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14 permits · verified 2026-09-10

What permits do you need to open a restaurant in Davenport?

In short

A restaurant in Davenport, IA has 6 permits that apply to every business of this type, plus 8 more that depend on your premises, signage or how you are set up. City of Davenport, Finance Department, Revenue Division charges $20 per tent for the tent permit. 3 of the 14 are charged as a range or formula rather than a flat fee. Verified 2026-09-10 against the issuing agencies’ published fee schedules.

The permits at a glance

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Certificate of OccupancyCity of Davenport, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, Building DivisionNo feeone-time, no expiration2026-09-10
Tent Permitonly if it applies to youCity of Davenport, Finance Department, Revenue Division$20 per tentone-time, per event/installation2026-09-10
Building Permit (Commercial)City of Davenport, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, Building DivisionPriced by declared construction valuation under the city's own Building Permit Fee Schedule: $15.50 for $0-500 of valuation, rising in narrow bands to $668.75 for $99,001-100,000, then $668.75 plus $3.75 for each additional $1,000 (or fraction) of valuation above $100,000. Separate flat fees apply outside the valuation table: a $77 re-inspection fee (Municipal Code § 15.08.320), a $77 inspection-outside-normal-business-hours fee, a $77 fee for any inspection with no fee otherwise specified, a $44-per-hour additional plan-review fee, $44 each for flammable-liquid storage tanks and pumps, $77 (up to 3,000 sq. ft.) or $140 (over 3,000 sq. ft.) to wreck a building, $140 to move a building, and $110 for a temporary building or structure.one-time, per project2026-09-10
Sign PermitCity of Davenport, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, Building Division$50 one-time, per signone-time, per sign2026-09-10
Zoning Determination / Administrative Exceptiononly if it applies to youCity of Davenport, Community Planning and Economic DevelopmentNo feeone-time, no stated expiration2026-09-10
Food Establishment LicenseScott County Health DepartmentFood Service Establishment (restaurants, bars, take-out, catering, concession stands): $0 for schools; $150 for annual gross sales of $1-$100,000; $300 for $100,001-$500,000; $400 for $500,001 and up. Retail Food Establishment (grocery/convenience without prepared food): $150 for $1-$250,000; $300 for $250,001-$750,000; $400 for $750,001 and up. An establishment needing both licence types pays its dominant category's fee plus a flat $150 secondary-licence charge. A Mobile Food Unit is a flat $250, plus the Food Service fee if it also operates a commissary at the same physical address.annual2026-09-10
No City of Davenport Business Licence Category Appliesonly if it applies to youCity of Davenport, Finance Department, Revenue DivisionNo feenot applicable2026-09-10
General Business Licence (not required by Iowa)only if it applies to youIowa Economic Development Authority, Business License Information CenterNo feenot applicable2026-09-04
Certificate of Organization (LLC)only if it applies to youIowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division$50 one-time filingperpetual, but a biennial report is due every two years2026-09-04
Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to youIowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division$50 one-time filingperpetual, but a biennial report is due every two years2026-09-04
Biennial Reportonly if it applies to youIowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division$30 filed electronically or $45 on paper for an LLC, every two years; $60 flat for a corporation regardless of filing methodan LLC files between 1 January and 1 April of every odd year; a corporation files in the same window of every even year2026-09-04
Sales Tax PermitIowa Department of RevenueNo feeno expiration — stays effective until cancelled or revoked2026-09-04
Food Establishment LicenceIowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing$150 a year for gross sales under $100,000, rising to $300 and then $400 as sales climbannual2026-09-04
Certified Food Protection Manageronly if it applies to youIowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and LicensingNo feenot stated in Iowa's own rule text2026-09-04

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

How much does it actually cost to permit a restaurant in Davenport?

There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 14 records listed for a restaurant in Davenport, IA, 6 apply to every business of this type and 8 are conditional. Adding every fee on the page together would overstate what most operators pay, because it would include permits they never need.

Of the 6 that always apply, 2 carry a flat fee, coming to $200.00. That is a floor, not a total. 3 of the 14 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 6 have no fee published at all. The ones that vary:

Building Permit (Commercial): Priced by declared construction valuation under the city's own Building Permit Fee Schedule: $15.50 for $0-500 of valuation, rising in narrow bands to $668.75 for $99,001-100,000, then $668.75 plus $3.75 for each additional $1,000 (or fraction) of valuation above $100,000. Separate flat fees apply outside the valuation table: a $77 re-inspection fee (Municipal Code § 15.08.320), a $77 inspection-outside-normal-business-hours fee, a $77 fee for any inspection with no fee otherwise specified, a $44-per-hour additional plan-review fee, $44 each for flammable-liquid storage tanks and pumps, $77 (up to 3,000 sq. ft.) or $140 (over 3,000 sq. ft.) to wreck a building, $140 to move a building, and $110 for a temporary building or structure.

Food Establishment License: Food Service Establishment (restaurants, bars, take-out, catering, concession stands): $0 for schools; $150 for annual gross sales of $1-$100,000; $300 for $100,001-$500,000; $400 for $500,001 and up. Retail Food Establishment (grocery/convenience without prepared food): $150 for $1-$250,000; $300 for $250,001-$750,000; $400 for $750,001 and up. An establishment needing both licence types pays its dominant category's fee plus a flat $150 secondary-licence charge. A Mobile Food Unit is a flat $250, plus the Food Service fee if it also operates a commissary at the same physical address.

Biennial Report: $30 filed electronically or $45 on paper for an LLC, every two years; $60 flat for a corporation regardless of filing method

Which offices issue these permits in Davenport?

Permits for a restaurant in Davenport, IA come from 8 separate offices: City of Davenport, Development and Neighborhood Services Department, Building Division, City of Davenport, Finance Department, Revenue Division, City of Davenport, Community Planning and Economic Development, Scott County Health Department, Iowa Economic Development Authority, Business License Information Center, Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services Division, Iowa Department of Revenue, Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.

Is anything about these requirements changing?

A certificate of occupancy fee is not published anywhere this research could reach: the city's own current Building Permit Fee Schedule lists a detailed 'Other Permit Fees' table (re-inspections, off-hours inspections, plan review, storage tanks, wrecking, moving buildings, temporary structures) with no certificate-of-occupancy line item at all, and the Building and Land Development Review Process page describes the step without naming a fee either. Confirm directly with the Building Department (563-326-7745) before assuming it is free.

Required for any tent of 400 square feet or larger set up for public or event use — a sidewalk sale, an outdoor fitness class, or a restaurant patio event tent, for example — before the space may open to the public. Reviewed jointly by Development and Neighborhood Services, the Fire Department and Finance; confirmed at a flat $20 on the City's own licensing page.

Submitted with plans and payment to the Building Department at the Davenport Public Works Center (multi-family, commercial and industrial projects with site work are instead reviewed through the city's E-Plan online portal). Electrical, plumbing and mechanical work is reviewed alongside the building permit rather than under a separately published trade-specific valuation table.

Covers permanent sign installation, confirmed directly at $50.00 on the city's own application form; a sign requiring an electrical connection also needs a separate electrical permit from a licensed, bonded electrical contractor, and Community Planning zoning sign-off is required before approval. Separately, Municipal Code Chapter 5.02 licenses certain sign-adjacent structures as an ongoing annual business — Billboard Maintenance ($75/year), Canopy ($50/year per canopy), Temporary sign/canopy ($2/week) and railroad-viaduct bridge signs ($5/sign) — a recurring fee on top of, not instead of, this one-time installation permit for a business that owns one of those structure types.

Community Planning and Economic Development's own multi-purpose application form lists an 'Administrative Exception' as its own request type, alongside rezoning, variances, special use permits and historic-preservation matters — but its fee is not published anywhere this research could reach. The same shared form does confirm a $400 fee, but only for a Right-of-Way or Easement Vacation request specifically; that figure is not asserted here as the Administrative Exception fee. Confirm the current fee directly with Community Planning (563-326-7765) before budgeting for a zoning determination request.

Scott County is one of the ten Iowa counties with a delegated local health department rather than falling under the state Food Safety Bureau's direct jurisdiction, confirmed both by Iowa DIAL's own Food Inspection Jurisdictions page and by the Scott County Health Department's own licensing program and fee-bearing application — a genuinely distinct local authority, of the same kind already found for Cedar Rapids' Linn County. Applications must be submitted at least 30 days before the anticipated opening date, with a menu, floor plan and equipment schedule required for new construction; plan review itself carries no separate fee, and a Certified Food Protection Manager certificate is due within 6 months of opening where not already held.

No fee applies to any of these six industries under Davenport's roughly fifteen-category Title 5 licensing structure. Restaurants, coffee shops and salons are expressly named as exempt from the Chapter 5.17 retail licence itself ('bars, restaurants, taverns, clubs, food services, salons, barbershops, nail shops, tattoo and massage parlors and mortuaries'); childcare, fitness studios and veterinary clinics simply fall outside every named category (retail, public garage/gas station, alarms, billboards/signs/canopies, tobacco, auctions, pawnbrokers, metal recyclers, public amusements/dancehalls, mobile food/ice cream vending, tree trimming and massage/reflexology). Each still pays the generic building permit and sign permit recorded above where applicable, and a Davenport salon offering reflexology specifically triggers the separate licence recorded below.

No fee, and the state's own economic development authority puts it about as plainly as an agency can: Iowa does not have a general business licence, and what a specific business needs instead depends on its nature or profession. What follows is entity registration with the Secretary of State, a tax permit if it sells taxable goods, and whatever industry-specific licence actually applies.

Fifty dollars, reduced from a higher figure by the Secretary of State's own fee cut effective 1 July 2022 — anything quoting an older, higher number predates that change. A corporation costs the identical $50 to form.

The same $50 as an LLC, following the identical 2022 fee reduction.

Iowa splits its filers onto two different calendars rather than one shared date — an LLC reports in odd-numbered years, a corporation in even-numbered ones, both within the same narrow window of 1 January to 1 April. Filing electronically genuinely saves an LLC money, $30 against $45 on paper; a corporation pays the same $60 whichever way it files. Missing the deadline gives sixty days to cure before the Secretary of State can begin administratively dissolving the entity, though the further steps to an actual dissolution date were not independently confirmed beyond that sixty-day trigger.

No fee at any stage — the revenue department says these permits are free of charge, full stop, and once issued a permit simply remains in effect until the holder cancels it or the department revokes it. There is no periodic renewal to track at all.

Iowa bands this fee by gross food and beverage sales rather than by seating capacity, which is the opposite of what many states do: under $100,000 a year in sales costs $150, $100,000 to under $500,000 costs $300, and $500,000 or more costs $400. A brand-new establishment with no prior-year figures to report is charged the top band by default until it has a full year on file. A mobile food unit is a flat $250 regardless of sales; a single temporary event is $50, and a licence covering multiple non-concurrent events statewide in one year is $200; vending machines are $50 for the first and $10 for each additional one. Ten local health departments, covering roughly a third of Iowa's counties between Black Hawk, Cerro Gordo, Dubuque, Johnson, Lee, Linn, Scott, Siouxland and Washington County, run their own delegated inspection programmes and keep the fees they collect rather than remitting them to the state — but the fee schedule itself is set statewide by statute, so the amount does not change by moving between a state-run and a delegated county.

No state fee, because Iowa runs no certification programme of its own — the credential comes from an accredited private provider at that provider's price, and the state rule addresses only who must hold one, not what it costs. A single certified food protection manager covers an establishment, and a newly licensed facility has six months from licensure to comply. Several categories are exempt outright: an establishment selling only prepackaged food, a temporary or farmers market establishment, one that prepares no food at all, and one selling only commercially prepared items that need no temperature control for safety. This is a manager-level requirement rather than a card required of every employee — Iowa's rule addresses only the person in charge.

Sources

Every figure above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown. Confirmed by Editorial Team.

  1. Building Permit Fee Schedule — the valuation-based fee table ($15.50 at $0-500 rising to $668.75 at $99,001-100,000, then plus $3.75 per $1,000 above $100,000) and the 'Other Permit Fees' table (re-inspection, off-hours inspection, plan review, storage tanks, pumps, wrecking, moving buildings, temporary structures), with no certificate-of-occupancy line item anywhere in itCity of Davenport, Building Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
  2. Building and Land Development Review Process — describing Preliminary Approvals (Plan and Zoning Commission, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Design Review Board, Historic Preservation Commission, staff-level Flood Plain Development Permit) and the residential/commercial permit-to-certificate-of-occupancy path, naming City Code Chapter 17.12 for sign review, with no certificate-of-occupancy fee statedCity of Davenport · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
  3. Business Licenses — the City's own 'multi-business license fee code structure' framing, the April 1-March 31 licence period with a 10% penalty after May 1 and half-year new-licence pricing from October 1, and the full list of named licence categories (retail/transient merchant, gasoline station/public garage, alarms, billboards/signs/canopies, cigarette/tobacco/vapor, closing-out sales, auctions, live entertainment, metal recyclers/salvage, pawnbrokers/secondhand/junk/antique dealers, public amusements/dancehalls, mobile food/mobile ice cream vendors, massage/reflexology, tent permits, tree trimmers)City of Davenport, Finance Department (Revenue Division) · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
  4. Sign (Permanent) Permit Application — confirming the $50.00 permit fee payable to the Public Works Building Division, the requirement that signs needing an electrical connection also obtain a separate electrical permit, and Zoning Review sign-offCity of Davenport, Public Works Building Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
  5. Community Planning & Economic Development multi-purpose application (Plan and Zoning Commission, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Design Review Board, Historic Preservation Commission and Administrative Exception requests) — confirming a $400 required fee for a Right-of-Way or Easement Vacation request specifically, with no fee named for a plain Administrative ExceptionCity of Davenport, Community Planning and Economic Development · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
  6. Food Establishment License Application (including Mobile Units) — complete fee schedule: Food Service Establishment banded by gross sales ($0 schools / $150 up to $100,000 / $300 up to $500,000 / $400 above), Retail Food Establishment banded differently at the same three figures ($150/$300/$400, thresholds at $250,000 and $750,000), a $150 secondary-licence add-on for a dual Food Service and Retail Food establishment, and a flat $250 Mobile Food Unit feeScott County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
  7. Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing — the ten local health departments with delegated food inspection authorityIowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  8. Food Service Establishments — confirming licence fees are based on gross food and beverage sales and that there is no fee for plan reviewsScott County Health Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
  9. Municipal Code Chapter 5.17, Retail Sales and Transient Merchants — the retail licence requirement for 'every person engaged in the business of selling tangible personal property to the ultimate consumer,' and the express exemption for 'bars, restaurants, taverns, clubs, food services, salons, barbershops, nail shops, tattoo and massage parlors and mortuaries'City of Davenport · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-10
  10. Iowa Economic Development Authority — stating plainly that Iowa has no general business licenceIowa Economic Development Authority · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  11. Iowa Code section 489.122 — LLC filing fees, including the $50 certificate of organizationIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  12. Iowa Code section 490.122 — corporation filing fees, including the $50 articles of incorporationIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  13. Iowa Administrative Code 721, chapter 40 — biennial report fees for LLCsIowa Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  14. Iowa Code section 489.212 — the LLC biennial report filing windowIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  15. Iowa Code section 490.1621 — the corporation biennial report filing windowIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  16. Iowa Code section 489.708 — administrative dissolution after a 60-day cure periodIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  17. Iowa Department of Revenue — business permit registration, confirming the sales tax permit is freeIowa Department of Revenue · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  18. Iowa Code section 137F.6 — the food establishment licence fee schedule, banded by gross salesIowa Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  19. Iowa Administrative Code 481, chapter 31 — the certified food protection manager requirement and its exemptionsIowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04

Related

Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.