Restaurants, commercial kitchens, and food trucks.
Confirm the authority for your exact address. Some cities run their own health division, and building, planning, fire, sewer/grease and business-license approvals are separate even when Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) - Food Safety Program issues the health permit.
About 3,194 food & drinking establishments operate here, serving a population of about 1,224,825. (U.S. Census 2023 estimate; County Business Patterns 2022, NAICS 722)
Annual fee by risk classification (effective 1/1/2024): Class I $128, Class II $170, Class III $244, Class IV $404; non-profits pay 50%; Class III ($244) is typical for a full-service restaurant; ACHD is a home-rule county health department (operates independently of the PA state retail-food program)
Turnaround: Allow up to ~8 weeks for application/plan review
State Dept of Agriculture (or the county health dept for Allegheny/Philadelphia/Bucks/Delaware/Montgomery) inspects to the PA Food Code; risk-based reports online, no letter grade posted.
Annual fee by class: Class I/II $110, Class III/IV $150; non-profits 50%; Temporary/seasonal event vendors: $50 (1 event) up to $130 (4 events), or $30/event for 5+
Fees/payment and forms are on the department site; application steps vary by concept — see the checklist below.
U.S. Census 2023 population; County Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722).
A code-compliant kitchen in Allegheny County needs more than the health permit — these approvals are handled by separate offices. Confirm current requirements with each.
| Category | Annual fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| caterer | — | Caterer food permit required for any facility that supplies/prepares/serves food to an off-premise private (contracted) function as the main kitchen tenant; ACHD Food Safety Program; Fee per ACHD fee schedule (not parsed here) |
| commissary/central kitchen | — | "Commissary use permit" applies to mobile food facilities based out of a fixed permitted food facility or a commissary space used for water fill/wastewater disposal |
| temporary/seasonal/special-event | — | All temporary and seasonal food facilities (except those selling only unprocessed produce or prepackaged non-TCS foods) must hold a current ACHD food permit |
| food processing/wholesale | — | ACHD regulates food processors and warehouses among food facilities requiring a permit or registration certificate |
Health-department plan review looks for specific, code-compliant fixtures. Compare spec-filtered options, then confirm counts and sizes with your local requirements. See the full list in what equipment a commercial kitchen requires.
Permit costs and rules change at the county line — compare Allegheny County with its neighbors.
This is a typical sequence — confirm the exact sequence with your authority having jurisdiction.
Official plan-check requirements: plan-check guide →