Kirkland, WA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

" The rule reaches any food truck, cart or trailer equipped with cooking appliances that generate smoke or grease-laden vapors, or that use LP-gas or CNG fuel systems: those operators must obtain a permit before operating in Kirkland. 1), administers the permit and is charged with implementation, administration and enforcement of the fire code citywide. The section also builds in a state-level shortcut: a conforming inspection completed by an agency participating in the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals Mobile Food Preparation Vehicle Inspection Program is accepted in place of a new city inspection, as long as the passed inspection was completed within the last 12 months.

That means an operator who already holds a current WSAFM-program inspection from another participating jurisdiction does not need to redo the inspection step to get Kirkland's permit, though the permit itself is still required. Because this is a fire operational permit under Section 105 of the amended IFC, it sits alongside dozens of other Kirkland-specific operational permit categories in the same chapter, from compressed gas storage to refrigeration systems, all administered by the same Fire Prevention Bureau under KMC Title 21.