Checklist · last compiled 2026-09-24
Pre-event inspector packet: what cities actually ask for
StallReady is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. This checklist is not a permit, license, or inspection. Rules and fees change. Confirm every item with the issuing agency before you sell.
An annual permit and a festival clearance are different asks. The street permission that lets you vend on Tuesday does not, by itself, clear you for a Saturday market in another city.
Organizers ask for a packet because they are on the hook if a booth shows up with an expired certificate of insurance or the wrong health permit. Inspectors ask for a short stack they can read at the curb. A camera roll is a poor answer to either one.
This note is a worksheet for building that packet. Houston’s 14-day clock and the Arlington, Texas entertainment-district pause are the field note The 14-Day Clock and the Stadium Fence. Arlington in the table below is Arlington, Virginia. The full worksheet lists lead times that cities have published in writing, the documents that show up over and over, and the handoff that keeps truck 2's insurance out of truck 4's file. It was last compiled 2026-09-24. It is not a guarantee you will pass, and it is not legal advice.
You already know the shape of the problem if you have ever been told "docs by Friday." The worksheet is the list to check before you send the file.
Primary Texas health context, if the event is in Texas after the HB 2844 transition: DSHS mobile food vendors.