11 published records
Business licenses and permits in Green Bay, Wisconsin
The City's own 2026 Fee Schedule lists its Chapter 10 (Businesses) licenses — ambulances, auto salvage, billiard tables, cigarettes, junk and secondhand dealers, pawnbrokers, residential building contractors, taxicabs and others — and lists no general business license; licensing is activity-specific. Brown County Health and Human Services runs food-service permitting for Green Bay.
What are you opening in Green Bay?
- 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 Green Bay
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Business License — City of Green Bay Fee Schedule Positiononly if it applies to you | City of Green Bay Clerk's Office | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-06 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of Green Bay Community & Economic Development, Building/Zoning Permits | $75 for commercial, educational, institutional, or industrial uses | issued once per qualifying occupancy | 2026-09-06 |
| Commercial Building Permit | City of Green Bay Community & Economic Development, Building/Zoning Permits | General construction: $0.07/sq ft (building group 1) or $0.14/sq ft (building group 2). Plan approval fees: principal-use building plan $125, accessory-use building plan $125, HVAC plan $125, plumbing system plan $125, sign structural plan $75. Roofing replacement $100 (built-up or membrane roofing $0.01/sq ft); siding $100 (brick veneer $0.01/sq ft). Moving a building is $100 base plus $0.14/sq ft of foundation area; razing/demolition is $100. Commercial electrical is $0.05–$0.09/sq ft plus a project-cost tier ($100 for $0–$10,000, up to $600 for over $300,000, plus $100 per additional $100,000); commercial plumbing is $8 per fixture plus $50 per water/sewer connection; commercial HVAC is $0.05/sq ft for ductless unit-heater systems only or $0.09/sq ft for ducted or hydronic systems, and $100 per heating-unit replacement or air-conditioning unit added or replaced. | one-time, per project | 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 Green Bay?
General Business License — City of Green Bay Fee Schedule Position
The City's own itemized 2026 Fee Schedule, which covers dozens of narrow categories down to beekeeping and hen-keeping, lists its Chapter 10 (Businesses) licenses — ambulances, auto salvage, billiard tables, cigarettes, junk and secondhand dealers, pawnbrokers, residential building contractors, taxicabs and others — and lists no general business license, so there is no general license fee. Several aggregator sites claim a general license is required and renewed annually; the City's fee schedule does not support that claim.
Certificate of Occupancy
Under Green Bay Municipal Code section 8-100(2), the building, plumbing, heating, electrical, engineering and fire prevention inspectors each make a final inspection of every new building, addition and alteration, and once no violations are found and the site has approved sewer, water supply and road access, the Director issues a certificate of occupancy stating the building's permitted use and the maximum load and number of persons on each floor. No building or part of one may be occupied until the certificate is issued, except with the Director's written consent, or used in a way that conflicts with it, and the certificate is not issued until the site plan's conditions are met unless a cash bond covering their cost is deposited. Partial or temporary commercial occupancy requires a sealed life safety plan approved by the Director and the Fire Chief, plus an additional fee set by the Director of no more than 50 percent of the total permit fee. Separately, section 44-111 makes it unlawful to occupy or use any premises without a certificate of zoning from the Zoning Administrator ($100 for an initial letter for commercial uses on the same fee schedule), and a Business License Compliance Letter for commercial uses is $50.
Commercial Building Permit
Green Bay Municipal Code section 8-47 requires a building permit before anyone erects, adds to, enlarges, moves, improves, alters, converts, extends or demolishes a building, except minor repairs without structural alteration that the Director allows without one; a commercial permit may be taken out by a contractor, the tenant or the property owner. As the State's appointed agent municipality, the City itself does plan review and inspection for all commercial buildings regardless of size, so the application goes in with a plan review application, signed and sealed construction drawings, specifications and trade system plans, and the plan-review fees on this schedule. The City's permit guides page gives current processing time for building permits as approximately one week once all required information is received, and all of it must be submitted together. The permit lapses unless work starts within six months and is completed or resumed within one year, the permit card must be posted in view at the site, an inspection is required when the work is complete, and starting work before obtaining the permit doubles the fee.
Sources
Every figure in the table above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- City of Green Bay Fee Schedule (effective January 1, 2026)City of Green Bay · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-06
- Green Bay Municipal Code section 8-100 — successive inspections; (2) certificate of occupancy, (3) commercial partial and temporary occupancy (Ord. No. 13-24)City of Green Bay, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Green Bay Municipal Code section 44-111 — certificate of zoningCity of Green Bay, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Green Bay Municipal Code section 8-47 — building permits (Ord. No. 13-24, as amended by Ord. No. 12-25)City of Green Bay, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
- City of Green Bay — Permit Guides, Forms & Fees: current building permit processing timeCity of Green Bay, Community & Economic Development · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
- City of Green Bay — Commercial Permits: who may take out a building permit, trade permits, inspection on completionCity of Green Bay, Community & Economic Development · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
Who issues business permits in Green Bay?
Permitting in Green Bay is split across 4 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.
Green Bay issuing agencies
- City of Green Bay Clerk's OfficeActivity-specific business licenses · Mobile Food Vendor License6 permits
- City of Green Bay Community & Economic Development, Building/Zoning PermitsCertificate of Occupancy · Commercial building permits · Sign permits · Contractor licensing3 permits
- Brown County Health and Human Services, Public Health Division, Environmental Health UnitFood establishment permits1 permit
- Green Bay Metro Fire Department, Fire Marshal's OfficeFire inspections1 permit
Other Wisconsin 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.