 actually collected) rather than a simple published current-year table. The license framework itself — the risk-level classification and the food code it enforces — is Ohio's state Uniform Food Safety Code (ORC Chapter 3717, OAC Chapter 3701-21), administered locally by whichever board of health has jurisdiction, not a Franklin-County-specific invention. A childcare center serving meals on-site needs this license (or CPH's equivalent) in addition to any state childcare licensing.

Temporary Food License (FCPH)

A food vendor operating at a single festival, fair or other short-term event outside Columbus and Worthington uses FCPH's Temporary Food License. FCPH's own Food Safety page and Columbus Public Health's page use identical '10 per year' language for this cap, and the reason they match is that both are simply restating the same state statute: ORC 3717.43 provides that 'a licensor may issue not more than ten temporary food service operation licenses per licensing period to the same person or government entity to operate at different events within the licensor's jurisdiction,' with only one license per particular event. The FY2023 cost-analysis filing calculates two possible maximum fee bases for this category — up to $73.98 per day of operation, or up to $123.23 per event — and Franklin County's actual per-event collections in FY2023 ran closer to $67-$112, so a vendor should confirm which basis and amount FCPH is currently charging. An event or vendor inside Columbus or Worthington instead needs Columbus Public Health's equivalent temporary permit, not FCPH's.

Rabies Control Obligations (tag issuance and recordkeeping)

No fee applies to this obligation — it is not a separate license, but a standing operational duty on every veterinary clinic. Franklin County Public Health administers rabies control outside Columbus and Worthington, and within Columbus or Worthington the same duty runs through Columbus Public Health instead, the same jurisdictional split that governs FCPH's food licensing. A veterinarian must issue a rabies tag to a pet owner at the time of vaccination and keep vaccination records available to the health commissioner on request; this is a recordkeeping and reporting duty tied to every rabies vaccination a clinic performs, not a business license the clinic applies for or renews. It sits alongside, and is distinct from, the clinic's state veterinary practice license (issued by the Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board, listed separately) and any kennel license the clinic would separately need only if it also runs a commercial dog-breeding operation.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Franklin County
Phone
614-525-7462

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. Body Art (Tattoo & Body Piercing) — the state's own program page: no business may offer body-art services without board of health approval, and no facility may be built or altered until plans are accepted in writing by the city or general health district board of healthOhio Department of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  2. Certification of Cost Analysis (M-2), FY2023 — FCPH's state-mandated filing computing maximum license fees by risk level, mobile, vending and temporary category, health-commissioner-signedFranklin County Public Health, Board of Health document archive · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  3. Following the Law — the county's Food Business Portal page describing FCPH's licensing role and the state Uniform Food Safety Code (ORC Chapter 3717, OAC Chapter 3701-21) it administersFranklin County, Ohio · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  4. Food Protection Program — Columbus Public Health's own page, stating 'Inspections are done to verify the safety of Columbus' food supply for all people who live, work or visit the cities of Columbus and Worthington' (a CITY agency, not Franklin County)City of Columbus, Columbus Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  5. Food Safety — FCPH's own program page: license categories, the 40-day mobile-relocation rule, the 10-per-year temporary license cap, and the March 1 annual expiration/20% late feeFranklin County Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  6. OAC 3701-9-02 — Body Art license/approval ruleOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  7. Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board — the exclusive state licensor of veterinarians under ORC Chapter 4741Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  8. ORC 3717.43 — a licensor may issue not more than ten temporary food service operation licenses per licensing period to the same person or government entityOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  9. ORC Chapter 3730 — Body ArtOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  10. ORC Chapter 3749 — Public Swimming PoolsOhio Legislative Service Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  11. Public Swimming Pools — the state's own program page for public pools, spas and special-use pools, licensed and inspected by the local city or general health districtOhio Department of Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29

Other offices serving Franklin County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

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Ohio jurisdictions

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