Permit Exemptions – Maricopa County, AZ

Permit Exemptions is the three-page Maricopa County Environmental Services Department, Environmental Health reference sheet that lists the food service operations that do not require a permit, together with notes on safe food handling and answers to common permitting questions.

The sheet opens with a reminder that, even where no permit is required, you should follow safe food handling practices such as washing your hands, maintaining proper food temperatures and storing food in a safe place.

The list has 21 numbered items. Items 1-11 are excerpted from A.R.S. Title 36-136 and cover, among others, non-commercial social events such as a potluck, cooking schools in owner-occupied homes, non-TCS food from a private home kitchen for noncommercial purposes, employee-conducted functions of under four hours, childcare facilities limited to prepackaged food, cottage food products and spirituous liquor producers and wholesalers. Items 12-21 add farm and garden producers, produce stands, promotional sampling of non-TCS packaged food, home and demonstration cooking schools, a "Chef for Hire" at a private residence, small private-home kitchens such as bed-and-breakfasts, and private homes that receive catered food.

The last page holds Permitting FAQs and defines TCS food as any food or beverage that needs time/temperature control to limit pathogen growth or toxin formation, with examples such as meat, eggs, dairy and cut melons.

It is a list of exemptions rather than an application for a permit.

The main audience is anyone who prepares, serves, sells or gives away food in Maricopa County and wants to know whether a permit is required. The sheet places these groups among the exempt operations, each with the conditions printed on it:

• Members of an organization serving food to its own members, similar to a potluck (item 1).
• Operators of home cooking schools: no more than one meal per day to no more than fifteen students, with students told by advertisement, brochure and placard that the kitchen is not regulated or inspected (item 15).
• Owner-occupied bed-and-breakfasts with no more than 6 guest bedrooms, breakfast as the only meal and no more than 18 guests served, with the same kind of notice to guests (item 20).
• A "Chef for Hire" at a private, non-advertised event at a private residence, where fees are paid by the responsible party and not collected from attendees (item 19).
• Sellers of only whole, uncut fresh fruits and vegetables at a produce stand (item 13).

Exclusions matter. A permit is still required when TCS foods are sampled at a tasting or promotional event, and the event coordinator is responsible for obtaining the permits. For spirituous liquor producers and wholesalers (items 10 and 11), the sheet says a permit will be required if TCS food or beverages are provided. Cottage food questions go to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Permit Exemptions is a reference sheet with no due date, renewal cycle or validity period printed on it, so nothing is filed on a schedule. Use it whenever you plan a food operation or event and need to know whether a permit applies.

The one timing rule the sheet gives concerns events. For competition, tasting or promotional events where TCS foods are sampled, permits are required, and the coordinator must obtain them and make sure all tasting booths are properly equipped and set up before workers handle open foods or beverages.

Some exemptions are also tied to time: an employee-conducted function must last less than four hours and not be regularly scheduled (item 4), and a home cooking school may serve no more than one meal per day (item 15).

Permit Exemptions is not submitted through any channel printed on it: the sheet gives no mailing address, portal, appointment rule or fee. It tells you only where a permit is still needed and who is responsible. Permits are required for TCS foods sampled at tasting or promotional events, and the event coordinator obtains them. For spirituous liquor producers and wholesalers (items 10 and 11), the sheet says a permit will be required by the Department if TCS food or beverages are provided. Questions about cottage food products go to the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) Cottage Food Program, as item 7 directs. The agency publishes the sheet at the official URL. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the agency's channels.