How to Fill Out the San Francisco Mobile Food Facility Application: DPH Health Permit Packet and Public Works Street Permit

This walks the two applications a San Francisco truck files, field by field. For the surrounding process (Planning approval for private lots, the fire permit, commissary rent and total cost), start with the San Francisco food truck permit guide, or how to start a food truck business in California for the statewide sequence.

San Francisco is a city and a county at once, so there is no county layer to deal with. Instead the job is split between two city departments that each have their own form: the Department of Public Health (DPH), Environmental Health Branch issues the health permit, and San Francisco Public Works issues the permit to sell from a particular street location. DPH's packet says so up front: "The Department of Public Health does not authorize parking or vending locations."

Step 1 — Pick your classification, because the form and the fee schedule now disagree

The DPH form makes you tick one of five classes, and the Public Works form asks you to copy the same tick across ("See DPH application for classification"). The packet defines them on its third page:

Almost every cooking truck is MFF 5. The catch is that the city's code no longer uses these five. Ordinance 49-26, passed by the Board of Supervisors on April 7, 2026, rewrote the Health Code definitions so that motorized mobile food facilities fall into two categories for licensing and fees: Mobile Food Facility – Low Risk (prepackaged, non-potentially hazardous food, no food preparation) and Mobile Food Facility – High Risk (non-prepackaged, potentially hazardous food and food preparation). Carts move to a separate Compact Mobile Food Operation category with its own tiers. DPH's category page on sf.gov now describes trucks the same way.

So you tick a box from the old system on a form dated 2024, and you are billed under the new one. A truck that ticks MFF 5 is High Risk, and its plan check is the $690 high-risk line. If your menu sits near the boundary (bottled drinks plus one hot item, say), email mobilefood@sfdph.org before you tick.

Step 2 — Work through the DPH checklist

The packet's first page is a checklist of 11 items to hand in together. Fill in your DBA and business address at the top and tick each box as it is done:

1. San Francisco Business Registration Certificate, from the Treasurer & Tax Collector (City Hall Room 140, or online). Use the commissary address as your business address; sf.gov's food truck steps say so, and an earlier public-property edition of this checklist said it in the checklist itself.
2. MFF Health Permit to Operate Application (Step 3).
3. MFF Plan Check Application (Step 4), with two copies of schematic drawings, photos of the interior and exterior (all sides) and a copy of the menu.
4. A photo of the California Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) insignia on the vehicle. If the truck has none, HCD has to inspect it first.
5. Fire Department Referral (Step 5).
6. Commissary "Food Headquarters" Verification Form, one for each commissary you use, and for any alternative parking location (Step 6).
7. Restroom Verification Form (Step 7).
8. Written Standard Operational Procedures (Step 8).
9. A copy of your Food Safety Manager Certification or proof of registration for the exam. Our food manager certification guide covers which exams count.
10. Declaration of Healthy and Safe Working Conditions (Step 9).
11. Payment: the application fee and, if it applies, the plan check fee. The checklist warns that other city agencies' fees may also apply.

An earlier edition of the packet for public-property vending (PDF modified April 2024) had a twelfth box: a Public Works Tentative Approval, "required at the time your application is received if you wish to operate from Public Right of Way." The current unified checklist drops it. If you will sell on the street, ask DPH whether they want the tentative approval with the packet, because the older copy is still circulating.

Step 3 — The Health Permit to Operate Application

This is one page. Before the fields, note the line printed next to the date box: "(Expires after 5 months)." An application left incomplete for five months has to be started again.

• Type of Application: New MFF if the vehicle has never been permitted in San Francisco, which includes a truck coming from a neighbouring county and a newly built one. Ownership Change only if DPH has permitted this vehicle before under a different business name. Choose one.
• MFF Classification: from Step 1.
• Business Name (DBA) and MFF Operating Address.
• Registered Owner(s)/Corporation. For a corporation or LLC, the form says to list all major officers as well as the entity name.
• Registered Owner Address, Preferred Mailing Address and an Emergency Contact (name and phone).
• Owner Email (Required), Owner Primary Phone and Business Phone.
• San Francisco Business License Number (BAN): the account number from your business registration.
• Driver's License Number, License Plate Number and HCD Insignia #.
• Vehicle ID Number (VIN) and Vehicle Make & Year.
• Commissary 1 (food storage/cooking): DBA, address, contact person and phone. Commissary 2 (parking/cleaning): the same fields, for when the truck parks and is cleaned somewhere other than where the food is stored and cooked.
• Signature(s) of all owner(s) or officer(s). Two signature lines are printed. If you listed three officers above, all three sign.

The office-use box underneath shows what DPH will charge you: App Fee, Zoning and SFFD referral lines, then an inspector's recommendation to issue or refuse the permit. Leave it blank.

Step 4 — The Plan Check Application

The top half repeats Step 3's identity fields: DBA, operating address, owners, phones, owner email, driver's licence, plate, HCD insignia number, VIN and make and year. Then:

• Vehicle is located in: Public Right of Way (sidewalk, street, alley) or Private (private parking lot, catering).
• Classification of MFF: the same five classes again, with the note "Please check the fees from current Fee Schedule." For 2026-27 that schedule lists $414 for a low-risk mobile food facility plan check and $690 for a high-risk one.
• A signed statement with three conditions in it, all of which matter.

What goes with it, from the checklist: two copies of schematic drawings of the truck, interior and exterior photos of all sides, and the menu. Make the drawings agree with the operational procedure in Step 8, which asks how the water and waste tanks are filled and emptied and lists every piece of equipment on board. Our food truck health inspection checklist lists what the inspector then checks on the finished truck.

Step 5 — The DPH Fire Marshal Referral

DPH staff refer you to the SF Fire Department for an inspection, and this one-page referral is the paperwork for it. You fill in the top half:

• Location, DBA and Bus. Type.
• Yes/no answers: change of ownership only with no change to the previous operation; occupancy or seats over 49; gas or open flame cooking equipment; remodelling; operating now, and if not, the date you expect to open.
• Owner/Operator Name, Owner Address, Business Phone, Email and a Cell to Arrange Inspection.

By filling it in you acknowledge that you must schedule and pass a Fire Clearance inspection with SFFD, and that you will contact SFFD on (415) 558-3348 to schedule and pay for it. DPH's half of the form includes the box "Fire clearance is required before approval and issuance of a new Health Permit for this type of facility." The fire inspection fee is collected by SFFD, separately from DPH's $156 Fire Department referral fee.

Step 6 — The Commissary "Food Headquarters" Verification Form

One page, three signatures, and only one of them is yours. San Francisco requires every truck to work from an approved commissary, and this form is how DPH confirms yours.

Your section: DBA, Registered Owner Name(s), Owner Address, License Plate Number, Vehicle Make/Model and Mobile Phone. Then nine services, each marked YES or NO, for what you will use the commissary for:

• Space for onsite storage of the MFF at all times it is not conducting business
• Adequate and protected space to store food, utensils, equipment and supplies
• Adequate facilities for sanitary disposal of garbage, refuse and liquid wastes
• Adequate and approved space for food preparation
• Dedicated electrical outlets and hook-ups for MFFs that need electrical service
• Potable water with quick-disconnect features for filling water supply tanks
• Hot and cold water under pressure and approved drainage for cleaning the MFF
• NSF-approved equipment for food prep, cleaning and storage of supplies
• Approved janitorial sink, toilet, utensil washing and handwashing facilities

At the bottom you sign, under penalty of perjury, that you will report to this commissary at least once each operating day, that you will not use a personal or other unpermitted vehicle to bring food to the truck, and that you will tell DPH immediately if you move to a new commissary or stop using this one.

The commissary owner's section: commissary DBA, address, owner name(s) and business phone, and a signed certification that the space complies with the California Retail Food Code. The owner also agrees to notify DPH if the agreement ends or if your truck has not used the commissary for five (5) consecutive days. A truck that skips its commissary for a week can therefore be reported by its own commissary.

Out-of-county commissary: if the commissary is outside San Francisco, a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) from that county signs to certify that it holds a current health permit and meets California Retail Food Code Sections 114294–114297 and 114326. The out-of-county REHS may email the completed form to MOBILEFOOD@SFDPH.ORG. The Alameda County and Sacramento County forms have the same out-of-county sign-off, because all three counties enforce the same CalCode commissary sections.

Step 7 — The Restroom Verification Form

DPH wants a named, usable restroom for each place you operate. You fill in the business name, registered owner address, owner email, business and mobile phones, the MFF Operating Address associated with this restroom, and the days and times you operate there. You declare, under penalty of perjury, that the restroom has warm water, is clean, is stocked with paper towels and liquid hand soap, and is within a maximum travel distance of 200 feet of the truck.

The restroom's owner or manager then gives their business name, the restroom address, an email and a mobile number, and signs that you and your staff may use it during your hours and that it will stay in that condition. Because the form is tied to one operating address and its hours, a truck with three locations needs three.

Step 8 — The Written Operational Procedure

This three-page questionnaire is where an inspector learns how the truck actually runs. DPH reviews and approves it before approving the permit, an approved copy must be kept on the truck during hours of operation, and any later change to the procedure, the menu or the equipment needs DPH's approval. Attach the menu.

• Header: registered owner name(s), business and mobile phones, location address, registered DBA, and days and hours of operation.
• Food table: each food item, its source, where it will be prepared, and the method of preparation, split into prepackaged and unpackaged foods.
• Water and waste: how and where the potable water tank is filled, how and where the wastewater tank is emptied ("open buckets may not be used"), and how and where both tanks are cleaned and sanitized, with the equipment used for each.
• Which restroom you will use. It should match Step 7.
• Every piece of equipment and utensil, specifically. The form's own example asks for the type of condiment dispenser (pump, squeeze bottle or pour) as well as the microwave, range, rice cooker, tongs, spoons, lids and knives.
• How you clean and sanitize food-contact surfaces and utensils during operating hours, and again at the commissary.
• Sanitizer: tick one, and say whether it is a commercial pre-mixed solution or made up yourself. The three options and their contact times are printed on the form: chlorine at 100 ppm for at least 30 seconds, quaternary ammonium at 200 ppm for at least one minute, or iodine at 25 ppm for at least one minute.
• The address where you clean the vehicle inside and out.
• All San Francisco operating locations and DPW-approved operating sites, with days and times.
• How you will reheat food or keep it hot, where the truck is stored when not operating, and when and how you will clean your sites of operation.

The answers have to agree with the other forms. If you say the truck is stored at Commissary 2, that commissary needs a YES against onsite storage on its verification form.

Step 9 — The Declaration of Healthy and Safe Working Conditions

The declaration is printed in English, Spanish, Chinese and Filipino. You give the owner/operator, DBA and business address, then answer Yes or No to whether you will comply with San Francisco labour codes, California Labor Code Division 4 (workers' compensation insurance or self-insurance), Division 2 (employment regulation and supervision), Division 5 (occupational health and safety), and all other federal, state and local labour codes.

Question 2 asks you to have your workers' compensation provider name the SF Environmental Health Branch, 49 South Van Ness Ave, #600, San Francisco, CA 94103 as a certificate holder. Do that when you buy the policy, so the certificate goes straight to DPH. You sign twice: once under the labour-law statements, and once under a declaration under penalty of perjury that the information is true. The two pages after it are a labour-law checklist for your own use; the form says it does not need to be submitted.

Step 10 — Submitting the DPH packet

sf.gov's food truck steps send you to apply online at myhealthdepartment.com/san-francisco, under Food Applications, then Mobile Food Facility Application. The packet's own cover page says to submit in person at Station 83 of the Permit Center, 49 South Van Ness Avenue. Questions go to mobilefood@sfdph.org or 415-252-3800.

At standard rates a new cooking truck pays DPH $470 + $690 + $156 = $1,316 before SFFD's own inspection fee. There is no annual licence fee on top: the same schedule prints a dash against the Mobile Food Facility – Low Risk and – High Risk licence lines, because Ordinance 49-26 sets the annual licence fee for both at $0 for licence periods beginning on or after April 1, 2026.

Step 11 — The Public Works Application for Revocable Mobile Food Facility Permit

You need this only to sell from public property: a street, a sidewalk, a plaza. For a private lot the approval comes from the Planning Department instead, which the city permit page covers. The current form is revision 02.03.2025, four pages.

Page 1, Business Information: Business/DBA Name, Applicant Name, mailing address, phone, email, commissary address, SF Business Certificate number and driver's licence. A corporation lists the names and addresses of each officer, director and each stockholder owning more than 10% of its stock on a separate attachment.

Page 1, Facility and locations: Type of Facility (Push Cart, Truck or Truck/Trailer) and the Proposed Menu. Then up to three locations, each with its own days of operation and hours. The form sets the format for the description: an address plus a physical description, such as "north side of 'A' Street, 100 feet east of 'B' Avenue." Each location needs its own site plan and photos.

Page 2, DPH classification and vehicle: tick MFF 1 to 5 (the same answer as Step 1), with the vehicle's make/model, licence plate and VIN. You sign that you will comply with the Public Works Code, the Health & Safety and Fire Codes, DPW Order No. 182,101 and other laws on mobile food facilities and accessibility.

Page 2, Submittal checklist:

• The completed application.
• Two photographs of the applicant(s), passport size or similar.
• The non-refundable fee, by card, check or money order payable to San Francisco Public Works.
• A site plan: the truck's dimensioned footprint, property lines, sidewalk widths, existing parking alignment, adjacent buildings with all entrances and exits, fire protection services, and existing sidewalk furniture such as utility poles, fire hydrants and parking meters.
• A notification packet (map, list, addresses, postage, affidavit): a 75-foot radius for a truck, a 300-foot radius for a pushcart. Public Works provides the envelopes; you fix the address labels and postage.

Page 3, Sample drawing and clearances: the minimum recommended sidewalk width is 10 feet for a truck and 15 feet for a pushcart; trucks and trailers must be in a legal parking space; most trucks serve from the passenger side, so plan the site with that in mind. Dimension the gap to every nearby obstruction, and keep at least these clearances:

The bus-zone figure is the one place the form and the city's web guidance disagree. Plan the site for 12 feet, since a spot that clears 12 also clears 8.

sf.gov's step page adds the location rules from DPW Order 182,101 that the form only refers to, including 75 feet from an existing restaurant's primary entrance and school buffers on weekdays; our food truck parking permit guide compares those buffers with other cities.

Page 2, Final approval checklist: before Public Works grants final approval you must supply a current DPH Certificate of Sanitation and decal, a current SFFD inspection report and decal, a current San Francisco Business Registration Certificate, and DMV vehicle registration. That is why the DPH packet comes first. sf.gov's step page adds a general liability policy of no less than $2,000,000 naming the City as an additional insured, and the remaining fees.

How it moves: sf.gov says to email the application as PDFs to bsmpermitdivision@sfdpw.org, post a notice at the location for 10 days, and notify neighbours; the public then has 30 days to comment. Unresolved objections go to a public hearing, and the Director of Public Works decides. With no objections you receive a 90-day tentative approval.

Fees (San Francisco Public Works, Mobile Food Facility Permit 2026-2027 fee schedule, revised 07.01.2026):

One location comes to $1,125, or $1,175 with the decal, and half of the total is due at submittal. These are standard rates; a new business enrolled in First Year Free (see Step 10) should ask Public Works what it waives before paying. A public hearing adds a further fee. sf.gov's step page still says "$1,151 and up"; go by the 07.01.2026 schedule. The schedule's footer also refers to a 300-foot notification packet without separating trucks from carts. The application and sf.gov both say 75 feet for a truck, so confirm with Public Works on (628) 271-2000 or mobilefood@sfdpw.org before you buy the mailing list.

Five ways these forms send you back to the start

San Francisco does not publish why it returns applications. These five come straight from the forms' own rules.

1. Buying or building the truck before plan check. The plan check statement says plans must be approved before you buy a vehicle or install equipment, and approval lapses after 8 months if work has not begun.
2. A classification that does not match the menu. You tick MFF 1–5 on two DPH forms and the Public Works form; the fee schedule bills Low or High Risk. A truck that cooks belongs in MFF 5 and on the High Risk fee line; tick a lower class and the forms no longer match the menu you attach.
3. One restroom form for several locations. Each Restroom Verification Form names one operating address and its hours, with the restroom within 200 feet.
4. A commissary form that disagrees with the operational procedure. Where you say you fill water, empty waste, clean and store the truck has to match the YES boxes the commissary signed.
5. Applying to Public Works with nothing from DPH. Final approval needs DPH's Certificate of Sanitation and decal and SFFD's inspection report and decal, and an application left incomplete with DPH expires after 5 months.

The habits that prevent mismatches like these on any form, starting with one master record of your business details, are in how to fill out a vendor permit application faster.

Sources: SFDPH Environmental Health, Mobile Food Facility (MFF) unified application packet (PDF, June 2024; the version linked from sf.gov's food truck steps) · SFDPH, Mobile Food Facility on Public Property application packet (PDF, modified April 2024) · SFDPH, Commissary "Food Headquarters" Verification Form · SFDPH Environmental Health fee schedule, rates effective 7/1/26–6/30/27 (revised 9/1/2026) · Ordinance No. 49-26, File No. 250967, passed April 7, 2026 · sf.gov, Compact or mobile food facility categories · sf.gov, Open a food truck on public streets · San Francisco Public Works, Application for Revocable Mobile Food Facility Permit, rev. 02.03.2025 · San Francisco Public Works, Mobile Food Facility Permit 2026-2027 fee schedule, rev. 07.01.2026 · SF Treasurer & Tax Collector, First Year Free · DPH Environmental Health 415-252-3800, mobilefood@sfdph.org · SFFD fire clearance (415) 558-3348 · Public Works (628) 271-2000. All forms were downloaded and read in full. Verified 14 October 2026.