The local health department permits and inspects facilities that provide food service, adult care, child care, lodging, schooling, camps and tattoos, including jails. We also respond to customer complaints and investigate disease outbreaks to determine the source of the infection and prevent further illness.
Bakery establishments are NOT regulated by the local health department. Find more information on the State Food & Drug Protection Division site.
Click Rules and Resources to see a copy of the rules for each facility type.
Food Service Facilities
Adult and Child Care Facilities
Lodging Facilities
Bed and Breakfast Home, BBI and Hotels
Hotels and bed and breakfast establishments are inspected once a year to ensure that the public's stay is as safe and healthy as possible.
Rules Governing the Sanitation of Lodging Establishments: 15A NCAC 18A .1800
Buying, Building, Remodeling?
You must have a permit to operate, build or remodel a hotel or motel. Permits do not transfer from owner to owner. Save time and money, review the Wake County Plan Review Page before you buy, build, or remodel to find out what the requirements are.
Complaints
If you have a concern about something you see, speak to the manager directly. This is the best way to deal with a problem. If you still have concerns, you may fill out the complaint form or call us at 919-856-7400 to file a complaint.
(NEW RULES) Hospitals, Nursing Homes & Institutions
Nursing homes and hospitals provide care for people suffering from many different illnesses. Good sanitation in hospitals is important to stop the spread of illnesses to those who are receiving care and to healthy people visiting those who are sick.
Hospitals and nursing homes are inspected twice a year. The current sanitation status of a nursing home or hospital can be viewed online.
(NEW!) NC Institution Rules:.1300 Rules Governing Sanitation of Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Adult Care Homes and Other Institutions
Buying, Building, Remodeling a Nursing Home or Hospital?
You must have a permit to operate, build or remodel a nursing home or hospital. Permits do not transfer from owner to owner. Save time and money, contact the Plan Review Section before you buy, build, or remodel to find out what the requirements are.
Complaints
If you have a concern about something you see, speak to the director or administrator directly. This is the best way to deal with a problem. If you still have concerns, you may fill out the complaint form or call us at 919-856-7400 to file a complaint.
Risk Factor Studies
During risk factor evaluations, data collectors can evaluate specific food preparation practices and individual employee behaviors that link to each risk factor category. Wake County uses these results to gauge compliance with each risk factor, and to develop interventions that make the most impact over time.
Awards & Recognition
Using Automated Data Visualization to Improve Responsiveness to Public Concerns about Regulated Facilities
Program Year: 2023
Category: Information Technology
Abstract:
Wake County’s Environmental Health and Safety Division (EH&S) regulates 33 facility types including restaurants, hotels, pools, and childcare centers. With over 6,700 facilities regulated by Wake County, having a reporting system and response that is timely and consistent is important to preventing further sickness in the community. Environmental health concerns at regulated facilities are called “complaints” and must be investigated by staff. Historically, it took two hours to pull data, export it to excel, and manually calculate the complaint compliance report and the division had no means to identify trends of recurring complaints at regulated facilities. On January 10, 2022, a Complaint Log Compliance Report was developed using Power Bi software that incorporates type-specific response time expectations and other key information. This real-time, automated report provides data and visualization for the current compliance response time regarding complaints received from the public. The report is used to immediately identify complaint responsiveness and proper collection of required information. Compliance with expected response times increased from a monthly average of 95.7% in 2019-2021 to 97.9% in 2022. EH&S leadership and stakeholders now have a visual management tool that provides real-time information to provide staff with corrective training and to monitor the pulse of the division’s responsiveness to customer complaints and consumer safety.