California Health Department
Contra Costa County commercial kitchen compliance
Contra Costa Health, Environmental Health Division is the authority. Here's the methodology, the thresholds, and the fire code overlay.
Authority chain
Contra Costa County → Contra Costa Health, Environmental Health Division — Retail Food Program → California Retail Food Code
Inspection cadence and methodology in Contra Costa County track the state framework with local agency-specific implementation. The health department oversees approximately 5,500 permitted food facilities. Major cities include Concord, Richmond, Antioch, Walnut Creek, Pittsburg, Brentwood, and 11 more. Restaurant density concentrates along I-680 and I-80 corridors; East Bay BART suburbs. Verify district — Richmond Fire: (510) 307-8060. Concord Fire: (925) 671-3220. Contra Costa County Fire Protection District serves most of Contra Costa County. East Contra Costa Fire Protection District and city fire departments (Richmond, Concord, Pittsburg, Antioch) serve other areas.
Standard 01
Food Safety
Authority
Contra Costa Health, Environmental Health Division — Retail Food Program
- Scoring type
- Major Violation Count
- Grading type
- Color Placard
- Permitted facilities
- ~5,500
- Office
- 2120 Diamond Boulevard, Suite 100, Concord, California 94520
Methodology
Contra Costa County operates a distinctive 4-color placarding program under Contra Costa Health, Environmental Health Division. Per the Restaurant Inspections page: "The placard is a red, yellow, green or white card that a food facility displays so that customers can easily see the inspection status." Contra Costa uses a 4-state placard architecture (RED, YELLOW, GREEN, WHITE); San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sacramento, Butte and Alameda use 3-state placards. Mobile food facilities that prepare, cook or heat food also receive placards at the end of inspection — broader scope than placard-family counties that exclude mobile from placarding. The methodology page does not publicly define the WHITE placard state. Authority: California Retail Food Code. Environmental health department scope is structurally broader than typical California environmental health departments: also handles Industrial Safety Ordinance, California Accidental Release Prevention Program, Martinez Refining Company oversight, and Hazardous Materials programs. Coordinates with Central Contra Costa Sanitary District for restaurant grease/wastewater compliance.
Inspection results published by the agency are mirrored at Contra Costa County on ScoreTable.
Primary source
https://www.cchealth.org/health-and-safety-information/food-safety-permits/restaurant-inspections — 4-color placarding system (red, yellow, green, white) and mobile food facility placarding scope. Berkeley 2024 audit reference for portal best practice and wastewater coordination details.
Last verified by JIE: May 21, 2026
Published inspection data for Contra Costa County is mirrored on ScoreTable, direct from the agency.
Health department detail
What makes Contra Costa County distinct
- 4-state color placard architecture (RED/YELLOW/GREEN/WHITE)
- Uses a 4-state placard. All other California placard-family counties use 3-state placards. The 4th state (WHITE) is publicly displayed but its semantic meaning is not defined on the methodology page.
- Mobile food facilities included in placarding program (broader scope than 3-state placard counties)
- Mobile food facilities that prepare, cook or heat food receive placards at the end of inspection. San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sacramento generally exclude mobile from placarding. Operationally significant for any vendor or owner working across multiple Bay Area counties — placarding obligations differ.
- Environmental Health Division authority integrated with refinery/petrochemical oversight
- Industrial Safety Ordinance, California Accidental Release Prevention, Martinez Refining Company Oversight all sit alongside food safety under the same Environmental Health authority structure.
- Wastewater coordination via Central Contra Costa Sanitary District special district
- Restaurant grease/wastewater compliance coordinated through Central Contra Costa Sanitary District rather than joint environmental health department inspection. Multi-line owners may face dual food + wastewater enforcement pathways.
Standard 02
Fire Safety
Authority having jurisdiction
In Contra Costa County, fire code authority rests with Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.
- Phone
- (925) 941-3300
- Website
- cccfpd.org
- Fire code edition
- 2025 California Fire Code
- NFPA 96 edition
- 2021
- Hood cleaning default
- Quarterly
- Permit type
- Operational Fire Permit — annual renewal, pass/fail
Hood cleaning frequencies
Frequencies enforced by Contra Costa County Fire Protection District per NFPA 96 (2021).
| Cooking volume / type | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Solid-fuel cooking | Monthly |
| High-volume / 24-hour / charbroil / wok | Quarterly |
| Moderate-volume | Semiannually |
| Low-volume / seasonal / place of worship | Annually |
Hood cleaning enforcement
MODERATE
Reference
Frequently asked
- Who inspects commercial kitchens in Contra Costa County?
- Contra Costa Health, Environmental Health Division — Retail Food Program is the food safety authority for Contra Costa County. California Retail Food Code provides the statutory base; the agency conducts inspections, scores them per local methodology, and posts results to the public.
- How are inspection results communicated in Contra Costa County?
- Contra Costa Health, Environmental Health Division — Retail Food Program documents inspections per color placard methodology. Results are available to the public through the agency's published portals.
- Who enforces fire and hood-cleaning rules in Contra Costa County?
- In Contra Costa County, fire code authority rests with Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. Enforcement covers the 2025 California Fire Code and NFPA 96 (2021 edition) for commercial kitchen exhaust. Hood cleaning default frequency: quarterly.
- What fire code edition applies in Contra Costa County?
- The 2025 California Fire Code is the adopted edition. NFPA 96 (2021) governs commercial kitchen exhaust systems. Ask Contra Costa County Fire Protection District whether Contra Costa County has adopted local amendments to the 2025 California Fire Code.
- Where can I verify Contra Costa County inspection records?
- Primary source: https://www.cchealth.org/about-contra-costa-health/divisions/environmental-health. EvidLY ScoreTable mirrors the latest health-department-published results at https://www.getevidly.com/scoretable/california/contra-costa.
Related coverage
What to do with this data
EvidLY
Predict the failure. Reduce the cost. Prove the work.
EvidLY reads the regulations for Contra Costa County, identifies what's about to slip, and documents what got done — before an inspector or insurer asks.
See EvidLY pricingScoreTable
Contra Costa County inspection data — direct from the agency.
Real inspection results for Contra Costa County, mirrored from the health department's own published portals. No aggregation, no conversion.
View Contra Costa County on ScoreTableFTC disclosure: Stovio Advisors is a Cleaning Pros Plus, LLC company. Cleaning Pros Plus, HoodOps, and EvidLY (with ScoreTable) are commonly owned. Links to these sister brands are editorial references, not paid placements, and do not influence coverage. Vendor Network placements are paid and labeled as such; they do not influence editorial coverage.
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