What permits do you need to open a childcare centre in Summit County Oh?

Home Daycare Sanitation and Food Safety Consultation Inspection

A home-based child care operation in Summit County meets the county through Summit County Public Health's consultation inspection, priced at $70.00 each occurrence. The schedule's own wording is a 'consultation inspection fee for institutions such as new school site inspection, hotel complaint inspection, home daycare sanitation and food safety, safe houses, aftercare centers, etc. (city, village & township owned and operated programs exempt),' published at EHC 101.12(a) of the 2026 APPROVED Environmental Health Fee Schedule, Exhibit A to SCPH's Environmental Health Code Chapter 101, the adopted schedule for the 2026 calendar year, in effect through 31 December 2026. This is a sanitation and food safety consultation, not a child care license: ORC 5104.03(B) provides that anyone seeking to establish a child care center or a type A or licensed type B family child care home 'shall apply for a license to the director of children and youth,' so licensure itself is a State of Ohio function rather than a Summit County one. A home provider's other county touchpoints are the §1307.09(f) child day care building permit from the Summit County Department of Building Standards where construction or a change of use is involved, and the zoning rules of the city, village or township in which the home sits.

Commercial Child Day Care Building Permit

This is the county's own childcare touchpoint, and it is a building permit rather than a childcare license. §1307.09(f) of the Codified Ordinances prices a child day care permit at the section's $87.00 non-refundable commercial application fee plus $77.00, with a separate and lower residential column for a Type A family child care home operated in a dwelling; the $2.00 technology fee under §1307.15 and the 3% Ohio Board of Building Standards surcharge under §1307.04(e) apply as they do to every commercial permit. The figures are taken from the current American Legal codification of Chapter 1307 (Ord. 2024-047, adopted 3-4-24), which supersedes the figure printed in the county's 2016 Type A and B day care handout. Licensure itself is a State of Ohio function: ORC 5104.03(B) provides that anyone seeking to establish a child care center or a type A or licensed type B family child care home 'shall apply for a license to the director of children and youth,' with fees set by that director and paid into the state treasury, and the county's own Codified Ordinances carry the former Chapter 721 (Day Care Centers) as repealed. A centre's other Summit County obligations are the Summit County Public Health food license where it prepares or serves food, the $70.00 home-daycare sanitation and food-safety consultation inspection for a home-based programme, the plan review and trade permits listed separately, and the zoning approval of the city, village or township in which it sits — the county publishes a Zoning Inspectors directory naming a contact for each of its 31 communities. Building Standards serves the 23 jurisdictions named in its services booklet for commercial work.

Child Care Centre License

$50 once, and the license then runs indefinitely — Ohio issues a continuous license rather than one that expires, so there is no renewal fee. Oversight comes from inspection instead: at least one every state fiscal year. The $50 is charged again if the centre moves, which must be applied for thirty days ahead, or if the owner changes; it is never refunded or transferred. Note the agency changed: child care licensing moved from Job and Family Services to the Department of Children and Youth, and the rules were renumbered from OAC 5101:2-12 to 5180:2-12 on 2 January 2025, so older guidance names the wrong department. A family child care provider — types A and B alike, both now state-licensed rather than county-certified — pays $25 on the same continuous basis.

Shared with other businesses in Summit County Oh

• Food Service Operation / Retail Food Establishment License — Summit County Public Health, Total = SCPH district fee + state fee, per EHC 101.05(a)–(d). Commercial under 25,000 sq ft: risk 1 $256 + $28 = $284; risk 2 $288 + $28 = $316; risk 3 $552 + $28 = $580; risk 4 $700 + $28 = $728. Commercial 25,000 sq ft and over: risk 1 $370 + $28 = $398; risk 2 $390 + $28 = $418; risk 3 $1,384 + $28 = $1,412; risk 4 $1,468 + $28 = $1,496. Non-commercial under 25,000 sq ft: risk 1 $128 + $14 = $142; risk 2 $144 + $14 = $158; risk 3 $276 + $14 = $290; risk 4 $350 + $14 = $364. Non-commercial 25,000 sq ft and over: risk 1 $185 + $14 = $199; risk 2 $195 + $14 = $209; risk 3 $692 + $14 = $706; risk 4 $734 + $14 = $748. The $28 and $14 components are the state fee, not a county charge. Late payment adds 25% of the district fee from 2 March., annual, keyed to 1 March; ORC 3717.43(C)(1)(a) provides that a license issued to a new operation after the first day of December does not expire until the end of the next succeeding licensing period. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores and fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Fire Suppression and Fire Alarm Permits — Summit County Department of Building Standards, §1307.07: sprinkler, alternative automatic fire-extinguishing and standpipe systems, new construction and alterations alike, $102.00 plus $1.50 per 100 sq ft; fire alarm systems, new construction and alterations alike, $102.00 plus $1.00 per 100 sq ft. Added to every permit: the $2.00 non-refundable technology fee under §1307.15 and the 3% Ohio Board of Building Standards surcharge on commercial fees under §1307.04(e), a state pass-through., per project; §1307.02 requires new permit fees on all expired permits, and §1307.10 charges re-inspections at $30.00, $30.00, $60.00 and $80.00 for the first through fourth. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores, fitness studios and contractors and trades; what it involves is set out on the contractors and trades page.
• Food Plan Review — Summit County Public Health, $550 each occurrence, at all risk levels and for both commercial and non-commercial food operations, per occurrence, tied to the project rather than a license year; SCPH asks for plans about 60 days ahead of construction. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Food Vending Machine Location License — Summit County Public Health, $26 a year per vending machine location ($20 district + $6 state; the $6 is the state fee, not a county charge), annual, on the 1 March licensing period shared with SCPH's other food licenses. Also required for retail stores, fitness studios and auto repair shops; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.