Colorado licenses food trucks through the counties, taxes them through the state and the home rule cities, inspects them through local fire departments, and from 2026 lets a licence and a fire permit travel between jurisdictions for the first time. This guide covers all of it as it stands in 2026: the new state fee, every county we deliver to, every city permit on the Front Range and the Western Slope, the fire rules, sales tax, training, insurance, the timeline and the mistakes that cost people their opening weekend.
We build food trucks and trailers in Woodland Park and have delivered around 500 of them, most to first time owners in Colorado, so the rules below are the ones our customers get licensed under every month. Fees change; every figure here carries its source, and the licence fee in particular is set by statute and steps up in 2027 and 2028, so check the date before you budget.
Building a food truck for Colorado? See what a fully-equipped, inspection-ready truck actually costs with our free build & cost calculator.
How Colorado regulates a food truck
Four layers, in the order you deal with them. The state’s Food Protection Act creates a single retail food establishment licence and sets its fee, but hands licensing and inspection to county public health agencies; Denver is the one city that licenses under its own ordinance. The county where your commissary sits issues the licence after plan review and a pre opening inspection. Your city or town may then require a vendor permit, a business licence or both, plus a fire department inspection of the propane, hood and suppression system. And the Department of Revenue, plus any home rule city you trade in, wants a sales tax licence before the first sale.
Two state laws changed the picture for 2026. SB 25-285 raised the licence fees for the first time since 2020. HB 25-1295 defined a mobile food establishment in statute and created reciprocity for fire permits and, between Denver and everyone else, for the health licence. Both are covered below.
Step 1: the Colorado Retail Food Establishment licence
The licence is a calendar year licence. It expires on 31 December whatever month you bought it, it is not prorated, and it renews in December. The 2026 fee for a full service mobile unit, meaning a truck or trailer that cooks, is $481. A prepackaged only unit, selling sealed food it does not prepare, pays $338. Those numbers step to $567 and $394 in 2027 and $682 and $475 in 2028 under SB 25-285. The statute says the fee is the only annual licence fee the state or a county may charge and that it covers every inspection in the licence year; counties can set their fees lower, and $55 of each fee goes to the state food protection fund.
Before the licence comes plan review. The application fee is $155, and the review and pre opening inspection are billed at the county’s hourly rate up to a cap of $900. Each county’s rate is different, from $30 an hour in Mesa County to $150 in Pueblo, and the old $580 cap still appears on several county forms and even on one state web page; the $900 cap is the current law. Agencies have 14 working days to respond to a complete set of plans.
The licence must be displayed on the unit. Several counties also require the business name and phone number in three inch letters on two sides of the truck, which is worth doing before the wrap is designed rather than after.
What counts as a mobile food establishment
Since 1 January 2026 the definition is in statute: a retail food establishment operated from a movable vehicle, portable structure or watercraft, that can change location, and that is intended to report to and operate from a commissary for servicing, restocking and maintenance. The state’s Mobile Food Units General Minimum Standards, issued in September 2025, sorts units into three styles: prepackaged only with no sinks required, assemble and hold, and full cooking. It also sets the plumbing rules every county enforces: a wastewater tank at least 15 percent larger than the fresh tank, a fresh water inlet of three quarters of an inch or smaller, a waste outlet of an inch or larger mounted below the inlet, and no food preparation at home, ever.
The Cottage Food Act does not help a truck. It covers non perishable foods sold from home directly to the consumer, with a revenue cap per product, and cottage producers are excluded from the retail food establishment definition. The Tamale Act expands cottage foods from 1 January 2027 but does not reach a truck serving hot food.
Step 2: the commissary
Every county asks for a signed commissary agreement with the application, and the statutory definition now assumes one. The commissary is a licensed kitchen where you prep, store, fill water, dump grey water and grease, and park. The state’s minimum standards say that if a unit loses access to its commissary, operations stop.
The quirk that catches people moving between counties is location. Adams County, Arapahoe County and, from 2026, Jefferson County require the commissary to be inside their county for a unit they license; Arapahoe makes an exception for an operator who already holds a Denver licence with a Denver commissary. Larimer County wants a commissary within 60 minutes or 60 miles for multi day events. Douglas County sends you to the commissary’s county for renewal inspections if it is outside Douglas. So the first question is not which county you will sell in, it is which county your commissary is in, because that is the county that licenses you.
Denver treats self contained units differently. A truck that carries enough water, waste capacity and refrigeration can skip prep at the commissary, but it still has to report daily for water, grey water and grease, it cannot cool, reheat or thaw on board, and it cannot store food overnight. Denver also sets a minimum water supply of three gallons an hour of operation or ten gallons, whichever is more. The two commissary trailers we have written up, in Boulder, where the county approved a trailer to operate as its own commissary, and the commissary guide explain what that takes.
Commercial commissary pricing in Denver, from the operators’ own listings rather than any government source, runs from about $100 a month for a membership that covers the affidavit, water and disposal with kitchen time billed by the hour, to $500 a month for a block of shifts, with truck parking $350 to $500 a month on top.
Step 3: county by county
The licence fee is the same everywhere because the statute sets it. What differs is the plan review rate, the timeline, the commissary rule and the renewal routine. Contacts are the environmental health lines each department publishes.
Denver
Denver licenses by ordinance through the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, with Denver Public Health and Environment reviewing the packet. The fee structure is different from the counties: a $150 application plus $25 for each food processing activity you tick, across nine categories. DDPHE reviews remotely in 7 to 10 business days and does not physically inspect the unit; Denver Fire does, and the licence is emailed within about five business days of the fire approval. Renewals have a 90 day grace period with penalties. Licensing 303-913-1311; DDPHE food team phicomments@denvergov.org. Our Denver inspection guide goes through the packet line by line.
El Paso County (Colorado Springs)
El Paso County Public Health charges the statutory licence fee, so $481 or $338 in 2026 even though its older packet still prints the pre 2026 figures. Plan review is $100 plus $62 an hour on its 2024 schedule, and review takes up to four weeks. A commissary agreement is required with reporting every 24 hours, self contained units can be approved with a written operating plan, a Certified Food Protection Manager is checked at the first routine inspection, and the county does not honour other counties’ special event permits. 719-578-3199, option 3. See the Colorado Springs guide.
Larimer County (Fort Collins, Loveland)
$481 full service, $338 prepackaged. Plan review is $155 to apply plus $288 for the on site review and pre opening inspection, with $96 an hour after three hours and the $900 cap. Larimer limits mobile menus to cooking, heating and serving and simple assembly, wants a daily commissary visit backed by usage logs, and requires temporary event vendors to have a commissary within 60 minutes or 60 miles. 970-498-6775. Our Fort Collins guide and the boba truck we delivered there cover the city side.
Boulder County
Statutory fees, plan review $155 plus hourly to the $900 cap, with the licence fee due at the opening inspection. Boulder County quotes up to eight weeks for a decision and wants the opening inspection booked five business days ahead. Commissary agreement with 24 hour reporting. 303-441-1564. The Boulder guide covers the city licence, which is separate and expensive.
Jefferson County (Lakewood, Golden, Arvada)
Jefferson County Public Health’s 2025 form still prints the old fees; expect the statutory $481 or $338 for 2026. Plan review is $100 plus $85 an hour with a 1.75 percent card fee. Two things are particular to Jeffco: from 2026 the commissary must be in Jefferson County, no exceptions, and renewal requires an annual inspection at the Lakewood office with the unit fully operational, meaning hot water running, refrigeration at 41 degrees, a probe thermometer, test strips, the menu, the CFPM certificate and a written bodily fluid cleanup plan on board. 303-232-6301. See the Lakewood guide and the Lakewood corn truck.
Weld County (Greeley)
Statutory fees; plan review $100 plus $80 an hour on the county’s older packet. Weld does two inspections, a walk through at about 95 percent complete and a pre opening inspection, then one to three routine inspections a year. There is a simplified application for minor operations like prepackaged food, kettle corn and chili roasters. 970-400-6415.
Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties (Aurora, Thornton, Castle Rock)
The three successors to the old Tri County Health Department each run their own program now. All charge the statutory fee and $155 for plan review. Adams requires the commissary to be in Adams County, runs all day mobile renewal events each fall and reminds everyone that the licence expires on 31 December regardless of when it was issued; plan review hotline 720-713-6200. Arapahoe charges $60 an hour for review, requires an in county commissary unless you already hold a Denver licence with a Denver commissary, and wants three inch lettering on two sides; 303-795-4584. Douglas states plainly that trucks licensed in other counties may serve in Douglas County, does renewal inspections at the commissary, and fines $250 to $1,000 for violations; 720-643-2400. The Aurora guide and the Castle Rock page cover those cities.
Mesa County (Grand Junction)
Statutory fees; plan review $155 plus $30 an hour, the cheapest rate on this list; about two weeks for review and a pre operational inspection three to five days before opening. Temporary event vendor licences are $115 or $255. 970-248-6900. See the Grand Junction guide.
Pueblo
Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment charges statutory fees with plan review at $155 plus $150 an hour, a minimum of 14 business days, and an inspection before every renewal. 719-583-4307. The Pueblo guide has the city’s unusual rules, including GPS tracking.
The mountains: Eagle, Summit, Pitkin, Teller
Eagle County (Vail, Avon) reviews plans at $155 plus $120 an hour, asks for a yearly kitchen share agreement, charges $255 for a temporary vendor or $100 if you hold another county’s event permit, and publishes its own food truck fire safety sheet; 970-328-8755. Summit County (Breckenridge, Frisco) charges a mobile plan review and a separate on site inspection fee and wants event applications 30 days ahead. In Pitkin County the state licenses the unincorporated county while the City of Aspen licenses inside Aspen and accepts any Colorado mobile licence for temporary approval. Teller County, our home county, licenses through its own Public Health and Environment department, requires a daily commissary and no cooling on the unit, and does not honour other counties’ event permits; 719-687-6416. Our cold weather page covers what a truck needs to work at those elevations at all.
Step 4: HB 25-1295 and what reciprocity really means
From 1 January 2026 a fire safety permit for a food truck is valid across Colorado if two conditions are met: the issuing local government has adopted the most recent International Fire Code or a code incorporating the state’s mobile food standards, and the inspection was done by a fire inspector certified by the Division of Fire Prevention and Control. To use it elsewhere you send a copy of the permit to the new jurisdiction’s fire authority at least 14 calendar days before you operate, once per calendar year. The unit stays subject to local inspection, and a failed local inspection voids the permit there until a certified inspector passes it again.
On the health side, Denver must accept a state or county licence with 14 days notice, a copy of the licence, the application if you were first licensed in the last two years and a violation summary on request; and a Denver licence counts as a state licence everywhere else, again with 14 days notice to the local government and the state. The state publishes the reciprocity notice form.
What the law does not do matters as much. The introduced bill would have stopped cities banning trucks where restaurants are allowed, capped separation rules at 50 feet and ended day limits. All of that was removed before passage, and the signed act says in plain words that nothing in it prevents a local government enforcing its own ordinances, zoning or codes. City vendor permits, distance rules, hour limits and three day a week caps all survive. What travels is the fire permit and the health licence, not the right to park.
The practical vehicle is the Fire Marshals Association of Colorado inspection program, with a checklist keyed to the 2024 fire code. Denver Fire adopted it from 1 January 2026, and Boulder, Aurora, Golden, Greeley, Fort Collins and Castle Rock accept an FMAC certificate. Castle Rock will only honour a permit from a jurisdiction on the 2024 code with a certified inspector, which is the law’s own condition, so a permit from a department that is still on an older code may not travel.
Step 5: city permits
Each city on the Front Range handles trucks differently, and reciprocity did not change any of this.
Denver uses the mobile retail food licence above, plus a $50 a year zoning use permit for a regular private property spot or $10 per special event. Trucks stay 20 feet from intersections, out of the central business district streets, 300 feet from parks unless at a permitted event and out of residential zones. The former 200 foot separation from restaurants and other trucks is gone from Denver’s current rules.
Colorado Springs issues a Mobile Food Vendor License through the City Clerk at $110 a year for the first unit and $25 for each additional one, with a $55 late fee, after sign offs from El Paso County, Planning and Sales Tax. Hours are 7am to 7pm in residential areas, no operation between 3am and 7am in commercial areas, 20 feet from intersections, 300 feet from a permitted special event, and private property needs the owner’s consent and a temporary use permit. A 2026 proposal to extend residential hours to 9pm was out for comment in August; it had not been adopted when this was written.
Fort Collins wants its own sales tax licence first, then an Outdoor Vendor License at $60 for six months or $120 for a year, issued only once a county health licence and a Poudre Fire Authority inspection ($75 a year) are in hand. No vending between 3am and 7am, not within 200 feet of a school, no more than three days a week in one spot, downtown only at six approved sites.
Boulder issues a Mobile Food Vehicle License for a two year term: $100 to apply and $216 a year, charged twice up front, with $1 million of liability naming the city and a fire inspection. The zoning rules are the strictest on this list and are still in force: 150 feet from residential zones, 150 feet from any restaurant unless the restaurant agrees in writing, 200 feet between trucks on the street, a four hour limit and 7am to 9pm hours. Boulder honours the 2026 reciprocity for fire and health but still requires its own licence.
Aurora has no food truck permit. You need an Aurora business licence ($19 application, $28 for two years) with sales tax, an Aurora Fire operational permit, $1 million of liability, and the zoning code keeps trucks out of residential zones, 50 feet from a single family lot line, 175 feet from an open restaurant without permission, between 7am and 10pm, with no seating.
Lakewood requires no food truck permit at all: a Jefferson County licence and a $20 Lakewood sales and use tax licence, good for two years, plus West Metro Fire’s $50 annual permit. Golden is the same pattern with its own tax licence and a Golden Fire certificate or FMAC certificate. Castle Rock charges $10 for a business and tax licence and $100 a year per vehicle for the fire permit, with $150 for a day of event inspection.
Greeley issues an Outdoor Vendor License at $100 with a mobile food registration and accepts other counties’ health licences and FMAC inspections. Longmont charges $100 a year per unit, non residential zones only, 250 feet from restaurants without written permission. Loveland moved to a $100 Mobile Vendor License from December 2025 and wants you licensed ten days before any event. Estes Park charges $25 a year with an Estes Valley Fire permit and limits trucks to specific zones as an accessory use. Pueblo needs a $50 sales tax licence and, under its mobile food unit handbook, a city food handling licence, a fire inspection and a GPS tracking device on the unit. Grand Junction needs no permit for stops under 48 hours on private property, a temporary use permit for up to 120 days, and no street vending outside events.
Step 6: fire inspections, propane and the hood
The fire department, not the health department, is the one that physically inspects most trucks, and propane is what it looks at hardest. Denver Fire requires an annual flammable operational permit for any propane use, published on two of its own pages at $200 and $250, caps propane at 200 pounds, wants cylinders in impact resistant cages at least 28 inches above the bumper, no tanks on the roof or ahead of the front axle, gas piping under the vehicle entering beneath the appliance, flexible connectors no longer than five feet, no spare cylinders on site, a listed propane alarm, a Type I hood with a UL 300 suppression system serviced every six months by a licensed contractor, a quarterly hood cleaning log, and a 2A:10BC plus a Class K extinguisher. Trucks park ten feet from each other and from buildings.
Those Denver rules track the fire code that every Colorado department now works from. The 2024 International Fire Code, which the state adopted for mobile units in December 2025, requires a Type I hood over grease producing appliances, restrained equipment, no more than 120 gallons of cooking oil, no more than 200 pounds of propane, securely mounted containers, protected piping, a propane alarm, an annual propane system inspection and a six month suppression service. Poudre Fire Authority charges $75 a year; West Metro $50; Castle Rock $100; Boulder inspects on Wednesdays at its Bluff Street station and issues an FMAC certificate. Colorado Springs, Aurora, South Metro and Grand Junction publish requirements but not fees.
Every truck we build leaves with the hood, the suppression system installed by a licensed company, the cylinder cages, the alarm and the extinguishers already in place, and we photograph the propane system so the inspection is a check. For a truck already on the road we do the annual LP gas pressure test for $350 and the six month suppression inspection for $300. The UL 300 guide explains why systems fail.
Step 7: sales tax
Colorado’s state rate is 2.9 percent, sourced to the point of sale, and the Department of Revenue says plainly that mobile food vendors are retailers who collect state and state administered local taxes wherever they sell. The state licence costs $16 for the two year cycle if you apply in the first half of 2026, prorated after that, plus a $50 refundable deposit, and mobile vendors add selling locations as non physical sites at no charge. Special event licences are $8 for a single event or $16 for the cycle, free if you hold the standard licence.
Then come the home rule cities, which collect their own tax and need their own licence: Denver (no fee, 4 percent on prepared food), Colorado Springs (3.07 percent, no fee), Fort Collins (4.35 percent, no fee), Boulder ($25 to apply), Aurora, Lakewood ($20), Pueblo ($50) and Grand Junction (3.39 percent). The state’s SUTS portal files one return for the state and the participating home rule cities, which saves a great deal of time once you trade in more than two of them.
Step 8: training, business formation and insurance
Colorado has no food handler card. Since 1 March 2025 the state rule requires the person in charge of a retail food establishment to be a Certified Food Protection Manager, with an exemption counties may grant to very low risk menus; El Paso and Jefferson counties check the certificate on full service trucks. The accredited exams run about $100 to $180 online.
An LLC costs $50 to form with the Secretary of State and $25 a year for the periodic report; a trade name is $20. Workers’ compensation is mandatory the day you have one employee, including part time and family, with fines up to $500 a day. Boulder, Aurora and Longmont write $1 million of general liability into their permits and the rest of the state’s cities expect something close to it, so budget for the policy before the permits.
The timeline and the first year budget
From a complete application to first service, allow three to eight weeks depending on the county, before the build itself. Denver is the fastest at 7 to 10 business days of remote review; Mesa and Weld run about two weeks plus inspections; El Paso up to four weeks; Boulder County up to eight. Reciprocity notices need 14 days. Our builds take about six weeks and most are delivered 8 to 12 weeks after design approval, so the sensible sequence is to submit the plan review packet the week the layout is signed, which is why we send every customer the floor plan, the equipment spec sheets and the photos counties ask for.
A realistic first year regulatory budget for a full service truck based on the Front Range, using the published figures above: the $481 licence, $155 to apply for plan review plus the county’s hourly charge, usually a few hundred dollars, a city vendor permit from nothing to $432 in Boulder, a fire permit from $50 to $250, the state sales tax licence and deposit at $66, one or two home rule city licences at nothing to $50 each, a CFPM exam around $100 to $180, the LLC at $50, and a commissary from about $1,200 a year for a membership to $6,000 or more for a block of kitchen time with parking. Most operators land between $2,500 and $8,000 before insurance, and the commissary is the line that decides which end.
The mistakes we see most
Basing the commissary in the wrong county. The county that licenses you is the one your commissary is in, and three of the metro counties will not accept a commissary across the line.
Budgeting the old fee. The $385 figure still printed on several county forms stopped applying on 1 January 2026.
Assuming reciprocity replaced city permits. It moved the fire permit and the health licence; the vendor licence, the zoning and the hours are untouched.
Turning up to the inspection with a cold truck. Jefferson County’s list is the one to prepare against everywhere: hot water running at the hand sink and the three compartment sink, refrigeration at 41 degrees, a probe thermometer, sanitizer test strips, the written menu, the CFPM certificate, the commissary agreement and a bodily fluid cleanup procedure, all on board. On the fire side the fails are the overdue six month suppression tag, no propane alarm, unmounted cylinders and no Class K extinguisher.
Buying a truck built for Texas. A unit designed at sea level arrives in Colorado with a generator that cannot carry its load above 5,000 feet, gas appliances running cool and a propane layout Denver Fire will not pass. Our Denver guide and used versus new build guide go through what to look for.
On video: trucks we built for Colorado
Frequently asked questions
How much does a food truck licence cost in Colorado in 2026?
The state retail food establishment licence for a full service mobile unit is $481 in 2026, set by statute, rising to $567 in 2027 and $682 in 2028. A prepackaged only unit pays $338. Plan review is $155 to apply plus the county’s hourly review cost, capped at $900. Counties cannot charge more than the statutory licence fee, and a few charge less.
Is a Colorado food truck licence valid in every county?
The licence is issued by the county where your commissary is, and since 1 January 2026 the state and Denver recognise each other’s licences with 14 days notice. In practice most counties still expect a unit they license to report to a commissary inside their county, and Adams, Arapahoe and Jefferson say so in writing, so the county you base in matters more than the licence itself.
Does Colorado require a food handler card?
No. Colorado has no statewide food handler card. What it does require, since 1 March 2025, is a Certified Food Protection Manager as the person in charge of a retail food establishment, which includes a full service truck. The certificate comes from an accredited exam such as ServSafe Manager, and counties can exempt very low risk menus.
Do I need a commissary for a food truck in Colorado?
Almost always. The state’s own definition of a mobile food establishment, in force since 2026, is a unit that reports to a commissary for servicing, restocking and maintenance, and every county asks for a written commissary agreement with the application. Denver allows self contained units to skip prep at the commissary but still requires a daily visit for water, grey water and grease, and it bans overnight food storage on the unit.
What did HB 25-1295 actually change?
Two things, both from 1 January 2026. A fire safety permit issued by a local government that uses the 2024 fire code and a state certified inspector is valid across Colorado once you give the next jurisdiction 14 days notice. And Denver’s health licence counts as a state licence outside Denver, and a state or county licence counts inside Denver, again with 14 days notice. It did not remove city vendor permits, zoning rules or distance rules; those were taken out of the bill before it passed.
How long does it take to get a food truck licensed in Colorado?
Plan on three to eight weeks from a complete application to your first service, before the build itself. Denver reviews remotely in 7 to 10 business days, El Paso County takes up to four weeks, Boulder County up to eight. The statute gives agencies 14 working days to respond to plans, and every county wants the pre opening inspection booked several days ahead with the truck fully working.
Can I sell food from a truck under the Cottage Food Act?
No. Cottage food is limited to non perishable foods sold directly to consumers from home, and cottage producers are excluded from the retail food establishment definition. A truck serving hot or refrigerated food needs the full licence. The 2026 Tamale Act expands cottage foods from 1 January 2027, but it does not change that.
Which Colorado cities need their own food truck permit?
Denver (mobile retail food licence), Colorado Springs ($110 a year), Fort Collins (Outdoor Vendor License, $60 or $120), Boulder (Mobile Food Vehicle License, $100 plus $216 a year), Greeley ($100), Longmont ($100), Loveland ($100) and Estes Park ($25) all do. Aurora, Lakewood, Golden and Castle Rock need only a business or sales tax licence and a fire permit. Grand Junction needs nothing for stops under 48 hours on private property.
Colorado city guides
Denver · Colorado Springs · Aurora · Fort Collins · Boulder · Lakewood · Longmont · Greeley · Pueblo · Grand Junction · Castle Rock · Golden · Lakewood builder page
We build Colorado code trucks
Every truck and trailer that leaves our Woodland Park shop is built to the strictest rules on this page: a Type I hood with licensed suppression, a propane system laid out the way Denver Fire wants it, tanks sized to the 15 percent rule, three sinks with hot water, labelled breakers, and a generator sized for altitude. We send the plan review packet material with the build, and we have delivered to operators licensed in every county above. Custom food trucks start at $55,000 and trailers at $40,000. Call or text 719-722-2537 with your menu and the county you will base in, and we will tell you what you need before you spend anything on permits.
Jacob Varghese
Zion Foodtrucks
719-722-2537
Zion Foodtrucks builds custom food trucks, trailers, and concession trailers from our shop in Monument, Colorado and delivers them ready to pass inspection across the Mountain West. Owner Jacob Varghese and our team work with first-time owners every day, sourcing the vehicle and handling the full build so you do not have to. Questions about permits or your build? Call or text Jacob at 719-722-2537 or see our custom build services.
Free Food Truck Permit & Inspection Checklist
We put together a printable checklist covering every permit and inspection a mobile food business typically needs. Tell us where to send it and it is yours.
Next steps: free build & cost calculator · 2026 food truck cost guide · food truck financing
Already Have a Truck? We Do the Compliance Work Too
Passing an inspection is one thing, staying current is another. We handle the recurring items out of our Colorado shop:
- LP gas pressure testing, $350. Required annually, and again after any modification.
- Fire suppression inspection and service, $300. The code interval is every 6 months, not annual, which catches a lot of operators out.
- Hood and exhaust cleaning, with the written report and logbook entry inspectors ask to see.
Booked together they are one visit and one day off the road instead of three. Call or text 719-722-2537.
Ready to build your truck?
We design and build custom food trucks and trailers compliant with the regulations on this page. From a single phone call to keys-in-hand in 6 to 8 weeks for most builds.
Built in Woodland Park, Colorado. Delivered to operators in CO, AZ, NE, MT, and WY.