8 published records

Business licenses and permits in St. Louis, Missouri

An independent city, not part of any county, since separating from St. Louis County in 1876. Its own Department of Health runs food-service permitting. stlouis-mo.gov was unreachable by direct fetch throughout this research — a real, ongoing connection-refused outage — and every fact here was retrieved through a read-proxy instead.

What are you opening in St. Louis?

RestaurantsFull-service restaurants carry the densest permit load of any small business: food, fire, occupancy, waste, and usually alcohol.See the full permit list
Coffee shopsCafés are permitted as food service establishments even where no cooking happens, and the plan review step catches most operators by surprise.See the full permit list
Retail storesRetail is the lightest common permit load, but the sales tax permit and the certificate of occupancy are non-negotiable in every jurisdiction.See the full permit list
Salons and barbersPersonal care is licensed at state board level as well as locally, so the shop license and the practitioner licenses are separate obligations.See the full permit list
Food trucksMobile food is the one category with no certificate of occupancy — but it gains a commissary agreement, and the unit itself is inspected rather than the premises.See the full permit list
Fitness studiosPrepaid memberships trigger state registration and often a surety bond, which catches operators who budgeted only for the fit-out.See the full permit list
Childcare centresThe heaviest permit load of any small business: state agency licensing, per-person background checks, and a stricter fire standard than ordinary commercial use.See the full permit list
Contractors and tradesLicensed at state board level rather than locally, and the only common category with no premises permits at all — the bond is usually the long pole.See the full permit list
Auto repair shopsOrdinary commercial permitting plus an environmental layer: waste oil, solvents and stormwater are each registered separately.See the full permit list
Veterinary clinicsA state facility permit, controlled substances registration at both state and federal level, and a medical waste manifest — none of which a general business license covers.See the full permit list

Permits that apply to every type of business in St. Louis

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Commercial Building Permit	City of St. Louis Building Division, Permits Section	A $25 application fee is payable when filing, regardless of project cost. The permit fee, payable after final approval: $19 (up to $1,000 in estimated construction cost); $23 ($1,001–$2,000); $30 ($2,001–$3,000); $10 per $1,000 (or fraction) of cost above $3,000. All fees are non-refundable.	one-time, per project	2026-09-06
Commercial Occupancy Permit	City of St. Louis Building Division, Permits Section	$80 for a unit up to 3,500 sq ft; $160 above that. A name change on an existing permit is $5.	issued once per qualifying occupancy; application valid 60 days	2026-09-06
Graduated Business License	City of St. Louis License Collector's Office	New business initial fee: $200 if starting June 1–January 1, $100 if starting January 2–May 31. Annual renewal, by prior-year St. Louis employee count (an employee is anyone working 1,920+ hours/year in the city): 0–2 employees $200; 3–5 $325; 6–10 $675; 11–20 $1,500; 21–30 $2,250; 31–40 $3,000; 41–50 $4,500; 51–75 $7,500; 76–100 $11,250; 101–150 $15,000; 151–200 $20,250; 201–300 $25,500; 301–400 $30,000; 401–500 $34,500; 501+ $37,500.	annual	2026-09-06

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

What do these permits involve in St. Louis?

Commercial Building Permit

No separate 'tenant buildout' fee schedule exists — alterations use this same general schedule.

Commercial Occupancy Permit

The codified Chapter 26.96 states the original certificate itself carries no charge, with only a $0.50 copy fee — this conflicts with the Building Division's own current administrative page, which charges $80/$160. The live administrative figure is used here as more likely to reflect current practice; not fully reconciled.

Graduated Business License

The city's own enumerated list of 'Businesses With Additional Requirements' (31 categories) does not include salon/barbershop, auto repair, or veterinary — those need only this license and any applicable state board credential.

Sources

Every figure in the table above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

City of St. Louis — Building PermitCity of St. Louis Building Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-06
City of St. Louis — Commercial Occupancy PermitsCity of St. Louis Building Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-06
Revised Code of the City of St. Louis, chapter 26.96, Plats, Certificates of Occupancy and Survey FeesCity of St. Louis · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-06
City of St. Louis — Graduated Business License Information and Fees ScheduleCity of St. Louis License Collector's Office · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-06

Who issues business permits in St. Louis?

Permitting in St. Louis is split across 5 agencies we hold records for, with tax registration handled at state level. No single office issues everything, which is why an opening usually means filing in several places rather than one.

St. Louis issuing agencies

Other Missouri jurisdictions we cover

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