Arlington
City of Arlington Health Services
In short
City of Arlington Health Services issues 14 permits we publish for Arlington, last verified 2026-08-24. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonal Market Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Arlington Health Services | $200 per booth, per venue | 15 to 180 days | 2026-08-24 |
| Food Establishment Change of Ownershiponly if it applies to you | City of Arlington Health Services | $350 per application | one-time, per application | 2026-08-24 |
| Catering Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Arlington Health Services | $225 per year | one year from the date of issuance | 2026-08-24 |
| Food Establishment Master Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Arlington Health Services | $240–$340 per year, by inspection priority | one year from the date of issuance | 2026-08-24 |
| Food Establishment Plan Review | City of Arlington Health Services | $500 per application | one-time, per application | 2026-08-24 |
| Child Care Center Operating Permit | City of Arlington Health Services | $275–$425 per year, with or without food service | one year from the date of issuance | 2026-08-24 |
| Food Establishment Operating Permit | City of Arlington Health Services | $300–$425 per year, by inspection priority | one year from the date of issuance | 2026-08-24 |
| Central Preparation Facility Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Arlington Health Services | $325 per year | one year from the date of issuance | 2026-08-24 |
| Temporary Food Establishment Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Arlington Health Services | $52 per booth, per event | 1 to 14 days, tied to a permitted special event | 2026-08-24 |
| Food Handler Permit | City of Arlington Health Services | $16 per person | two years | 2026-08-24 |
| Hotel Sanitation Inspection | City of Arlington Health Services | $75 per room, with a minimum charge of $225 | inspection frequency is risk-based | 2026-08-24 |
| Public and Semi-Public Pool Operational Permit | City of Arlington Health Services | $200–$350 seasonal or year-round | six months seasonal, or one year year-round | 2026-08-24 |
| Boarding Home Facility Permit | City of Arlington Health Services | $1,200–$1,500 per year, inspection fee | one year from the date of issuance | 2026-08-24 |
| On-Site Sewage System Installation Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Arlington Health Services | $250 per application | one-time, per application | 2026-08-24 |
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
Seasonal Market Permit
$200 per booth per venue, for an operation running 15 to 180 days. The break-even against temporary permits is about two events: at $104 a booth per event, a vendor doing three or more dated events in a season is better off on the seasonal permit. A farmers' market permit, covering application review and inspection, is priced separately at $100 for the year.
Food Establishment Change of Ownership
$350. Health permits in Arlington are non-transferable, so this is not paperwork on an existing permit — the buyer applies for a new certificate of occupancy and a new health permit, and must pass a permitting inspection before operating. Anyone modelling the cost of buying a restaurant here should carry this plus the certificate of occupancy plus the first operating permit, not just the purchase price.
Catering Permit
$225 a year, and a catering vehicle permit is the same $225. Cheaper than the fixed establishment permit at every priority level, which matters for a restaurant adding off-site catering: it is an additional permit rather than a re-rating of the one already held.
Food Establishment Master Permit
$240 low priority, $260 medium, $340 high. This is the rate for an establishment holding ten or more food inventories in one location under one ownership — a supermarket with a deli, a bakery, a sushi counter and a hot bar, rather than ten separate shops. It is roughly 20% below the standard permit at every priority level, so a large grocer that permits each department separately is paying more than it needs to.
Food Establishment Plan Review
$500 for new construction or a major remodel — the single largest health charge on opening a restaurant in Arlington, and larger than the first year's operating permit. Commercial building plans go in for review against both the building and the health code, and the health final inspection must pass before the building final can be requested, which puts this on the critical path rather than beside it.
Child Care Center Operating Permit
$275 without food service, $425 with it — so adding a kitchen to a nursery costs $150 a year in permit terms, before any construction. New permit application and plan review is $425 for new construction or a major remodel, and a change of ownership is $350. Each playground at the facility is inspected at $50, initially and on each annual renewal. Child care workers hold their own permit at $20, valid three years, with the training course at $10 a head or $50 for on-site group instruction; an instructor certificate is $50 every five years.
Food Establishment Operating Permit
$300 low priority, $325 medium, $425 high — priority is set by the inspection frequency criteria the city derives from the FDA Food Code 2017, not by turnover, which is what makes Arlington cheap for a high-volume low-risk operation and expensive for a small kitchen doing complex preparation. Every retail food establishment is inspected at least once a year. Since 1 September 2025 the establishment must post the letter grade from its most recent routine inspection where the public can see it; a score of 75 or less brings a scored reinspection at $200, and 76 or higher with critical violations can bring an unscored follow-up. The permit is non-transferable: on a change of ownership the new owner needs a new certificate of occupancy and a new health permit, and must pass a permitting inspection before operating.
Central Preparation Facility Permit
$325 a year for a commissary. Arlington's food page states that all mobile units, stationary pushcarts included, must return to their central preparation facility at the end of every business day — so this is the permit that makes a food truck operation legal on the fixed side even though the truck itself is now permitted by the state. Commissary letters are issued by Health Services on request.
Temporary Food Establishment Permit
$52 per booth per event for the permit and inspection, and a further $52 for the application review — read the schedule as $104 a booth if you are budgeting, not $52. Non-profit temporary vendors are charged the same $52 for registration and inspection. Apply at least 10 days before the first day of the event: inside 10 days there is a $25 expedited review fee, and applying at the event itself is $50. Pre-packaged non-perishable goods — bottled drinks, bagged crisps, whole uncut fruit — do not need the permit at all. Events of 15 to 180 days are a seasonal permit instead, at $200.
Food Handler Permit
$16 per person, required every two years — the cheapest recurring compliance cost in this table, and the one most often missed when staff turn over. A summer feeding programme organisation registers separately at $50, and revising an issued permit is $25.
Hotel Sanitation Inspection
$75 a room with a $225 floor, so a 100-room hotel is looking at $7,500 an inspection and the frequency is risk-based rather than fixed. Hotel plan review for new construction or a major remodel is $475. The verification audit is banded by size instead: $75 up to 50 rooms, $125 for 51-100, $250 for 101-200, $375 for 201-300 and $500 at 301 rooms or more. Reinspection is $175 per room requiring it on the city's own fees page; Exhibit A prints $200 for a hotel reinspection, and the city page is the later-published figure of the two.
Public and Semi-Public Pool Operational Permit
$200 for a seasonal permit covering six months and one annual inspection, or $350 year-round with two inspections. New permit application and plan review is $300 on the city's fees page for new construction or a major remodel, with a change of ownership at $200. A gym or apartment complex that closes its pool still pays: safety inspections for non-operational pools are $200 for the year. Reinspection and emergency inspection are $200 each.
Boarding Home Facility Permit
The most expensive recurring permit Arlington Health Services issues. First year is $1,500 for the inspection — covering the pre-operational inspection plus the annual health and kitchen inspections — and $1,200 in each subsequent year for the annual health and kitchen inspections. The permit application itself is a further $500, each additional building on the site is $50, and reinspection or emergency inspection is $200. The programme took effect on 1 April 2025.
On-Site Sewage System Installation Permit
$250 for the installation permit and application. A repair permit is $150, and the real estate inspection needed on a sale is $125. Only relevant where the site is not on city sewer, which in Arlington means the outer edges rather than the built-up core.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Arlington
- Phone
- (817) 459-6693
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.
- Health Permits & Fees — fees effective 1 September 2025City of Arlington Health Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-24
- Planning and Development Services Fee Schedule — Exhibit A to Resolution No. 25-258, effective 1 October 2025City of Arlington (via Texas DSHS Local Ordinance and Fee Schedule Registry) · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-24
- Retail & Temporary Food Inspection ProgramCity of Arlington Health Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-08-24
Other offices serving Arlington
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
Texas jurisdictions
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