foodservicenerd
Local permits & fees

Elkhart County, IN — Commercial Kitchen Permits

Elkhart County Health Department, Environmental Health Division · department site →
Fees change often — always confirm the current amount with the department before you budget.

Restaurant / food-facility permit

Full-Service Restaurant Permit (food establishment)
$300.00 if renewed on time; $900.00 if late (new fee schedule effective April 1, 2026)

County commissioners adopted a new health department fee schedule effective April 1, 2026. The ordinance does not define 'late' or a grace period. Full published per-category schedule (echd-fee-schedule.pdf) is behind a bot/JS gate; only figures reported by local news are captured here.

Plan review — required

null - plan review is required for new/remodeled food establishments (Plan Review packet), but the plan review fee dollar amount was not retrievable from the published fee-schedule PDF (Cloudflare/JS-gated)

Plan-review details & forms →

Food truck / mobile permit

Full-Service Mobile Unit Permit
$100.00 if renewed on time; $300.00 if late (fee schedule effective April 1, 2026)

All mobile food service must operate from an approved, licensed commissary.

How to apply

Forms & applications

Watch out for

  • New ECHD fee schedule effective April 1, 2026 (adopted by county commissioners late April 2026).
  • Late renewal roughly triples the permit fee (restaurant $300 to $900; mobile $100 to $300).
  • Department food-service webpage was under construction at time of review; only restaurant and mobile figures are confirmed via published news reporting.

Other food-service permits in this jurisdiction

CategoryAnnual feeNotes
Pushcart / mobile vending$100.00 on-time / $300.00 lateFull-service mobile unit permit under the fee schedule effective April 1, 2026; requires an approved licensed commissary.
Commissary / central preparation kitchennull - required for mobile food service (all mobile units must have an approved, licensed commissary); specific commissary permit fee not retrievable from the JS-gated fee-schedule PDFRequirement stated in ECHD mobile food service guidance.
Indiana statewide rules
Who licenses you, reciprocity, and the state regime.
What equipment you need
Build a tailored equipment checklist for your concept.
Permits & plan review, explained
The stack of approvals before you open.
Sources: health.elkhartcounty.com · health.elkhartcounty.com · www.wndu.com · observed 2026-08-07