Why the health department won't approve your food trailer

The usual reasons, in order

Health inspectors are looking at whether you can wash your hands, wash your dishes and hold your waste. Most failures are one of those. The hand sink is too small or blocked. The 3-compartment sink is missing because the seller said the commissary covers dishwashing. The greywater tank is smaller than the fresh tank, so it overflows before the fresh water runs out.

Blocked hand sinks are common enough that a Tucson newspaper reported on a truck failing for one. A hand sink full of supplies tells the inspector nobody uses it.

Sinks: sizes are not suggestions

Your county decides the sizes, and they differ. San Mateo County, CA wants the hand sink at least 9 in by 9 in by 5 in deep. NACCHO's best-practice factsheet lists 3-compartment bowls of 12x12x10 in or 10x14x10 in with drainboards. Tooele County, UT wants the 3-compartment sink NSF-listed, big enough to submerge your largest utensil, and filled from an onboard faucet.

That last rule bites BBQ and pizza operators with big pans and peels. Measure your largest utensil and give it to the builder. Deschutes County, OR also wants an air gap on the 3-compartment drain, which is a cheap part that builders skip.

Tanks: do the math before the builder does

Tooele sets potable water at 30 gal minimum and greywater at least 15% larger, so a 30 gal fresh tank pairs with a greywater tank of about 35 gal or more. Deschutes asks for at least 30 gal for dishwashing or twice the 3-compartment sink volume. A trailer built to one county's rules can fail in the next one over.

Our food truck water tank size calculator sizes both tanks from your menu and hours. Remember water is heavy, so the tank size also feeds your weight plan.

Plan review first, steel second

Most counties run a plan review: you submit the floor plan, equipment list and finishes before you build. Do that before you sign with a builder, or at least before the build starts. Changing a sink after the walls are skinned costs real money.

Used trailers are the trap. On consumer legal forums, a recurring post is someone who bought a $10,000 food truck that then failed several inspections. Buying from another state is worse, because it was built to someone else's rules. Tooele requires review again on a change of ownership, so the previous owner's approval does not carry over. Call the county with the VIN and the floor plan before you hand over money.

Small items that still fail you

All storage 6 in off the floor (Tooele), which rules out boxes on the deck. No restroom or living quarters inside a food truck in Tooele either, so the converted-camper-turned-food-trailer idea dies there. Check your county's list for surface finishes and lighting covers too.

Write the fixes into the build contract. If the plan reviewer asks for a bigger greywater tank or a second hand sink, the builder should know before quoting, not after the walls are closed. A change order on a finished trailer means pulling cabinets, moving plumbing and sometimes shifting the axle load. You pay once to build it wrong and again to fix it.

Build it to pass the first time

Get your county's plan review packet, put it in your project notes, and design around it in the free 3D studio. When you send the plan to up to 4 builders through Trailer3D, tell them the county so they quote the right sinks and tanks. Ask each builder in writing whether they will fix health items the county flags on the original plan.

Questions

Keep reading

• 8x16 Food Trailer Layout: Dimensions and Floor Plan
• Used Food Truck Problems: Checklist Before You Buy
• Questions to ask a food trailer builder

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