How to get a food trailer approved in Michigan: health, fire and title

A food trailer in Michigan needs three separate approvals before it can serve: a health license, a fire inspection, and a vehicle title and registration. Each comes from a different office. This guide walks through all three, with the design decisions each one forces.

1. Health: choose the Transitory Food Unit route

Michigan licenses mobile food in two ways. For most trailers, the Transitory Food Unit (TFU) license is the better fit.

	Transitory Food Unit (TFU)	Mobile Food Establishment (MFE)
Where you can operate	Anywhere in Michigan	Within reach of its commissary
Commissary	Not required	Must return at least every 24 hours; the commissary needs its own license
Plan review	Required before construction	Required before construction
Ongoing duties	Written notice to each local health department at least 4 business days before serving in its area, listing locations, dates and hours; two paid evaluations per license year, with reports sent to the licensing agency within 30 days; approved SOPs kept on the unit	Inspections scheduled by the licensing agency

Sources: Michigan Food Law, MCL 289.6137 and MDARD’s plan review manual.

Your local health department usually issues the license, normally the one for the county where you are based or will operate most. MDARD licenses the unit instead if its first stop is a state or county fair, or if it mainly sells groceries. Fees are set locally and include a $39 state license fee. In Oakland County, the fees effective October 1, 2026 are $186 for TFU plan review, $186 for the license and $115 per paid inspection (inspections at least a month apart), and plan review is submitted through the county’s Accela Citizen Access portal. Where MDARD is the licensing agency, its fees are $159 for the license, $197 for first-year plan review and $90 per evaluation.

Plan review comes first

You must have plan approval before construction starts. The regulator has 30 business days to review a complete submission; if it does not respond in that time, the plans are treated as approved by law, though the regulator can still require changes to the finished unit. At least one manager must be a certified food safety manager, certified through an ANSI-accredited program.

Michigan applies the Michigan Food Law together with the 2009 FDA Food Code as modified by Michigan. MDARD publishes a plan review manual for mobile and transitory units that sets out what to submit.

Equipment rules that shape the design

These requirements decide tank sizes and layout, so they belong in the spec, not the punch list:

• Handwash sink: dedicated, with water at 100°F or hotter.
• Fresh water tank: MDARD’s guidance is at least 5 gallons for handwashing, plus enough to fill the other sinks to 75%.
• Grey water tank: at least 15% larger than the fresh tank, with an outlet of at least 1 inch and a shutoff valve.
• Ware-washing hot water: typically at least 110°F, available the whole time you are open.
• Three-compartment sink: big enough to submerge your largest utensil.
• Power: enough capacity for the full menu; the plan review asks for the generator’s make, model, wattage and location.

2. Fire: inspected locally, to NFPA standards

Fire safety inspections are done locally, usually once a year by the city or township fire department, and whether the health license or the fire inspection comes first varies by area. Some areas share one program: 16 communities in and around Washtenaw County, including Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, use the Washtenaw County Mobile Food Service Inspection Consortium. The Michigan Propane Gas Association’s site misafefoodtruck.com lists local contacts by city.

The consortium’s checklist, for example, is based on NFPA 96, NFPA 1 (Chapter 50), NFPA 58 and the International Fire Code. Other fire departments may differ. Items that shape the design:

• Extinguishers: a 2A10BC, or a 3A40BC instead if you carry a portable generator; plus a 1.5-gallon Class K for fryers and other cooking with oil, fat or solid fuel.
• Detectors: carbon monoxide, plus a flammable gas leak detector near fuel-burning equipment.
• Propane: third-party NFPA 58 certification; containers outside the unit (or in a vapor-tight compartment opened and vented from outside), with the bottom more than 36 inches off the ground; 200 lb total or less; a quarter-turn emergency shutoff; no quick-connect fittings.
• Cooking under grease: a Type I hood with an automatic suppression system tagged within the last 6 months; an 8-inch baffle or 16 inches of space between fryers and open flame.
• Interior: at least 74 inches of headroom and a 30-inch aisle; a second exit of at least 24 × 24 inches if the walking distance inside exceeds 10 feet.
• Generator: no louder than 80 dB at 15 feet; refuel at least 20 feet from the unit.

3. Road: title, registration and brakes

Trailers are registered with the Michigan Secretary of State.

• Every trailer on the road must be registered. A trailer weighing 2,500 lb or more also needs a title (MCL 257.216), and a new unit is titled from its manufacturer’s certificate of origin.
• Brakes on every wheel are required on a new trailer if its gross weight is 3,000 lb or more, or more than 40% of the towing vehicle’s gross weight (MCL 257.705).
• Size limits: 102 inches wide, 13 ft 6 in high, and 59 ft for the truck and trailer combined, 65 ft on designated highways (MCL 257.717, MCL 257.719).

4. City rules sit on top

Cities can add their own vending licenses, insurance requirements and location rules. Grand Rapids, for example, charges $390 for a first-unit mobile vending license ($26 for each additional unit) and requires $1 million each of general liability and auto coverage with the city named as additional insured. Check with each city before you book a location.

How IronMile handles this

We specify every unit to the health-code requirements above and prepare the plan-review package (floor plan, equipment schedule, plumbing and electrical diagrams, and tank calculations) for your local health department. Fire-code items such as headroom, exits and propane mounting are confirmed with your local fire authority for each build; approval is given by the local authorities. See Compliance for what we specify, or request a pilot to start with one unit.