A commercial kitchen's requirements come from several places at once: the health department, working from a food code its state adopted, the plumbing code for sinks and grease, the fire and mechanical codes for the hood, the building code and zoning, and, for a business that makes food for wholesale, FDA's manufacturing rules. There's no single national list. What's common to almost every jurisdiction is a set of sinks, cleanable surfaces, cold holding, a hood over cooking, and a plan review before you build. In the example below, a tamale maker turning 600 square feet of retail space into a commercial kitchen budgets about $61,800, with the hood the biggest single line. Below is where the rules come from, the checklist, the budget, and a free checklist and budget workbook.
The short version
- Start with the health department's plan review: drawings and an equipment list before you build.
- Sinks: handwashing sinks, a three-compartment sink, a prep sink and a mop sink are commonly required.
- A hood with fire suppression and make-up air over cooking equipment, under the fire and mechanical codes.
- Floors, walls and ceilings smooth and easy to clean; shielded lights over food.
- Cold holding at 41°F or below, with thermometers; dry storage off the floor.
- A grease interceptor and enough hot water, under the plumbing code.
- TaroStack keeps the records a licensed kitchen runs on: temperatures, cleaning, lots. More below.
Where the rules come from
FDA publishes the Food Code, now in a 2026 edition, as a model that local, state, tribal and federal regulators use to write their own food safety rules for restaurants, grocery stores and similar businesses (FDA Food Code). Your health department enforces its own version, so its plan review guide is the checklist that counts. A kitchen that makes food sold to stores and distributors may also fall under FDA's manufacturing rules, which require, among other things, that floors, walls and ceilings can be adequately cleaned and kept clean and in good repair (21 CFR 117.20). Plumbing, fire, mechanical and building codes come from the city. This is general information, not legal advice. Whether you need a commercial kitchen at all is in co-packer vs commercial kitchen.
The checklist
Rocktown Tamales, a made-up tamale maker in Harrisonburg, Virginia, I use in these examples, works through its list:
| Requirement | Where it commonly comes from |
|---|---|
| Plan review and permit before building | Health department |
| Handwashing sinks with hot and cold water, soap and towels | Food code as adopted locally |
| Three-compartment sink for washing, rinsing, sanitizing | Food code as adopted locally |
| Separate food prep sink | Health department |
| Mop or utility sink | Health department |
| Grease interceptor | Plumbing code and the city |
| Enough hot water for washing and handwashing | Plumbing code, food code |
| Hood, fire suppression and make-up air over cooking | Fire and mechanical codes |
| Smooth, cleanable floors, walls and ceilings | Food code; 21 CFR 117.20 for manufacturers |
| Shielded lighting over food areas | Food code as adopted locally |
| Cold holding at 41°F or below, with thermometers | Food code as adopted locally |
| Dry storage off the floor | Food code as adopted locally |
| A restroom that doesn't open into food areas | Building code, health department |
| A pest control plan | Health department |
| Zoning and a business license | City and county |
The budget
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Plan review fee and permits | $1,200 |
| Handwashing sinks, two, installed | $1,600 |
| Three-compartment sink with drainboards | $2,200 |
| Prep sink | $900 |
| Mop sink | $700 |
| Grease interceptor | $4,500 |
| Water heater upgrade | $3,500 |
| Hood with fire suppression | $18,000 |
| Make-up air | $6,000 |
| Floors: sealed concrete, coved base | $7,200 |
| Washable wall and ceiling panels | $4,800 |
| Shielded lighting | $1,800 |
| Walk-in cooler, used, and reach-ins | $6,000 |
| Dry storage shelving | $900 |
| Restroom upgrades | $2,500 |
| Total | $61,800 |
These are example costs, not quotes; local prices and the space you start with move them a lot. The hood and its make-up air are more than a third of the total, which is why some makers design their menu around equipment that doesn't need a hood, and why renting time in a shared kitchen is the usual first step. What renting costs instead is in commissary kitchen cost.
Get the checklist
Download the commercial kitchen requirements checklist. Two sheets: requirements, each with where it commonly comes from, your plan and a status, with a count of what's done; and a build-out budget, with each item's cost and what's paid, totalled. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Passing the first inspection is the start. After that a licensed kitchen runs on records: cooler temperatures every day, cleaning logs, what was received and from whom, which batch went to which customer. A binder on the wall keeps them until the inspector asks for last March.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps the records a licensed kitchen runs on: temperatures, cleaning, lots.
Checks on the batch. A batch record form carries your own fields, such as the cooling temperatures of a batch of tamale filling at two and six hours, with limits and a sign-off, so the record sits with the batch it belongs to. How a temperature log is laid out is in temperature log template.
Receiving and lots. Each delivery is received with its lot and supplier, with fields of your own such as the temperature on arrival, and each batch records the lots it used.
Who got what. The lots each customer got are recorded as they ship, so a recall report shows which customers got a batch.
| The job | Binder | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Cooling temperatures for a batch | A sheet on a clipboard | Fields on the batch, with limits |
| Temperature on arrival | A note on the invoice | A field on the receipt |
| Which masa lot went into a batch | Unknown | Lots recorded on the batch |
| Which customers got it | Search the invoices | One recall report |
Batch records, lots and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.