What permits do you need to open a childcare centre in San Bernardino County?

Environmental Health Services Referral Fee (component of a CUP/MUP/Tentative Tract application)

This $1,020.00 fee is EHS's own referral-review charge for its participation in someone else's Planning Division application — it is billed under the line item 'Tentative Tract Review/CUP/MUP/TUP' and covers EHS's health/environmental review of that application, not the application itself. IT IS NOT THE COST OF A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT OR MINOR USE PERMIT: the actual Planning Division entitlement deposit is $16,468.00 (CUP) or $8,420.00 (MUP) under the County Fee Ordinance effective July 1, 2026, recorded as its own requirement for the County, and this EHS charge is a smaller component fee within that larger process, paid in addition to it, not instead of it. Related EHS Land Use fees on the same fee-schedule section include a Planned Development referral at $866.00, a 'CUP: Revision to an Approved Action' at $638.00, a Minor Subdivision/Tentative Parcel Map referral at $333.00, and a Temporary Special Event Application referral at $295.00 initial or $257.00 renewal — all from the current EHS Fee Schedule (Data Date 6/30/2026).

Child Care License — State Community Care Licensing; County Fire/Building Inspection Fees Apply (San Bernardino County)

The County's own Business Information document lists 'Family Care (Adult and Child) — Community Care Licensing, 951-782-4200,' a California Department of Social Services function, and names no parallel county childcare license, so there is no county childcare license fee. Childcare is not fee-free at the county level, though: SBCoFD charges a 'Day Care Facility — Group E Occupancy' mandated fire inspection fee of $425 (fee schedule effective July 1, 2026, recorded separately for the County), and LUS Building & Safety separately charges a $385 'Day care home-family inspection' fee (County Fee Ordinance effective July 1, 2026) — both county fees layered on top of the state license, not licenses in themselves. Under California's Family Day Care Homes preemption statutes (Health & Safety Code §1597.40 et seq.), a small family day care home (up to eight children) is a use permitted by right in any residential zone and cannot be made subject to a discretionary county zoning permit or CUP; a large family day care home (nine to fourteen children) is a permitted use subject only to limited, specified local standards; the County's fee documents add no San Bernardino County-specific implementation detail to that state framework.

Day Care Home-Family Inspection Fee

A $385.00 flat fee that LUS Building & Safety charges for a 'Day care home-family inspection,' per the County Fee Ordinance's Building & Safety fees effective July 1, 2026. This is layered on top of, not a substitute for, the state Community Care Licensing family day care home license recorded at the state layer, and on top of SBCoFD's separate $425 Day Care Facility Group E Occupancy fire-inspection fee recorded separately for the County. The fee schedule does not state whether this Building & Safety inspection is a one-time event tied to initial state licensing or something the County repeats on its own cycle; confirm with LUS Building & Safety before assuming either.

Child Care Centre License

Banded by licensed capacity, and the annual fee is always half the application fee. 1 to 30 children costs $484 to apply and $242 a year; 31 to 60 is $968 and $484; 61 to 75 is $1,210 and $605; 76 to 90 is $1,452 and $726; 91 to 120 is $1,936 and $968; 121 or more is $2,420 and $1,210. A family child care home in a residence is the separate, much cheaper track: $73 for 1 to 8 children and $140 for 9 to 14, with the annual fee equal to the application fee. Watch the add-ons, which are where budgets slip: changing licensed capacity costs $25, relocating costs half the application fee again, a department orientation is $50 a person, a late annual fee adds 50 per cent, and failing to implement a plan of correction by its stated date costs $200. Non-payment is itself grounds to deny or forfeit the license.

Shared with other businesses in San Bernardino County

• Conditional Use Permit / Minor Use Permit (Planning Division Entitlement) — San Bernardino County Land Use Services Department, Planning Division, Conditional Use Permit — Initial Deposit $16,468.00 (actual-cost basis: the deposit is drawn down against staff review time, additional deposits may be billed for further work, and any unused balance is refunded). Minor Use Permit — Initial Deposit $8,420.00, same actual-cost basis. Both are County Code §16.0215A fees, effective July 1, 2026, and are separate from — and far larger than — the $1,020 Environmental Health Services 'Tentative Tract Review/CUP/MUP/TUP' referral fee charged within the same application (recorded as its own line item for the County)., one-time per application; the permit itself then runs subject to the conditions the Planning Commission or Planning Director imposes. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, auto repair shops, veterinary clinics and fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the veterinary clinics page.