What permits do you need to open a restaurant in Wake County?

Food Service Establishment Plan Review

A restaurant, coffee shop, food stand, meat market, school lunchroom or elderly nutrition site in Wake County submits plans to Environmental Health & Safety and is invoiced $250 for the review, with each re-review a further $100. This is a Wake County charge, separate from the $120 annual permit fee that NC DHHS bills under G.S. 130A-248(d) and that is listed as a separate Wake County requirement. The $250 is the maximum a local health department may charge: G.S. 130A-248(f) allows a plan review fee not to exceed $250 for food establishments not subject to subsection (e). The figure appears in the county's Health and Safety Plan Review and Permit Fee Schedule, updated December 2021, which the county's current Plan Review & Permits page still links as its fee schedule, and it is restated at step 8 of the county's Submittal Guide for Food Service Permit dated August 2025, which invoices the $250 plan review fee. The permit programme is countywide because Wake County Environmental Health & Safety is the county health department required by G.S. 130A-34, so it reaches establishments inside Raleigh and all 12 municipalities, not only the unincorporated area. Prototype or chain facility plans submitted with a State approval letter are exempt from Wake County plan review fees, which matches G.S. 130A-248(e1): plans for a franchised or chain food establishment already reviewed and approved by the Department require no further local review. Restaurants are inspected one to four times a year depending on menu items and food processes.

Onsite Wastewater (Septic) Permit — Commercial and Engineered Systems

A restaurant is a commercial application here, and that is the point of keeping this record separate from the residential one: the county prices designed and engineered systems by flow rather than by permit type, and a design review is built into every commercial total. The first tier covers domestic-strength wastewater up to 720 gallons a day and totals $910 — a $400 improvement permit, a $400 construction authorization and a $110 design review. The second covers domestic strength above 720 and up to 3,000 gallons a day, and industrial process wastewater up to 3,000 gallons a day, totalling $1,260 because the design review rises to $460. Above 3,000 gallons a day the county charges per connection, treating a connection as 360 gallons a day, at $400 per connection for the improvement permit and $400 per connection for the construction authorization, with design review varying by the number of connections; a large childcare centre, veterinary hospital or fitness club can land here. Low-pressure pipe systems and alternative Type V and Type VI systems carry a recurring $19 per connection operation and maintenance inspection. The county's fee-changes page records the $200 to $400 increases as adopted by the Board of Commissioners effective July 1, 2025. The programme reaches the unincorporated area; a site on public sewer has no county septic step at all. Contact: 919-856-7434, wastewater@wake.gov.

Shared with other businesses in Wake County

• Food & Lodging Establishment Annual Permit Fee (NC DHHS) — North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health — Environmental Health Section, $120 a year per permit, paid to NC DHHS rather than to Wake County, and reassessed annually for permits that do not expire, the food service permit itself does not expire; the $120 fee is reassessed annually, with a $25 late payment fee if it is unpaid 45 days after the Department bills it and a $150 reinstatement fee after a suspension, under G.S. 130A-248(d1). Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Fire Services Operational Permit (blasting, underground storage tank removal, tents, pyrotechnics) — Wake County Fire Services & Emergency Management, Fire Marshal's Office, Wake County Fire Services' Fire Service Permits page sets out the mandatory operational permits and their processing times without printing a charge, and the Other Fees section of the Permits & Inspections fee schedule prices only re-inspection, max violations, amend permit and homeowner recovery charges. Contact the Fire Marshal's Office on 919-856-6343 for the amount charged. Separately, Fire Services is one of the six trades priced by the commercial per-trade fee table on that schedule, which is how a sprinkler or kitchen hood suppression permit on a build-out is priced., per permitted operation or event; the county asks for five business days to process a blasting, underground storage tank removal or tent permit and a minimum of 15 business days for a pyrotechnics permit. Also required for retail stores, auto repair shops and contractors and trades; what it involves is set out on the auto repair shops page.
• Prepared Food & Beverage Tax Gross Receipts Account — Wake County Department of Tax Administration, 1% of the sale price of prepared food and beverages sold at retail for consumption on or off the premises, county-only, collected by the retailer on top of North Carolina sales tax and remitted to Wake County monthly. The county's Prepared Food & Beverage Tax page and its Gross Receipts Tax index page describe the application process for the account and publish no registration or application fee for opening it., continuing account; the county page requires a report each month on or before the twentieth day of the month following the month in which the tax accrues, and a zero-due return for a month with no tax. Also required for coffee shops, food trucks and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the food trucks page.
• Temporary Food Establishment Permit — Wake County Environmental Health & Safety, $75 per permit per event, collected by Wake County Environmental Health & Safety; G.S. 130A-248(d2) makes the charge mandatory rather than discretionary, per event; the county page states that a TFE permit is good only for a specific event and lapses at the end of that event, and coordinator applications, vendor applications and vendor fees must reach the county at least 15 calendar days before the event. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Onsite Wastewater (Septic) Permit — Residential and Small Systems — Wake County Onsite Water Protection, County-only, effective July 1, 2025: Improvement Permit, limited to less than 3 acres per evaluation, $400; Construction Authorization, which includes the Operation Permit and any requested revisions to an existing construction authorization, $400; both together $800; Verification for Change of Use or System Reuse on an existing system with no change to flow or lot size $400; Design Review Fee for Residential Permits $110; Field Consultation $100; Re-Inspection, charged for unnecessary return trips on lot evaluations and failed installation inspections, $200. Renewing a septic permit that has lapsed after five years is $400 for the construction authorization alone or $800 for both. Manufactured or mobile home relocation is $400 for the construction authorization, and the county charges nothing for a mobile home relocation inside a permitted mobile home park. As published on the Wake County Onsite Water Protection wastewater fees page., a septic permit lapses five years after issue; renewal is $400 for the construction authorization alone or $800 where both the improvement permit and construction authorization are renewed. Also required for coffee shops, childcare centres, fitness studios, auto repair shops, veterinary clinics and salons and barbers; what it involves is set out on the salons and barbers page.
• Wake County Beer & Wine (Beverage) License — Wake County Department of Tax Administration, $5–$25 a year per license, county-only, at the amounts G.S. 105-113.78 fixes: on-premises malt beverage $25, off-premises malt beverage $5, on-premises wine $25, off-premises wine $25, annual; G.S. 105-113.70(b) runs the license year from May 1 to April 30, the county page requires renewal by April 30 with a monthly penalty accruing on a late renewal, and G.S. 105-113.70(c) bars transfer from one person to another or one location to another. Also required for coffee shops and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• ABC Permit Zoning and Compliance Sign-Off (unincorporated Wake County) — Wake County Planning & Development Services, $110 per application, county-only, in the unincorporated portion of Wake County; the schedule reduces it to $50 where a building inspection is not required (fee schedule as of 1/1/22), per application, completed once for the establishment when the state ABC permit is applied for; the state permit itself renews on the Commission's cycle. Also required for coffee shops and retail stores; 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 coffee shops and food trucks; 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 coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.