The Arkansas health inspection, from plan review to how often they are coming
The dollar figures and the frequency tiers are published. They are just spread across a FAQ, a rule book and a portal, so almost nobody reads them before signing a lease.
Arkansas inspects food service facilities one, two or three times a year depending on how you cook. Before you open, the Arkansas Department of Health charges a plan review fee of 1% of your total estimated cost, never less than $50 and never more than $500. Once you are open you get billed $35 a year for the permit, and in your first year you owe both. You need a plan review if the facility is new or being remodeled, at least one certified food protection manager on staff, and a three compartment sink. A dishwasher does not replace the sink.
In this article
01How often does the health department inspect restaurants in Arkansas?02What does the plan review actually cost?03Do I need a plan review if I am only remodeling?04Do I need a certified food protection manager in Arkansas?05Can a dishwasher replace the three compartment sink?06What about a food truck or a one weekend event?07Where does the POS fit into any of this?08How do I keep from failing the easy ones?09Questions restaurant owners askHow often does the health department inspect restaurants in Arkansas?
One, two or three times a year, and which one you get is decided by how your kitchen handles food rather than by your size or your last score.
ADH puts low frequency facilities on one inspection a year. Those are places preparing limited amounts of non potentially hazardous food, or selling prepackaged items that need temperature control, milk and lunchmeat being the examples ADH names.
Medium frequency facilities get two a year. That is the kitchen where food is cooked, served, and thrown out at the end of the four hour holding period.
High frequency facilities get three a year. That is anyone who cooks food, cools it, and reheats it later for service. If you batch cook on Monday for the rest of the week, you are in this tier, and you should plan on an inspector three times a year for as long as you operate that way.
Worth saying plainly: the tier follows your process. Change how you prep and you can change how often you get visited.
What does the plan review actually cost?
The fee is 1% of the total estimated cost of the project, with a floor of $50 and a ceiling of $500. On a $60,000 buildout that is $500, because you hit the cap. On a $20,000 light remodel it is $200.
Then, once the facility is open, you are billed annually for a $35 permit fee. ADH is explicit that in the first year you are responsible for both the plan review fee and the permit fee.
One detail that trips people up: ADH says it cannot take payment before you are billed. Do not try to pay early to speed anything up. Wait for the bill.
Compared with the rest of what opening costs, none of this is real money. What costs real money is discovering in week nine that you needed a plan review and did not file one.
Do I need a plan review if I am only remodeling?
Yes. ADH requires a plan review if the facility is new or being remodeled. Remodel is not a loophole.
There is a separate plumbing review, and it is required for new facilities and for remodeled facilities with new or relocated plumbing. That review runs through the Protective Health Codes Branch and you make an appointment for it, so build the lead time into your schedule rather than into your opening date.
If you are buying a restaurant that is already operating, ADH tells you to check with your local county health unit to find out whether a plan review will be required. It depends on what you are changing. Do not assume the previous owner's approval carries over, because the permit itself does not: food permits are not transferable to a new owner or a new location. Our guide on <a href="/guides/buying-an-existing-restaurant-in-arkansas/">buying an existing Arkansas restaurant</a> covers the rest of that handover.
A real person calls you back within two hours, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm Central.
Do I need a certified food protection manager in Arkansas?
In most restaurants, yes. Effective September 7, 2019, the Rules Pertaining to Retail Food Establishments require that every facility has at least one employee with supervisory and management responsibility, and the authority to direct and control food preparation and service, who is a certified food protection manager holding a certification from an accredited program.
Establishments already operating before that date were given a year, to September 7, 2020, to comply.
There is a stated exemption and it is narrower than people hope. It applies to retail food establishments whose business model is low risk, meaning those that only provide commercially prepackaged foods, or only provide low risk foods that do not require time and temperature control for safety, as determined by ADH. A restaurant with a kitchen is not going to land in that category.
Practical version: get one manager certified before you open, and get a second one certified before the first one quits. A single certified manager is a staffing risk dressed up as compliance.
Can a dishwasher replace the three compartment sink?
No, and this is the question ADH answers most bluntly. The minimum requirement is that food establishments are equipped with a three compartment sink, cited to 4-301.12. A mechanical dishwasher is accepted as an addition to that minimum, not as a substitute for it.
Designers get this wrong regularly, usually on small footprints where the sink is competing for wall space with everything else. Settle it on the drawings, because finding out at inspection means moving plumbing in a finished room.
Speaking of which: only a licensed plumber may install plumbing in a food establishment, per Section 5.201.11. Your contractor's cousin cannot rough in the sink, and an inspector can tell.
What about a food truck or a one weekend event?
Mobile units are permitted food service establishments in Arkansas, and they go through plan review too. ADH describes a mobile unit as a vehicle mounted food service establishment, readily movable, approved to travel highways and waterways, self contained, with permanently mounted freshwater and waste tanks. The plans you submit include ceiling, wall and floor schedules, service area information, door and window specifications, your menu, standard operating procedures and equipment schedules.
Push carts are a narrower category. They are non self propelled, they also carry permanently mounted freshwater and waste tanks, and what they can serve is limited to non potentially hazardous foods or commissary wrapped frankfurters, held at proper temperature.
If you are running a booth at one festival, that is a temporary permit, and ADH limits those to fourteen consecutive days or fewer in connection with a single event or celebration. It is not a way to trade all summer. More on the rolling side of this business is on our <a href="/restaurant-types/food-trucks/">food truck page</a>.
A real person calls you back within two hours, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm Central.
Where does the POS fit into any of this?
It fits in two places, and neither of them is the inspection itself. An inspector is looking at your food, your temperatures, your sinks and your people, not at your terminals.
The first place is temperature and prep records. If your cooling and reheating log lives on a clipboard that goes missing, you have no evidence of the thing you are being inspected on. Kitchens that log to a system, even a simple one, hand the inspector a record instead of an argument.
The second is the tier. Because inspection frequency follows whether you cook, cool and reheat, your prep model is worth being deliberate about. Menu engineering and batch decisions have a compliance cost attached to them, and it is one of the few times the kitchen plan and the ADH schedule are the same conversation.
If you want the wider sequence of everything that has to happen before you open, that is in <a href="/guides/opening-a-restaurant-in-arkansas/">opening a restaurant in Arkansas</a>, and the alcohol timeline is in the <a href="/guides/arkansas-abc-permit-calendar/">ABC permit calendar</a>.
How do I keep from failing the easy ones?
Most of what fails a new Arkansas kitchen is on this page. File the plan review. Book the plumbing review early. Put in the three compartment sink, and use a licensed plumber to do it. Certify a manager, then certify a second. Know which frequency tier your prep model puts you in so the visit schedule is not a surprise.
Everything else is running the kitchen well, which is your job and not ours. We are a point of sale dealer, and the reason we wrote this is that owners ask us these questions during buildout because we happen to be the vendor standing in the room.
Questions restaurant owners ask
How much is an Arkansas food establishment permit?
$35 a year, billed annually once the facility is open. Separately, the plan review fee before you open is 1% of the total estimated cost, not less than $50 and not more than $500. In your first year you owe both.
How often will the health department inspect my restaurant?
Once, twice or three times a year depending on your operation. Low frequency is once, medium frequency where food is cooked, served and discarded after the four hour holding period is twice, and high frequency where food is cooked, cooled and reheated for later service is three times.
Do I need a plan review to remodel an existing restaurant?
Yes. ADH requires plan review when a facility is new or being remodeled. A separate plumbing review is required for new facilities and for remodels involving new or relocated plumbing, and that one runs through the Protective Health Codes Branch by appointment.
Can I use a dishwasher instead of a three compartment sink?
No. The Arkansas minimum requirement is a three compartment sink, cited to 4-301.12, and a mechanical dishwasher is accepted only as an addition to that minimum. Plan the sink into the drawings rather than discovering it at inspection.
Do I need a certified food protection manager?
In a restaurant with a kitchen, yes. Since September 7, 2019 every facility must have at least one certified food protection manager with supervisory authority over food preparation and service. A narrow exemption exists for low risk operations such as prepackaged only, as determined by ADH.
How long can I operate on a temporary permit?
Fourteen consecutive days or fewer, in connection with a single event or celebration. A temporary permit is for a festival or a fair, not for a season of trading.
Is this legal or regulatory advice?
No. This is general information for Arkansas owners, written so you can ask your local county health unit better questions. Rules and fees change and your specific facility governs. Confirm anything on this page with ADH before you spend money on it.
Vendor pricing and tax rates change without notice. Confirm current figures with the vendor, the city or your accountant before you rely on them. Not tax, legal or accounting advice.
Every number on this page traces to a primary source
- Arkansas Department of Health, Food Protection FAQ: plan review fee, $35 permit fee, inspection frequency tiers, certified food protection manager rule, three compartment sink, licensed plumber requirement, temporary permitshealthy.arkansas.gov / food protection faq
- Arkansas State Board of Health Rules Pertaining to Retail Food Establishmentshealthy.arkansas.gov
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