How to Fill Out the Will County Mobile Unit Permit Application (Field by Field, 2026)

This walks the actual Will County Health Department forms, field by field. For the city rules on top of them, start with the Joliet food truck permit guide: Joliet requires a Special Event Permit for every appearance, and the county permit comes first. For the statewide picture, see how to start a food truck business in Illinois.

The health permit for a Will County food truck comes from the Will County Health Department, not from Joliet or any other city. The paperwork is short: a one-page application that doubles as the fee schedule, a commissary agreement signed by your base of operation, and, if you cook or prep on the truck, a three-page worksheet describing the unit.

Step 1 — Work out which pathway you are on

The county splits mobile units into two pathways, and the split decides how much paper you file. Its Mobile Unit Operation Guidelines (January 2019) set them out:

The county's Mobile Vending page describes the same split by menu: if your items are prepared and packaged at the commissary kitchen, you file the application, commissary agreement and vehicle registration; if they are prepared on board the vehicle, you submit a proposal for review, which means the worksheet goes in with the application. The fee schedule does not print a plan review line for push carts; ask the department before you pay.

Step 2 — The Application for Mobile Unit Permit

It is one page, dated 10/24 in the footer, with the fees printed on the form itself. There are no fillable fields, so print it and fill it by hand or use a tool that writes onto flat PDFs. It is sent to EH@willcountyhealth.org.

Owner(s) Information. Owner's name or corporation name; corporate officer's name and title; address, suite and an alternate address; city, state, zip; phone, alternate phone, fax and email. Then type of ownership (sole, partnership or corporation) and a Yes / No question: owner in WCHD system already? Answer Yes if you already hold a Will County Health Department permit, such as for a restaurant or an earlier truck; the office-use box keeps an owner number (OW#) separate from the facility number (FA#).

Mobile Unit. Circle NEW, REMODEL or EXISTING. Then the facility name, address and suite, mailing address, city, state, zip, phone and alternate phone or fax, a facility contact with title and phone, and the license plate and VIN. The facility here is the truck, so use the business name painted on the unit. Copy the plate and VIN from the registration you are submitting; the permit is tied to that vehicle.

Certified Food Protection Manager and ID #, with the expiration date. Enter both exactly as printed on the certificate. The guidelines quote Food Code 2-102.12: the person in charge shall be a certified food protection manager, except on units selling only pre-packaged foods or non-potentially hazardous foods and beverages. The CFPM certificate guide covers how to get one.

Base Of Operation. The name and address of your commissary. It must match the commissary agreement in Step 3 word for word.

Fee Schedule. Nothing to fill in, but read it before you write the cheque. Plan review is $264 without food preparation and $420 with it; Priority Plan Review (reviewed in 7 days) is 2x the applicable fee. The permit is $250 for push carts for frozen novelties, $325 without food preparation and $450 with it. All fees are non-refundable. Cheques are payable to the Will County Health Department; card payments go through govpaynow.com with PLC code 7078, or by phone on 888-604-7888, option 2.

Hours of Operation (days and hours). Your regular operating days and times.

Send bill for permit fee to whom? Tick Owner or Facility, or give a mailing address. The plan review fee is paid now; the guidelines say mobile units are billed annually for the permit fee, so this line decides where that bill goes. Pick an address that will still reach you next December.

Signature of Applicant and date. Below the line is For Office Use Only (OW#, FA#, SR#, PE#, PR#, IN#, RP# and payment records). Leave it blank.

Step 3 — The Base of Operation/Commissary Agreement

A one-page form, dated 2021, signed by both sides. Home kitchens cannot be approved. The agreement grants you access to potable water, equipment cleaning and sanitising, food preparation, offloading wastewater, disposing of solid waste, and storage of food and food-related items.

• Base of Operation Information — the commissary fills this in: business name, address, city, zip, contact person, phone, email and signature. If it is located outside Will County, attach a copy of its current permit to operate and last inspection report.
• Mobile Food Service Information — yours: business name, contact person, phone, email, business website or social media page, and signature.
• Health Department Approval and date — leave blank.

The form says it must be filled out completely and sent to the department by mail or fax or to EH@willcountyhealth.org before you operate. It is not transferable: if either business changes ownership, you need a new agreement. If you are still looking for a kitchen, what a commissary letter must include covers the general requirements.

Step 4 — The Mobile Unit Worksheet (units with food preparation)

Three pages. Page 1 opens with the county's definition: a food dispensing operation on wheels with its own source of electrical and motive power, 100% self-contained, held to the same sanitation standards as a restaurant, and required to return daily to its base of operation.

Owner information. Name, phone, home address, city, fax, email, and certified food handler with expiration date. A valid driver's license must be presented at the time of application.

Base of operation. Include the agreement letter, and if the base is outside Will County, its permit and most recent inspection. The worksheet lists what the base is for: potable water, offloading wastewater, extra storage, and cleaning and sanitising the unit, equipment and utensils.

Hours, GPS tracker, months of operation, fixed location and route. See the warning above on fixed location. Attach the route map.

Vehicle information. Manufacturer, year and model number, VIN, licence plate. The worksheet states the rules here: permits are issued to an operator and vehicle, may not be transferred to another operator or another vehicle, expire 12/31, and are renewed by paying the annual permit fee and passing an inspection. A permit issued in the autumn still expires on December 31; the forms do not say whether a late-year permit fee is prorated, so ask.

Power, water and waste. Source of power; potable water tank size (and whether you have a food grade hose); water heater capacity; wastewater tank size; water pump manufacturer; shielded lighting yes or no. The guidelines set the numbers the reviewer checks these against: the wastewater tank must be at least 15% larger than the water supply tank, hot water must reach at least 100°F, water must be under pressure (hand pumps are not acceptable), and piping and fixtures should be food grade.

Page 2 — finishes and equipment. Service window screens yes or no; exhaust hood length, width and CFM; floor, wall, ceiling and countertop finishes. Then tick six boxes acknowledging the unit carries a dial stem thermometer, disposable gloves, hair restraints, sanitizer with test strips, a separate hand washing sink with soap and paper towels, and a three compartment sink with two drainboards. The guidelines want surfaces smooth, durable, easily cleanable and light in colour (no raw wood), grease- or smoke-producing equipment under an approved hood (NFPA 96 among the standards it names), and outside openings screened or air-curtained with self-closing doors.

Menu table. List every item, or attach a menu, and mark one of three columns for each: prepared onboard, prepared at base or ready to eat. The form's own example puts steak in the first, chopped onion in the second and sour cream in the third. The note under the table is the rule people miss: food from a source without the required permits may not be served, including food prepared at home, and neither can food purchased from another retail operation such as a fast food chain, pizza place or bakery.

Page 3 — equipment table and drawing. For each piece of cold-holding, hot-holding, cooking and plumbing equipment: type, manufacturer, model number, and electric or propane. All of it must be commercial grade and carry the NSF seal or an equivalent, or be approved by the department. Attach a drawing of where the equipment sits in the unit, and tick the last box acknowledging a separate storage area for tools, chemicals and personal items, marked on the drawing.

Step 5 — Fees, submission and the inspection

Everything goes in together: the application, the commissary agreement, the vehicle registration, your driver's license and, for a prep unit, the worksheet and drawing, with the plan review fee. The county's page says fees shall be submitted at the time of application.

A new truck with food preparation therefore pays $420 + $450 = $870 to the county in year one, or $589 without food preparation, before commissary rent, insurance and any city permits. The form prints no standard review time; only the priority option comes with one.

Once the review is complete, the guidelines say an inspection is scheduled to issue a permit sticker. They also note that an approval should be marked valid only in the Will County jurisdiction. Plan on a separate county permit for any other county you sell in, and check that city's rules too. The health inspection checklist covers the general items inspectors look at.

The five that actually get Will County applications sent back

Each comes from a rule printed on the county's own forms or guidelines.

1. A home kitchen as the base of operation. The commissary agreement says home kitchens cannot be approved.
2. An out-of-county commissary with no paperwork. Missing its current permit and last inspection report stalls the agreement.
3. A wastewater tank that is too small. Under 15 percent larger than the fresh tank fails on arithmetic alone.
4. Menu items from the wrong source. Food made at home or bought from another restaurant or bakery cannot be served.
5. No fee, or the wrong fee. The plan review fee goes in with the application, it depends on whether you prepare food on board, and it is non-refundable.

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: Will County Health Department — Mobile Unit/Food Trucks · Application for Mobile Unit Permit (form 013, 10/24) · Mobile Unit Worksheet · Mobile Unit Operation Guidelines (January 2019) · Base of Operation/Commissary Agreement (2021). Main office: 501 Ella Avenue, Joliet, 815-727-8490. Verified 1 November 2026.