Business licenses and permits in North Carolina

What applies everywhere in North Carolina

14 requirements are set by North Carolina itself and apply whichever city you open in. Local permits sit on top of them.

Sources

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

1. North Carolina Secretary of State — annual report fees and due datesNorth Carolina Department of the Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
2. North Carolina Secretary of State — business registration fee scheduleNorth Carolina Department of the Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
3. North Carolina Business and Occupational License Database — the statutory clearinghouse of every license required by North Carolina statuteNorth Carolina Department of Commerce · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
4. North Carolina Board of Barber and Electrolysis Examiners — feesNorth Carolina Board of Barber and Electrolysis Examiners · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
5. North Carolina Department of Revenue — sales and use tax registrationNorth Carolina Department of Revenue · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
6. 15A NCAC 18A .2652 — adoption of the FDA Food Code, including the certified food protection manager requirementNorth Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
7. North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education — annual license feeNorth Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
8. North Carolina General Statutes section 110-90 — maximum child care licensing fees by capacityNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
9. North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners — initial salon licenseNorth Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
10. G.S. 88B-20 — NC Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners fees, including $25 for inspection of a newly established cosmetic art shop and $3.00 per active booth per yearNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
11. G.S. 130A-248 — food establishment permits: the $120 Department permit fee and its exclusions (d), the $25 late and $150 reinstatement fees (d1), the mandatory $75 temporary and limited food service fee (d2) and the $250 local plan review ceiling (f)North Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
12. G.S. 130A-39(g) — a local board of health may impose cost-related fees for wastewater, public swimming pool and tattooing services on a plan approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissionersNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
13. North Carolina Secretary of State — licenses and permits, confirming there is no single generic state business licenseNorth Carolina Department of the Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
14. North Carolina Department of Revenue — privilege license tax, and the 1 July 2024 repeal of professional privilege licensesNorth Carolina Department of Revenue · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
15. North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors — 2026 laws and regulations, reproducing G.S. chapter 87 article 1 and 21 NCAC 12North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
16. North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors — classifications and limitationsNorth Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
17. North Carolina State Highway Patrol form ISU-300 — inspection station application, revised February 2026North Carolina State Highway Patrol · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
18. 21 NCAC 66 .0108 — North Carolina Veterinary Medical Board feesNorth Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
19. North Carolina Veterinary Medical Board form FP-01 — veterinary facility permit applicationNorth Carolina Veterinary Medical Board · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03

Which North Carolina city are you opening in?

• Guilford County, NCGuilford County, North Carolina, is the state's third most populous county and names no single county seat: Greensboro and High Point are both within county limits and each hosts a county courthouse. Three county programmes run on three different footprints. Public health is countywide — the county's Food, Lodging and Institutions page states that its team 'inspects restaurants, mobile food units, hotels, motels, nursing homes, hospitals, jails, schools, and all types of public swimming pools' and that 'Our services are mandated to provide for the public's health of Guilford County', with no municipal carve-out. Permitting and building inspection reach further than the unincorporated area but not everywhere: the Inspections Department's page states it provides 'permitting, plan review, and building inspection services for all unincorporated areas of Guilford County and, through contractual agreements, to the towns of Jamestown, Oak Ridge, Pleasant Garden, Sedalia, Stokesdale, Summerfield, and Whitsett and the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority (PTAA)', and the county's Zoning Codes page lists the same seven towns plus PTAA. Planning and zoning reach only four of those towns: the same Zoning Codes page states that 'Planning Services are provided for the Towns of Stokesdale, Pleasant Garden, Sedalia and Whitsett', and the adopted FY2027 fee schedule carries exactly those four Planning Services line items. That page also lists the jurisdictions the Planning and Development Department does not serve — the City of Archdale, City of Burlington, Town of Gibsonville, City of Greensboro, City of High Point and City of Kernersville — each of which runs its own business permitting, building and zoning that stacks on the county's. North Carolina repealed the enabling statutes for both general privilege license taxes, and the whole current text of each section is its repeal note: the statute at G.S. 160A-211 states '§ 160A-211. Repealed by Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(a), effective July 1, 2015.' and G.S. 153A-152 states '§ 153A-152: Repealed by Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(b), effective July 1, 2015.' Part 3 of Article 2C of Chapter 105, headed 'Local Licenses', was untouched, so the county malt beverage and wine retail license under G.S. 105-113.78 survives as the county's one mandatory business license at the fixed amounts the statute states. County fees are adopted annually in the budget ordinance under G.S. 153A-102; the FY2027 ordinance was adopted June 25, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and its Section 10.A states that 'The Board of Commissioners adopts the fees as set forth in fee schedule attached hereto and incorporated by reference'. Cosmetic art, barbering, veterinary and child care operating licenses are issued by State boards and are carried at the state layer.53 published records
• Forsyth County, NCForsyth County, North Carolina, seat Winston-Salem, spreads its business-facing regime across five county offices and one joint city-county department, and which one reaches a business depends on its address. Forsyth County Public Health's Division of Environmental Health, at 799 N. Highland Avenue, permits food establishments and plan review, temporary and limited food service, public swimming pools, tattoo artists, private wells and on-site wastewater countywide, in every municipality. The Forsyth County Tax Collector issues the county malt beverage and wine retail license that G.S. 105-113.78 requires of a holder of a retail ABC permit for an establishment located in the county: Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(b) repealed G.S. 153A-152, the statute under which a North Carolina county levied a general business privilege license tax, effective July 1, 2015, and s. 12.3(a) repealed the city equivalent at G.S. 160A-211, but Article 2C of Chapter 105 was untouched, so that license survives at the statutory amounts of $25 on-premises malt beverage, $5 off-premises malt beverage, $25 on-premises wine and $25 off-premises wine. Building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and zoning permits come from the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services Inspections Division, which its own page describes as 'a City-County agency responsible for reviewing and inspecting building and zoning related activities throughout Forsyth County, with the exception of the town/city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King'; Forsyth County Code §§ 7-1, 7-9, 7-15, 7-37, 7-50 and 7-100 designate it as the county's inspection department under G.S. 160D-402(c), and the county's own fee tables sit in Chapter 7 rather than in that department's joint list, which is why the figures published here are only those the two documents state alike. The Forsyth County Fire Department inspects and permits businesses, institutions, assemblies and multi-family dwellings outside the town limits of Kernersville and the City of Winston-Salem. The Office of Environmental Assistance and Protection, at 201 North Chestnut Street, runs the county's own air quality permitting programme under Chapter 3 of the Forsyth County Code, which states that its current rules were modified and adopted on April 7, 2025 by the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners. Ten municipalities hold territory in the county on Tax Administration's own rate table — Winston-Salem, Bethania, Clemmons, High Point in part, Kernersville, King in part, Lewisville, Rural Hall, Tobaccoville and Walkertown — and each stacks its own regime on the county's: High Point, Kernersville and King run their own building inspections, Winston-Salem and Kernersville run their own fire inspection programmes, and the City of Winston-Salem's own Business License page lists 'Beer and Wine Sales' among the business types that must obtain a city privilege license, at $15 on-premises beer, $5 off-premises beer, $15 on-premises wine and $10 off-premises wine, which G.S. 105-113.70(a) requires be obtained before the county license may issue for premises inside the city. General contractor licensure at $40,000 or more under G.S. 87-1, cosmetic art licensure, barbering licensure and veterinary licensure are state board functions carried at the state layer.41 published records
• Durham County, NCDurham County, North Carolina, seat Durham, runs two of its development-side departments jointly with the City of Durham and the rest on its own, and the difference decides whose fee schedule a business pays. Building & Safety and Planning & Development are merged City-County departments serving both jurisdictions, so the offices are shared; the adopted fee instruments are not. The Durham Unified Development Ordinance, Sec. 2.1.1, gives the Board of Commissioners authority 'for property located within Durham County but located outside of any City limits' and the Durham City Council authority for property inside the city limits, and the FY 2026-27 planning fee ordinance is a City of Durham instrument amending the City of Durham's Fee Schedule, so no planning or development review amount is published here as a county fee. Environmental Health (a division of the county Department of Public Health), Fire Prevention & Life Safety, Engineering & Environmental Services and Animal Services are county departments, and Section 7 of the county's FY 2026-27 Annual Budget Ordinance, adopted June 8, 2026, levies 'Charges for services and fees by county departments are levied in the amounts set forth in the attached Fee and Other Charges Schedules'. Durham County issues three county licenses or permits of its own: the mandatory Beer & Wine Privilege License under G.S. 105-113.78 and County Code § 8-39, the Pet Shop Permit under County Code § 8-104, and the Exotic Animal Permit under County Code § 4-302, which is an animal-owner permit rather than a business license. Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(b) repealed G.S. 153A-152, the statute under which a North Carolina county levied a general business privilege license tax, effective July 1, 2015, and s. 12.3(a) repealed the city equivalent at G.S. 160A-211; Article 2C of Chapter 105 was untouched, so the county beer and wine license survives, and G.S. 153A-134(a) still lets a county 'regulate and license occupations, businesses, trades, professions, and forms of amusement or entertainment' by ordinance while barring it from examining or licensing a person already licensed by a State occupational licensing board as to that trade. Five municipal jurisdictions hold taxable territory in the county on the county's FY 2026-2027 tax-rate listing — the City of Durham, the Town of Morrisville, the Town of Cary, the City of Raleigh and the Town of Chapel Hill — and each stacks its own license, building and zoning regime on the county's; G.S. 105-113.70(a) requires the city beer and wine license to be obtained before the county license may issue, and G.S. 105-113.71(c) names only the Town of Cary as a municipality that may decline to require its own, which is live here because Cary has territory inside Durham County. General contractor licensure at $40,000 or more under G.S. 87-1(a), cosmetic art and barbering licensure, veterinary licensure and child care operating licensure are state functions carried at the state layer.38 published records
• Mecklenburg County, NCMecklenburg County, North Carolina, seat Charlotte, splits its regulatory functions on three different geographic lines, and which line applies decides which government a business deals with. Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, a division of the Land Use and Environmental Services Agency (LUESA), issues building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits and certificates of occupancy for all construction in the county's 524 square miles, Charlotte included; the county's own commercial guidance states that inside Charlotte 'permit issuance will be conditioned upon City of Charlotte Land Development Division plan approval as required'. County zoning staff review the unincorporated county and the Towns of Matthews, Pineville, Cornelius and Davidson — the adopted LUESA Fee Ordinance states that 'The Towns of Mint Hill and Huntersville provide their own zoning services; therefore, Mint Hill and Huntersville set their own zoning fees', and Charlotte appears in none of the county zoning tables. The Fire Marshal's Office page states that it serves the unincorporated county, all six towns and the six fire districts within Charlotte's ETJ, and directs service requests inside Charlotte city limits to the Charlotte Fire Marshal's Office. Environmental Health, Air Quality and Business Tax Collections work countywide. The county retail license is the malt beverage and wine license that G.S. 105-113.78 requires of every holder of a qualifying retail ABC permit; the separate county privilege license tax power in G.S. 153A-152 was repealed by S.L. 2014-3, s. 12.3(b) effective 1 July 2015, which left Article 2C, Part 3 of Chapter 105 in force. Seven incorporated municipalities — Charlotte, Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville — each stack their own license, zoning and permit regime on the county's, and under G.S. 153A-122 a county ordinance reaches inside a town only where that town's governing board has permitted it by resolution.33 published records
• Wake County, NCWake County, North Carolina, seat Raleigh, runs county programmes on three different footprints, and which one reaches a business depends on its address. Environmental Health & Safety permits food establishments, mobile units, temporary event vendors, public swimming pools, tattoo artists and child care sanitation countywide, inside Raleigh and all 12 municipalities, because G.S. 130A-34 requires a county to operate a county health department. Permits & Inspections, Planning & Development Services and Onsite Water Protection reach only the unincorporated area: Planning states that 'the Wake County Planning Department only has jurisdiction for properties located in unincorporated portion of the county', and Permits & Inspections states that it 'provides building permitting and inspection services for all unincorporated areas of Wake County and, through contractual agreements, offers inspection services to the towns of Knightdale, Rolesville, Wendell and Zebulon' — in those four towns the town reviews, invoices and issues the permit under its own fee schedule, as the Town of Knightdale's own building permits page states. Watershed Management is the exception, pricing commercial projects and subdivisions outside unincorporated Wake County on the same schedule as those inside it. Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(b) repealed G.S. 153A-152, the statute under which a North Carolina county levied a general business privilege license tax, effective July 1, 2015, and s. 12.3(a) repealed the city equivalent at G.S. 160A-211; Article 2C of Chapter 105 was untouched, so the county's mandatory Beer & Wine license under G.S. 105-113.78 and its 1% Prepared Food & Beverage Tax under S.L. 1991-594 § 5 both survive and are recorded here. Twelve municipalities — Apex, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Morrisville, Raleigh, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Wendell and Zebulon — each stack their own requirements on the county's, and the county's Municipal Requirements page directs a business to its own municipality for them. General contractor licensure at $40,000 or more (G.S. 87-1), cosmetic art licensure (G.S. 88B-20), veterinary licensure and child care operating licensure are state functions carried at the state layer.25 published records
• Charlotte, NCAccording to the UNC School of Government, North Carolina repealed local privilege license taxes statewide effective July 1, 2015, which ended Charlotte's general city business license. Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, not the City, issues the certificate of occupancy and the building permit behind it, and Mecklenburg County Public Health permits food establishments.9 published records
• Raleigh, NCRaleigh states directly that it has required no business license since July 1, 2015. Wake County Environmental Health & Safety, not the City, permits food establishments.7 published records
• Greensboro, NCOnly two activities still need a Greensboro privilege license — taxicabs and selling beer or wine — following the same 2015 statewide repeal that narrowed licensing across North Carolina. Guilford County Public Health, not the City, permits food establishments.6 published records

Is there a single North Carolina business license?

Who issues permits in North Carolina?

• North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, Business Registration DivisionEntity registration · Annual reports · Registered agent filings4 permits
• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Environmental Health SectionFood establishment permits · Food establishment plan review · Sanitation grading2 permits
• North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Investigative Services UnitVehicle inspection station licensing · Inspection mechanic certification2 permits
• North Carolina Board of Barber and Electrolysis ExaminersBarbershop permits · Barber licensing1 permit
• North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art ExaminersCosmetic art shop licensing · Cosmetic art school licensing1 permit
• North Carolina Department of RevenueSales and use tax registration · Privilege license tax1 permit
• North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early EducationChild care centre licensing · Family child care home licensing1 permit
• North Carolina Licensing Board for General ContractorsGeneral contractor licensing · Contractor examinations1 permit
• North Carolina Veterinary Medical BoardVeterinary facility permits · Veterinarian licensing1 permit

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