Florida Food Truck Inspection Checklist: Vehicle, Food, and Staff

A Florida food truck inspection checklist covers five things the Division of Hotels and Restaurants inspector will verify before you can open: your paperwork and license, the physical build of the vehicle, how you handle food, who is trained to prepare it, and whether your fire and gas systems are current. Get each of these right before the inspector arrives and you will pass. Miss one, particularly a critical food safety item, and you can be held up at your opening inspection or shut down at an event.

The Division of Hotels and Restaurants (DHR), part of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), runs the licensing and inspection process under Chapter 509 of the Florida Statutes. Here is what the inspector actually looks for.

Paperwork the Inspector Will Ask to See

Bring documents to every inspection. The opening inspection in particular is a document check as much as a walkthrough.

Approved, stamped plans. Florida requires the DHR to review and approve detailed plans for any newly built, converted, or remodeled food service establishment before construction.¹ You submit those plans through DBPR form HR-7006, and they must include scaled drawings of kitchen equipment, plumbing fixtures, storage areas, a side view of the vehicle, and the gallon capacity of both potable water and wastewater holding tanks.² Plan review is free.³ Keep the stamped copy on the truck; the inspector will compare it to what is actually installed.

Current food service license. Every public food service establishment must be licensed by the DHR before it starts operating. Operating without one is a second-degree misdemeanor.⁴ The mobile food dispensing vehicle license fee is $347 per year, or $178.50 if you apply with six months or less until renewal, plus a one-time $50 application fee.³

Commissary Services Notification. Unless your vehicle is fully self-sufficient, your license application must include a signed commissary agreement on DBPR form HR-7022.⁵ The commissary is a licensed commercial kitchen that handles services your truck cannot, typically waste disposal, potable water replenishment, and utensil washing and sanitizing if you have no three-compartment sink on board. Confirm the commissary holds a current DBPR license and that the agreement spells out which services are covered.

Your unit only counts as self-sufficient if it carries a three-compartment sink, a separate handwash sink, adequate refrigeration, full power utilities, a potable water tank, and a liquid waste disposal system.² Most trucks are not, so plan on the commissary paperwork.

Manager and employee training records. Have the certified food manager’s credential and every employee’s food safety training record ready. Details on what those records must contain are covered further down.

The Vehicle Itself

The inspector confirms that the finished truck matches your approved plans and meets the division’s sanitation standards.

Surfaces and Enclosure

Interior floors, walls, and ceilings must be smooth, non-absorbent, and easy to clean. Service openings and outer access points need proper weather protection to keep pests out of the food preparation area. On your plan review application, spell out the material for each surface so the inspector can verify the finished product against what was approved.²

Sinks

Every mobile food dispensing vehicle needs a separate handwash sink with running hot and cold water, soap, and single-service towels. It must be shown on your plan review drawings and be conveniently located and functional at inspection.²

A three-compartment sink for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing utensils is required if the vehicle is self-sufficient. If it is not, your commissary can provide the three-compartment sink, but you must carry enough pre-washed backup utensils to get through a service period without returning to the commissary mid-shift. Any three-compartment sink on the unit should have drainboards or equivalent shelving for air-drying.

Water and Wastewater Tanks

The vehicle must carry both a potable water tank and a wastewater holding tank, both permanently integrated into the unit. The wastewater tank must be at least 15% larger in volume than the fresh water tank so it can hold all used water without overflowing.² List gallon capacity for each on the drawings so the inspector can check the differential.

Thermometers and Equipment

Every refrigerator, freezer, and hot-holding unit needs an accurate internal thermometer. Inspectors check these against their own calibrated instruments, so test yours before the inspection.

Commercial cooking and storage equipment should carry NSF/ANSI certification. The relevant standards include NSF/ANSI 4 for cooking equipment like fryers, griddles, and ovens; NSF/ANSI 7 for commercial refrigerators and freezers; and NSF/ANSI 2 for general food equipment like sinks, shelving, and prep tables.⁶ Residential-grade equipment will draw attention even where the plan review form does not explicitly mandate NSF certification for every item.

Food Handling

Once the truck itself passes, the inspector watches how you handle food. Temperature control is the biggest operational concern.

Temperatures

Foods that require time and temperature control for safety (TCS foods) must be held hot at 135°F or above and cold at 41°F or below. Keep a properly calibrated stem thermometer on hand and be ready to demonstrate its use. The inspector will almost certainly ask.

Cross-Contamination

Cross-contamination violations are among the most common findings and the most preventable. The checklist:

Raw animal products stored below and away from ready-to-eat foods. In a small truck refrigerator, raw chicken belongs on the lowest shelf every time.
All food stored at least six inches off the floor on clean shelves, racks, or dollies.
Cleaning supplies and sanitizers kept separate from food and food-contact surfaces.
A chemical test kit on the unit to verify sanitizer concentration. Inspectors test the solution themselves and expect your readings to match.

Consumer Advisory

If your menu includes any raw or undercooked animal food served ready-to-eat, such as rare steaks, runny eggs, or raw oysters, a written consumer advisory must appear on every menu where those items are listed, informing customers of the increased health risk. Where a customer might not expect a raw animal ingredient (Caesar dressing made with raw eggs, for example), you must also disclose the ingredient specifically.⁷ Raw oysters require a specifically worded oyster warning visible wherever oysters can be ordered.

People

Certified Food Manager

Every food service establishment in Florida must have at least one certified food service manager who has passed a test accredited by the Conference for Food Protection.⁸ The inspector will ask to see proof at the opening inspection and during routine visits. If you are the owner and sole operator, that manager is you.

Employee Training

Every food service employee must receive food safety training and certification within 60 days of being hired. The certification is valid for three years, and you must be able to produce proof of training for each employee including name, date of birth, date of training, and the approved program used.⁹ Keep these records organized on the truck or at your commissary; the inspector can request them at any time.

Hygiene at Work

Employees must wash hands properly, avoid bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods (use gloves, tongs, or deli tissue), and wear effective hair restraints. Bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food is one of the violations inspectors flag most often.

Fire and Propane

The local Fire Marshal enforces fire safety on food trucks, not the DHR, but you need to clear both to operate.

Cooking equipment that produces grease-laden vapors, including fryers, griddles, and charbroilers, must sit under a ventilation hood meeting NFPA 96 standards for commercial cooking operations. That hood system must include an automatic fire-extinguishing system to protect cooking surfaces that generate grease vapors.¹⁰ It must be professionally inspected and serviced at least every six months and the service tag kept current.¹¹ An expired tag is one of the fastest ways to get shut down at an event.

Every mobile food unit must carry a portable fire extinguisher selected and installed under NFPA 10. A deep fryer on board means you also need a Class K extinguisher rated for grease fires.¹⁰

Propane systems must comply with NFPA 58. Main container shutoff valves must be accessible without tools, the entire gas system should be visually inspected daily before use, any new or modified piping requires pressure testing, and a flexible connector must sit between the regulator outlet and the fixed piping.¹⁰ An operational propane leak detector is expected on units using LP gas. Tanks must be mechanically secured and positioned away from vehicle damage and heat from cooking equipment.

Routine Inspections and What a Failed Inspection Means

After the opening inspection, the DHR conducts routine inspections on a risk-based schedule of one to four visits per year, depending on what you cook and your compliance history.¹² Most food trucks that cook and cool food fall into the two-inspections-per-year tier. The DHR can also inspect at any other time it deems necessary to protect public health.¹³

Violations are classified as critical or noncritical. Critical violations are the ones most likely to cause foodborne illness directly, such as improper holding temperatures or bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food. Inspectors often let operators correct violations on the spot during the inspection. Uncorrected violations lead to callback inspections, administrative action, or, in serious cases, closure. The division can also refuse to renew a license for any establishment not constructed and maintained in compliance with its rules.⁴

One Thing the State Inspection Does Not Cover

Passing the DHR inspection does not settle where you can park. Florida law preempts local governments from requiring a separate food truck license, registration, permit, or fee, and a county or municipality cannot ban food trucks from operating within its entire boundaries.¹⁴ The preemption does not apply at airports, seaports, or port authorities, and local governments still control zoning and operational rules: which areas are open to food truck vending, distance from fire hydrants or building entrances, parking on public rights-of-way, distance from brick-and-mortar restaurants or other trucks, and time-of-day or noise limits. Check the ordinances that apply to your intended operating locations before you commit to a commissary lease or event schedule.

1
MyFloridaLicense.com. Hotels and Restaurants – Plan Review
2
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. DBPR HR-7006 – Plan Review for Mobile Public Food Service Establishment
3
MyFloridaLicense.com. Hotels and Restaurants – Food Service Fees
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 509.241 – Licenses Required; Exceptions; Division Online Accounts and Transactions
5
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. DBPR HR-7022 – Commissary Services Notification
6
NSF. Food Equipment Standards
7
MyFloridaLicense.com. Industry Bulletin – Consumer Advisory Requirements
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 509.039 – Food Service Manager Certification
9
Florida Senate. Florida Code 509.049 – Food Service Employee Training
10
National Fire Protection Association. Food Truck Safety Fact Sheet
11
National Fire Protection Association. NFPA 96 Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations
12
MyFloridaLicense.com. Risk-Based Inspection Frequency
13
Florida Senate. Florida Code 509.032 – Duties
14
Florida Senate. Florida Code 509.102 – Mobile Food Dispensing Vehicles; Preemption