Who to call, what permitting actually costs, and a free checklist to work through before the inspector shows up.
Requirements reviewed 2026-07-28 against DBPR form HR-7006 (Mobile Food Dispensing Vehicle Plan Review Application), 61C-1.002 FAC.
Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR), Division of Hotels & Restaurants
DBPR licenses most standalone mobile food dispensing vehicles in Florida. Trucks tied to a licensed restaurant, and vendors at some temporary events, may instead fall under a county health department or the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services — confirm which applies to your setup before applying.
DBPR Hotels & Restaurants →The order matters — several of these are expensive to do out of sequence.
DBPR splits mobile food dispensing vehicles by whether the unit can operate without outside support. A self-sufficient MFDV does not need a commissary. Anything less does, and the commissary has to be a DBPR-licensed public food service establishment or a food establishment permitted by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Form DBPR HR-7006 is the plan review application, and it is required when the unit is newly built, converted from another use, remodeled, or re-opened after being closed at least a year. Filing after the build is the expensive mistake here, because approved plans dictate the equipment.
If the vehicle is not self-sufficient, form DBPR HR-7022 lists each commissary the truck uses to store food, dump wastewater, and refill. DBPR states plainly that it cannot approve plans without it.
The public food service licence is a separate application, form DBPR HR-7007, and DBPR asks for it at least 30 days before you intend to open. Form DBPR HR-7031 combines the licence application with plan review if you would rather file once.
A new or converted unit gets an inspection before it may operate. Everything on the approved plan has to actually be installed and working, not merely ordered.
Budget for two separate charges: a plan review fee paid with form HR-7006, and an annual licence fee paid with the licence application. DBPR's licence year runs June 1 to May 31, so a unit licensed mid-year is prorated rather than given a full twelve months. Fee schedules change — take the current figures off the form you are actually filing rather than from any guide, including this one.
DBPR's Division of Hotels and Restaurants inspects the vehicles it licenses, on an unannounced schedule. It does not handle your business tax receipt, your fire inspection, or the parking and zoning rules for the spot you vend from — those come from the city or county, and they are the usual reason a truck with a valid DBPR licence still cannot legally open somewhere.
No. DBPR exempts a mobile food dispensing vehicle that is self-sufficient. If the unit cannot handle its own water, wastewater, storage, and warewashing, it needs a commissary, and that commissary must itself be licensed by DBPR or permitted by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
When the unit is newly built, converted from another use, remodeled, or re-opened after being closed for at least a year. Plan review is form DBPR HR-7006, and it is meant to be filed before construction rather than after.
Most standalone mobile units are DBPR. A truck operating as an extension of a licensed restaurant, and some temporary event vendors, can fall to the county health department or to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services instead. Confirm before you file, because applying to the wrong agency costs weeks.
Most Florida food truck rules and regulations come from DBPR's mobile food dispensing vehicle standards in Chapter 61C, with the State Fire Marshal covering cooking-unit fire safety and each city adding its own zoning and parking rules. Work through the permit steps above, then confirm parking and event rules with every city you trade in.
The $9 prep pack adds a print-ready checklist, a commissary letter template, an inspection log, and a temperature reference card.
Get the Pack — $9