Richmond, VA Public Health Rules: Restaurant Grade Cards (2026)

Section 6-317 requires the Director to inspect every food establishment in the City at least once a year. If that inspection turns up a violation of the food establishment article, the Director schedules a second inspection after enough time has passed for the violation to be fixed, and it's the second inspection's result, not the first, that determines whether the establishment is in compliance; finding the same violation again on that second visit can support immediately suspending or revoking the permit under Section 6-290. Section 6-318 then requires one copy of the resulting inspection report to be posted by the Director on an inside wall of the food establishment where the public can see it, and bars anyone other than the Director from defacing or removing that posted copy.

A second copy goes into the District Health Department's own records. Unlike a numeric or letter-grade placard system, Richmond's ordinance only requires the underlying inspection report itself to be posted and kept current with each reinspection, so a customer checking the wall sees the Director's actual findings rather than a summary score. The same Division 2 also gives the Director broader food-safety powers that back up the inspection regime: Section 6-316 lets the Director sample and examine food or drink at any food establishment as often as necessary and condemn or order removal of anything found unwholesome or adulterated, and Section 6-287 separately requires the operating permit itself, not just the inspection report, to be posted where the public can see it.