After an environmental health officer approves your mobile food vendor operational permit, they’ll schedule a future appointment time to bring in your mobile vending unit for inspection. This is the only way to get an inspection: your operational permit application must first be accepted, then an inspection appointment will be scheduled.
Appointments are scheduled for 30-minute blocks on Tuesdays and Thursdays only. Being on time for this appointment is particularly important. That’s because this inspection covers Environmental Health and Austin Fire Department requirements. Inspectors from both departments have reserved a tightly-scheduled time block for you. If you miss your appointment time, you will have to reschedule it.
On your appointment date, go or send the responsible party you identified on your application to 1520 Rutherford Lane with the mobile vending unit.
You don’t need to come upstairs to the office. An environmental health officer and an inspector from Austin Fire Department will meet you in the parking lot for inspections.
Initial inspections require a generator or internal power source to check running hot water and refrigeration. When you renew your permit after that, your mobile unit will still need to be inspected, but you won’t need a generator or power source. If your mobile vending unit has propane, then you will need to do a yearly gas pressure test.
Our office recommends beginning the permit renewal process 45 days before the expiration date to prevent downtime due to expired permits. All unrestricted mobile vending permits in Travis County require an additional safety inspection from the Travis County Fire Marshal.
If your mobile food unit passes the physical inspection, you’ll receive a permit and can start selling immediately.
If your mobile food unit does not pass the physical inspection, the environmental health officer will tell you what issues you need to resolve and how to resolve them, and offer to schedule a follow-up re-inspection appointment.
Changes or upgrades to your mobile unit
If you make structural changes or upgrades to the sink, water system, or propane lines in your mobile unit, you will need to get it inspected again. In general, changing or relocating the same features of your mobile unit, such as equipment, appliances or storage, does not require a new inspection. If you’re not sure, call our office to ask. If you can, we recommend timing any upgrades that require a new inspection with your annual permit renewal.