What permits do you need to open a childcare centre in Shreveport?

There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 9 records listed for a childcare centre in Shreveport, LA, 3 apply to every business of this type and 6 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 3 that always apply, 1 carry a flat fee, coming to $125.00. That is a floor, not a total. 2 of the 9 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 1 has no fee published at all. The ones that vary:

Commercial Building Permit: $5.25 per $1,000 (or fraction) of contract price up to $5,000,000, then $2.62 per $1,000 above that; without a contract price, $0.53 per square foot (or $0.21 for storage occupancies). Minimum permit fee $31.50. Plan review adds 25% of the permit fee for new construction, remodels, and additions. Inspections are $68.25 each, including reinspection. Working without a permit doubles the fee and adds a $100 penalty.

Child Care Licence: $25–$250 a year, banded by licensed capacity

Permits for a childcare centre in Shreveport, LA come from 4 separate offices: City of Shreveport Division of Permits and Inspections, Shreveport-Caddo Metropolitan Planning Commission, Louisiana Secretary of State, Commercial Division, Louisiana Department of Education, Early Childhood Division. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.

• City of Shreveport Division of Permits and InspectionsIssues 1 permit on this page: Commercial Building Permit(318) 673-6442www.shreveportla.gov/120/Permits-Specialized-Service-Fees
• Shreveport-Caddo Metropolitan Planning CommissionIssues 3 permits on this page: Certificate of Occupancy, Special Use Permit or Administrative Exception, Zoning Verification Letter(318) 673-6480www.shreveportcaddompc.com
• Louisiana Secretary of State, Commercial DivisionIssues 4 permits on this page: General Business Licence (not required by Louisiana), Articles of Organization (LLC), Articles of Incorporation, Annual Report8585 Archives Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70809 · (225) 925-4704www.sos.la.gov/business-services/forms-fee-schedule
• Louisiana Department of Education, Early Childhood DivisionIssues 1 permit on this page: Child Care Licence1201 North 3rd Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 · (225) 342-9905doe.louisiana.gov/early-childhood/child-care-facility-licensing

The city's Division of Permits and Inspections issues these permits for all of Caddo Parish, not just inside city limits, except for the Town of Greenwood and Oil City. Commercial work of $50,000 or more requires a state-licensed contractor.

For a business inside Shreveport city limits, the Certificate of Occupancy is now issued by the MPC rather than the Division of Permits and Inspections. An older city page states $100 commercial/$50 residential instead of this record's $125/$75 — the MPC's own more recent fee worksheet, tied to its now-confirmed role in issuing the certificate, is treated here as current, but confirm with the Permit Center (318-673-6442) given the unresolved conflict between the two documents.

Only triggered where the zoning district does not already permit the intended use as of right; which specific business types require it in Shreveport's own zoning code was not confirmed line by line, so treat this as the fee for the process generally rather than a confirmed statement that any particular industry always needs it. Confirm with the MPC (318-673-6480) for a specific address and use.

A home-based business goes through MPC zoning review even where no construction is involved.

No fee, because Louisiana issues no general business licence — its geauxBIZ portal is a filing and registration hub, not a licence itself. It bundles entity formation with the Secretary of State, tax account registration with the revenue department and unemployment insurance registration with the workforce commission, and generates a checklist of whatever industry-specific licences a particular business needs, rather than issuing one licence that covers all of them.

A hundred dollars today, verified directly from the Secretary of State's own live fee page rather than an older archived figure. That figure has a firm expiry date: Act 921 of the 2026 legislative session raises the whole Commercial Division fee schedule on 1 October 2026, taking this to $125. A corporation costs less to form outright, at $75 rising to $95 on the same date — see the corporate registration record.

Seventy-five dollars today, cheaper than an LLC's $100, and rising to $95 on 1 October 2026 under the same statewide fee increase — still cheaper than the LLC's $125 after the change. Louisiana also unusually folds amendments, mergers, dissolutions and corrections into the same fee bracket as new formation rather than pricing them separately.

Thirty dollars a year for an LLC or a corporation alike, rising to $35 under the same 1 October 2026 fee increase that touches formation. It can only be filed within thirty days of the entity's own renewal date, which the Secretary of State notifies individually rather than fixing on one shared calendar date for everyone. A nonprofit's version is a flat $10 regardless of the increase touching the for-profit figures.

Licensing moved out of the family services department into the education department, and the fee scales in four clean steps by capacity: $25 for a centre caring for fifteen or fewer children, $100 for sixteen to fifty, $175 for fifty-one to a hundred, and $250 for anything larger. The threshold for needing a licence at all is precise — a facility caring for seven or more children who are not related to the caregiver needs one; fewer than that falls outside licensing entirely. Statute expressly forbids raising these fees without further legislative authorisation, so they cannot simply be adjusted by rule.