What permits do you need to open a food truck in Guilford County?

Annual Food Establishment Permit Fee (NC DHHS)

This is a State charge that a Guilford County food business pays on top of the county's own plan review fee, and the two are kept as separate records here because adding them would misstate who charges what. G.S. 130A-248(d) provides that 'The Department shall charge each establishment subject to this section … a fee of one hundred twenty dollars ($120.00) for each permit issued. This fee shall be reassessed annually for permits that do not expire.' The same subsection directs that fees collected be used for State and local food, lodging and institution sanitation programmes and caps the State's share: 'No more than fifty dollars ($50.00) of each fee collected under this subsection may be used to support State health programs and activities.' The statute excludes from the $120 charge nutrition programmes for the elderly administered by the Division of Aging and Adult Services, establishments that prepare and sell meat food products or poultry products, temporary food establishments, limited food services establishments, and public school cafeterias — so a temporary event vendor or a limited food service establishment paying the mandatory $75 under G.S. 130A-248(d2) does not owe this $120 as well. G.S. 130A-248(d1) adds a $25 late payment fee where the fee is unpaid 45 days after billing, allows suspension of the permit after 60 days, and sets a $150 reinstatement fee. A mobile food unit or push cart is a food establishment and falls outside those exclusions, so a Guilford County food truck owes the $120 annually too. The permit itself is a Department permit that the rules have Guilford County Environmental Health administer as the authorized agent: 15A NCAC 18A .2600 defines 'Regulatory Authority' as 'the Department or authorized agent of the Department'. A Guilford County business starts with the county at 336-641-3771 and is then billed by NC DHHS for this fee.

Tent and Stage Permit and Inspection

A tent or stage put up for an event in Guilford County's fire jurisdiction needs a permit and inspection from Guilford County Emergency Services at $100 per tent. The figure is on the 'Tent/Stage Permit and Inspection (per tent)' line of the Guilford County FY2027 adopted budget fee schedule, adopted June 25, 2026, at $100.00 in each of the FY2025, FY2026 and FY2027 columns. The charge is per tent rather than per event, so a festival, tasting or seasonal marquee using several structures pays several times over, which is worth checking against a layout before booking. A business running an event in the county will usually be assembling several permits at once and they sit with different offices: this tent permit and, where there are fireworks, a Fireworks Event permit at $125 from Emergency Services; an Event Permit from Guilford County Inspections, which carries no base fee of its own and is charged as trade fee(s) at $75 per trade; and, where food or drink is sold, a temporary food establishment permit from Guilford County Environmental Health at the statutory $75 per permit. Blasting is priced separately again, at $125 for a 30-day permit or $200 for a 90-day permit plus $50 per site visit for the inspection. Each of those is a distinct application rather than a stage of one process, so an organiser should start them together. The Fire Division's scope excludes the areas inside the city limits of Greensboro and High Point, where the city fire department issues and prices tent permits instead.

Shared with other businesses in Guilford County

• Temporary Food Establishment (TFE) Permit — Guilford County Division of Public Health — Environmental Health, $75 per permit issued, a statutory amount the county has no discretion over; the adopted FY2027 fee schedule carries the same $75.00 on its 'Temporary Food Establishments (vendors)' line for FY2025, FY2026 and FY2027, per event; 15A NCAC 18A .2651(20) defines a temporary food establishment as one that 'operates for a period of time not to exceed 21 days in one location, affiliated with and endorsed by a transitory fair, carnival, circus, festival, or public exhibition'. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Mobile Food Unit and Push Cart Permit — Guilford County Division of Public Health — Environmental Health, The annual food establishment permit fee is $120 per permit, charged by NC DHHS under G.S. 130A-248(d), because a mobile food unit is a food establishment and falls outside that subsection's exclusions. Guilford County's adopted FY2027 budget fee schedule prices no mobile food unit or push cart plan review on any line, for FY2025, FY2026 or FY2027; contact Guilford County Environmental Health on 336-641-3771 for the plan review amount currently charged before submitting. The local plan review fee a North Carolina county may charge is capped at $250 by G.S. 130A-248(f)., the permit does not expire; the $120 State fee is reassessed annually under G.S. 130A-248(d). Also required for coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Event Permit (Guilford County Inspections, trade fees only) — Guilford County Inspections Department, No separate base fee. The adopted FY2027 fee schedule carries the line as 'Event Permit (Trade Fees Only)' — FY2025 $40.00, FY2026 $40.00, FY2027 $75.00 — and $75.00 is the amount every other '(Trade Fees Only)' line in the same schedule carries, while the live Inspections fee page renders the same line as 'Event - Trade fee(s)' with no figure. The applicant pays the applicable trade permits at $75.00 each., per event, for the temporary work or installation it covers. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores and fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Certified Food Protection Manager — North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Environmental Health Section, No fee, not stated in North Carolina law — the certifying programme sets its own. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Food Establishment Permit — North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Environmental Health Section, $120 a year, statewide, the permit does not expire; the fee is reassessed annually. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.