Commissary kitchen requirements for food trucks come from the FDA Food Code and are enforced by your local health department, which in most of the country will not issue or renew a mobile food permit without a signed commissary agreement on file.1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Adoption of the FDA Food Code by State and Territorial Agencies The commissary is the fixed, permitted commercial facility where your truck returns to prep food, refill water, dump waste, clean the vehicle, and store inventory. Specific fees, forms, and inspection schedules vary by jurisdiction, but the substantive rules below are shared across most of them.
When You Actually Need a Commissary
If your mobile unit cannot handle every step of cooking, holding, and storing food entirely on board, you need a commissary. A truck that preps ingredients at a fixed kitchen and finishes cooking on the road still depends on that facility for its permit. The commissary is where the health department confirms proper infrastructure exists for the tasks the vehicle cannot safely perform.
There is one meaningful exception. A fully self-contained unit that can cook, hold, and store all food inside the vehicle, with its own potable water, wastewater tanks, and refrigeration, may qualify to use only a servicing area rather than a full commissary. A servicing area provides utility hookups for water, waste disposal, and vehicle cleaning without food preparation space. Not every jurisdiction recognizes the distinction, so call your local health department before assuming you qualify.
Vendors selling only prepackaged food with no on-site preparation sometimes face lighter rules. Some jurisdictions waive the commissary requirement entirely for these operations; others still require a servicing area for wastewater and cleaning. Confirm your category with the permitting agency before signing any lease.
Standards the Kitchen Itself Must Meet
A commissary must be built and maintained to commercial food-service standards. The FDA Food Code requires that indoor surfaces in food preparation areas, including floors, walls, and ceilings, be smooth, durable, nonabsorbent where moisture is present, and easy to clean. In practice that means stainless prep tables, sealed concrete or tile floors, and finished walls that hold up to sanitizing. Carpeting is prohibited in prep areas, walk-in coolers, warewashing stations, and anywhere subject to spray cleaning.2U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022
Every commissary needs a three-compartment sink for the wash-rinse-sanitize cycle. Separate handwashing stations must be stocked with hot water, soap, and single-use towels or air dryers, and positioned so employees can reach them without leaving the prep area.2U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022 Inspectors write up any handwashing sink that is blocked, unstocked, or used for anything else.
Refrigeration and cold storage must hold time/temperature-controlled foods at or below 41°F, with enough space that cold air actually circulates.2U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022 Dry storage should be organized off the floor and away from walls for cleaning access and pest control.
The Food Code flatly prohibits operating a food establishment in a private home or any room used as living or sleeping quarters.2U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Food Code 2022 Where a facility has on-site living quarters, those spaces must be separated from the kitchen by complete partitioning and solid, self-closing doors. Violations here are treated as priority items requiring immediate correction.
Plumbing must include grease interceptors on drainage from any fixture in a food prep area that produces grease-laden waste, including pot sinks, pre-rinse sinks, wok stations, and floor drains.3International Code Council. International Plumbing Code – Chapter 10 Traps Interceptors and Separators A commissary taking on new mobile vendors may need to verify its interceptor can handle the added volume.
Any commissary with grease-producing cooking equipment must have ventilation and fire suppression meeting NFPA 96.4National Fire Protection Association. NFPA 96 Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations When you tour a facility, ask when the hood system was last professionally cleaned and whether the fire suppression inspection is current. A lapsed inspection can shut down the entire kitchen, and every vendor working out of it along with it.
What the Commissary Must Provide for Your Truck
A commissary is more than a kitchen. It is also a service depot where the vehicle is cleaned, restocked, and readied for the next shift. The facility must provide a potable water fill station where you refill through a food-grade hose, protected from contamination and separated from any wastewater discharge point.
A dedicated wastewater connection is equally critical. Grey water from your truck’s sinks and handwashing stations must be discharged into an approved sewage line, never dumped in a parking lot or storm drain. The commissary should also supply separate grease disposal so cooking fats stay out of standard drains. Improper disposal of either waste stream exposes both the vendor and the facility to environmental fines, and in some jurisdictions rises to a criminal violation.
Most health departments also require a designated vehicle-washing area with a concrete or machine-laid asphalt surface, graded to drain into an interceptor. Trash receptacles should sit in a protected, covered location and be emptied on a schedule that keeps the exterior as clean as the interior.
Where the Truck Parks Overnight
Where your truck stays when it is not serving matters. Many jurisdictions require the mobile unit to return to the commissary or its servicing area at the end of each operating day. Storing a food truck at a private residence is typically prohibited, because a residential driveway lacks the approved drainage, waste disposal connections, and paved surfaces the health code demands. If your commissary does not offer overnight parking, confirm with your health department whether a separate lot qualifies, and get the approval in writing before you need it.
Shared Commissary or Private Kitchen
Most operators rent time in a shared-use commissary rather than leasing a private kitchen. Shared facilities operate on hourly, daily, or monthly schedules, and their big advantage is that they arrive pre-permitted. The kitchen owner handles equipment maintenance, health inspections, and building-code compliance. Monthly costs generally run $1,000 to $4,000 depending on the market, hours included, and whether storage is bundled in.
The downsides are real. Scheduling conflicts show up during peak prep hours when multiple vendors want the same equipment. You cannot customize the layout, storage is shared, and if the facility’s permit lapses or it fails an inspection, every vendor operating out of it is grounded until the problem is fixed.
A private commissary gives you full control over layout, equipment, hours, and storage. You also bear the full cost of rent, utilities, maintenance, and your own permit and inspections. Private kitchens make sense for operators with high volume, proprietary recipes, or schedules that do not fit a shared model, and they are hard to justify financially if the kitchen sits empty during off-hours.
Some jurisdictions allow non-traditional facilities such as church kitchens, school cafeterias, or fraternal organization kitchens to serve as commissaries if they hold a current food establishment permit and meet the same sanitation standards. The key word is “permitted.” A church kitchen that hosts potlucks but has never been inspected as a commercial food establishment will not qualify.
The Agreement and the Paperwork
Before finalizing a commissary partnership, you need paperwork for both your business and the facility. Expect the health department to want your legal business name, tax identification number, and details about the mobile unit including its license plate and vehicle identification number. The agreement must state the hours you will use the facility, how often you will visit, and which services you will use: food prep, water fill, waste disposal, vehicle cleaning, or storage.
Most health departments provide a standardized commissary letter of agreement on their environmental health website. Fill every field accurately. Incomplete or inconsistent forms are one of the most common causes of permit delays, and the fix is always slower than doing it right the first time.
The commissary itself must supply its current health permit number and most recent inspection report. Any open violations at the facility will likely stall your application. Ask to see the latest inspection score before you commit. A facility that barely passes its own inspections is a liability to every vendor who depends on it.
Insurance and Indemnification
Nearly every commissary will require you to carry general liability insurance and name the facility as an additional insured. The standard minimum is $1,000,000 per occurrence with a $2,000,000 aggregate. Some facilities also ask for auto liability at $1,000,000 and specific endorsements such as primary-and-noncontributory wording or a waiver of subrogation. Your agent can add these, but they may raise your premium, so factor that into the commissary budget.
The agreement should include an indemnification clause that clarifies who is responsible when something goes wrong. At minimum, it should address worker safety, the duty to report injuries or property damage, and which party is liable for contamination or equipment damage. Some agreements shift nearly all risk to the tenant; others divide it more evenly. If the language is broader than you are comfortable with, push back before signing.
Submission and the Joint Inspection
Submit everything through the health department’s preferred channel, whether that is an online portal or mailed documents. Most jurisdictions charge an administrative filing fee. The agency then verifies the commissary’s permit is active and free of unresolved violations.
After verification, many agencies schedule a joint inspection of the mobile unit at the commissary. An inspector confirms the vehicle can safely reach the facility’s utility stations and that the commissary can accommodate the added user without a sanitation hazard. Once approved, keep a copy of the signed agreement on the truck at all times. Field inspectors routinely ask for it, and not having it on hand can bring a citation or an on-the-spot order to cease operations.
If Your Commissary Agreement Ends
Losing your commissary puts your mobile permit at immediate risk. In most jurisdictions the agreement is a continuing condition of the permit, not just an application requirement. The moment it lapses, you are technically operating without authorization.
If you know a relationship is ending, line up a replacement before the current agreement expires and notify your health department. Most agencies want an updated commissary letter on file before you continue operating. If the loss is sudden, such as when the facility fails a critical inspection and shuts down, contact the health department immediately. Some will grant a short grace period to find a new facility; others will suspend the permit until a new agreement is submitted and approved. A backup commissary relationship, even an informal one, is cheap insurance against an interruption that can cost weeks of revenue.