Berwyn, IL Public Health Rules: Restaurant Grade Cards (2026)

Berwyn grades restaurants on a demerit system set out in § 840.10. At each inspection the health authority (the Board of Health or its designated representative) records findings on an inspection report form that assigns a demerit point value to every requirement violated, totals the values, and hands the original form to the license holder or operator. That total is the establishment's demerit score.

Section 840.10(E)(1) then requires every food service establishment in the city, or its police jurisdiction, to display a placard approved by the health authority, in a place the health authority designates, stating the grade from the most recent inspection. The grade bands as printed are Grade A for a score of more than 20, Grade B for more than 20 but not more than 30, and Grade C for more than 30 but not more than 40. The Grade A line as printed overlaps the Grade B band, and this page quotes it exactly as the code prints it. Immediately after each inspection the health authority posts the appropriate grade and issues a notice.

The score also sets correction deadlines under § 840.10(D). At a score of 20 or less, items worth two or four points must be fixed by the next routine inspection. Between 21 and 40, those items must be corrected within 30 days. Any six-point item must be corrected within ten days regardless of score. A score above 40 means the license is immediately suspended. Temporary food service establishments get 24 hours, and failure to comply brings immediate suspension.

A second consecutive violation of any two or four point item can bring suspension or a downgrade to the next lower grade. An operator with a lowered grade can request a regrading inspection at any time. The health authority must inspect within ten days of a request that includes a signed statement that the conditions were corrected, and awards the higher grade if the findings show compliance. Every notice tells the operator that a written request for a hearing, filed within the correction period, opens an appeal.