How to Fill Out the DuPage County Mobile Food Vendor Application (Field by Field, 2026)

This walks the actual DuPage County forms, field by field. For the city rules around them, start with the Naperville food truck permit guide, or the Aurora permit guide if you work events on the DuPage side of Aurora. For the statewide picture, see how to start a food truck business in Illinois.

The health permit for a DuPage food truck comes from the DuPage County Health Department, not from the city. There is no single "food truck application": a new truck files three forms — a plan review application, an annual application and a commissary letter — plus a set of attachments, all through the county's online portal.

Step 1 — Work out your risk type first

Your risk type decides your fee, whether you need plan review, and whether you need a commissary letter, so settle it before you open a form. DuPage's Mobile Vendor Risk Type Definitions (July 2022) set three tiers:

Two footnotes on that sheet matter. New high-risk food trucks must submit plans and the plan review fee before applying for a permit. And low-risk vendors may show receipts or invoices for their food sources instead of a commissary report. Vending only packaged non-TCS food or drinks needs no mobile permit at all.

A labelling trap. The definitions and the fee schedule use 1M, 2M and 3M. The older application forms and the commissary letter still say "Risk Type 1A" and "1A and 2A". They appear to be the same high and medium tiers under older names, but no county document says so outright; if your menu sits near a boundary, ask the plan review team on (630) 221-7045 before you pay.

Step 2 — The Mobile Vending Plan Review Application

The form's full title is Mobile Vending Plan Review Application for New Trucks/Trailers – Risk Type 1A. The truck/trailer checklist confirms the trigger: a new high-risk truck or trailer submits this form and the fee for review. The county's mobile vendor page lists it first among the applications, so a medium-risk applicant should confirm with plan review whether it applies.

The top of the form states what has to come with it: a full set of plans, the equipment list including method of installation, the menu, a drawing or photo of the truck or trailer, and the plan review fee. Any change to the plans or the form needs advance approval.

Section I — Information. Three identical blocks — Mobile Vendor Truck/Trailer Company, Owner and Equipment Supplier — each asking for name, address, city, zip, phone and email. One signature, printed name and date line sits under all three. The equipment supplier block is the one people leave blank; fill it in with your builder or fabricator.

Section II — Equipment List. Ten rows: item number, item, manufacturer, model number. You may attach specifications instead if they show the same information. The truck/trailer checklist tells you what the reviewer is checking these against: commercial (ANSI/NSF) construction, NSF 7 or equivalent cold holding (household units are not approved), NSF ice makers, stainless steel shelves, counters and cabinetry, and equipment on locking casters or 6-inch legs.

Section III — Menu. Five rows of Cold Food and five of Hot Food, each with its preparation steps, or attach a full food and beverage menu. Then three questions: will food be made ahead, and if so how it holds temperature; which items are made at the commissary; and how staff will minimise bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food. The checklist's answer to that last one is tongs, deli paper or similar.

Section IV — Plumbing. Six questions:

1. Your commissary's water supply — public or private well (a private well needs test results from the last year)
2. How wastewater will be disposed of
3. How utensils will be washed and sanitised
4. How hot water reaches handwashing and utensil cleaning
5. Clear water tank size — minimum 20 gallons for a truck or trailer
6. Wastewater tank size — at least 15 percent larger than the clear water tank. The form's own example: a 20-gallon fresh tank needs a 23-gallon waste tank.

The truck/trailer checklist adds the sinks the reviewer expects: a hand sink with at least a 12-inch bowl, hot and cold water, soap and paper towels, and a 3-compartment sink with dual integral drain boards, at least 60 inches long.

Step 3 — The Mobile Vendor Annual Application

This is the permit application itself. It is a two-page scanned form dated 3/01/16, so print it and fill it by hand or with a tool that writes onto flat PDFs.

Permit Information. Business name as it appears on the truck or cart, vehicle type (Truck, Trailer or Cart), licence plate, and route number if you have one. Use the name painted on the unit, not your LLC's legal name, if they differ.

Owner / Operator Information. Name, address, city, zip, phone, email.

Food Service Sanitation Manager Certification. Name, ID number and expiration date, required for Risk 1A and 2A with open food. The form uses the old Illinois name; the county's checklist requires at least one employee with a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) certificate if the truck handles open food, and says everyone else should have food handler training. Enter the certificate's number and expiry exactly as printed on it.

Commissary Information. For high and medium risk only. Tick "Commissary agreement is attached", then the commissary you have a letter from: its name, address, city, zip, phone and email. These must match the commissary letter in Step 4. A signature, printed name and date close page 1's top half.

Menu. Nine rows: Item, Prepared on vehicle — Yes / No, and Source. Any item marked No that is prepared ahead outside DuPage County needs the source facility's most recent health inspection report attached.

Areas of Operation (page 2). Nine rows of route schedule: time, day(s) of week (circle M T W Th F Sa Su), business name, address and city of each stop. The truck/trailer checklist also tells you to notify the department when you change locations, so treat this table as something you keep current, not a one-off.

Office Use Only. Sanitarian approval, risk category, fee, date paid, date approved, PHC assigned, permit number. Leave it blank. Risk category sits in the office's box, next to the sanitarian's approval, so the Step 1 tier is your best reading, not the final word.

Step 4 — The Letter of Agreement to Use Commissary

A one-page letter (dated 6/16) from the commissary to the Health Department, for Risk Type IA and 2A. The commissary owner fills it in, not you, but you are the one who has to chase it.

• Date, then your name in the [OPERATOR NAME] blank. The letter grants permission to use the business as a commissary for food storage, supplies storage, maintenance of cart/truck/trailer, and provision of clean water and disposal of waste water.
• The commissary's printed name, signature and email, then the facility name, address, city, state, zip and phone.
• It states that a copy of the commissary's most recent inspection report from the local health authority is attached. Make sure it is.

The office-use block shows what happens next: staff check whether the commissary holds a current DuPage permit, record whether an out-of-county inspection report was received, and must complete phone verification of the commissary and area sanitarian notification, both marked required prior to approval. If nobody at the commissary answers the county's call, your approval waits.

Step 5 — Attachments and the online portal

The county's mobile vendor page lists what goes in with the three forms:

1. The three applications
2. Your proposed food and drink menu
3. A CFPM certificate
4. A ventilation hood inspection report from a fire safety organisation or the local fire department, if you cook on the truck
5. Equipment layout and specs, showing a screened order window; all equipment NSF approved and all food preparation and storage on the truck
6. A drawing or photos of the truck, trailer or cart (photos are not returned)
7. The Mobile Vendor Plan Review Fee, which is separate from the annual permit fee

Plan reviews are filed through ACA, the county's Accela portal (aca-prod.accela.com/DUPAGE): create an account, choose Health Department, then Create an Application, accept the terms, and under Apply for a Permit choose Food Application. The county's FAQ is strict on two points: it will not accept a plan review submittal unless every required document is attached and the fee paid at the same time, and emails and links are not accepted for initial submittals. Attach everything as PDFs.

Step 6 — Fees and timing

From DuPage's Environmental Health fee schedule, CPI-adjusted effective December 1, 2025:

A new high-risk truck therefore pays $273 + $547 = $820 to the county, before commissary rent, insurance and any city licence. An annual fee not paid by its due date adds 25 percent. The county's April 2026 billing memo adds card fees of 2.25 percent ($1.00 minimum) or $0.75 for an e-check.

Review takes up to 20 business days from the day the submission is complete, and up to 10 business days per revision. A Priority Plan Review takes 3 business days, but needs supervisory approval in advance and depends on workload.

Step 7 — The inspection that issues the permit

Plan approval is not the permit. Once plans are approved, the county schedules an inspection of the truck or trailer, and the permit is issued after the unit passes. The April 2026 memo to permitted vendors shows what the department expects at its sticker inspections: book it at the Wheaton, Lombard or Westmont office on 630-221-7195, bring the completed application, the commissary letter (high and medium risk) and payment, and have one cold food item and one hot food item on the unit. High- and medium-risk vendors receive their permit on site after passing. The health inspection checklist covers the general items inspectors look at.

Once permitted, the checklist's operating rules apply: the DuPage permit sticker stays on the unit, the truck returns to the commissary daily for cleaning and servicing, and your last inspection report rides on the truck. Then confirm the city layer — under Naperville's food truck rules, private-property vending needs no city licence, while right-of-way vending does.

The five that actually get DuPage applications sent back

Each of these comes from a rule printed on the county's own forms, checklists or FAQ.

1. An incomplete submission. Missing one document, or the fee, means the plan review is not accepted at all.
2. A waste tank that is too small. Under 15 percent larger than the fresh tank fails Section IV on arithmetic alone.
3. Household equipment. Cold holding has to be NSF 7 or equivalent; a domestic fridge is not approved.
4. A commissary the county cannot verify. No inspection report attached, or no answer to the phone verification, stalls approval.
5. A menu that is too short. Anything not on the annual application's menu table needs a new form and fresh approval before you can sell it.

The habits that keep the same details consistent across every form, starting with one master record of your business, are in how to fill out a vendor permit application faster.

Sources: DuPage County Health Department — All Mobile Food Vendors · Mobile Vending Plan Review Application for New Trucks/Trailers – Risk Type 1A (2022) · Mobile Vendor Annual Application (3/01/16) · Letter of Agreement to Use Commissary (6/16) · Mobile Vendor Risk Type Definitions (July 2022) · Mobile Vendor Requirements Truck/Trailer Checklist (5/2025) · 2026 Mobile Vendor Billing Memo (April 16, 2026) · How to Apply Online for a Plan Review · FAQ: How to Apply for a Food Permit (October 2025) · Environmental Health Fees. Plan review questions: (630) 221-7045; permit questions: (630) 221-7400. Verified 23 October 2026.