Opening a Kebab Shop 2026: Sanepid, Documents

To open a kebab shop legally in 2026 you have to go through five stages: registering the business in CEIDG (the Central Register and Information on Business), adapting the premises to sanitary requirements, notifying the establishment to Sanepid (the State Sanitary Inspection) and the premises inspection, preparing HACCP documentation, and sanitary-epidemiological examinations for yourself and your crew. A kebab from a vertical spit has its own specifics - the vertical spit, salads, cold sauces - which are worth describing separately in the documentation. This article takes you through the whole thing step by step: what to arrange, where and in what order, with references to the rules (status as of 4 October 2026).

No waffle and no scaremongering. Each of these points can be handled - provided you know what to expect at the premises inspection.

The key points in brief

• A kebab shop is a full foodservice establishment - the same rules apply to you as to a restaurant: the Act on Food and Nutrition Safety and Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. Regulation 853/2004 does not in principle apply to retail (Art. 1(5)(a)), and a restaurant is retail within the meaning of Art. 3(7) of Regulation 178/2002. If, however, you yourself produce meat for the spit and supply it to other venues, you go beyond this model - we do not discuss that case.
• You submit the notification to Sanepid at least 14 days before the start and wait for the premises inspection (the decision approving the establishment).
• You must have procedures based on HACCP principles implemented (Art. 5 of Regulation 852/2004). Whether the inspector looks at the documentation already at the premises inspection depends on the station - we found no such requirement in the Act.
• The spit, the extraction hood, the washbasins and the back of house are four areas that in our opinion are worth checking first (the editors' view, no statistics).
• A medical certificate for sanitary-epidemiological purposes should be obtained by a person working in contact with food (Art. 59(2) of the Act) - this also applies to you if you yourself stand at the spit.

Step 1: Registering the business and choosing the PKD code

You start by setting up the business in CEIDG. The application for entry is free of charge (Art. 13 of the CEIDG Act) - you submit it online at biznes.gov.pl or at the municipal office.

From 1 January 2025 the PKD 2025 classification (Polish Classification of Activities) applies (Council of Ministers regulation of 18 December 2024, Journal of Laws (Dz.U.) item 1936). For a kebab shop the right code is 56.11.Z (restaurants; the subclass covers, among others, fast-food restaurants, quick-service bars and takeaway places). If you also plan a mobile booth or trailer, add 56.12.Z (mobile catering outlets, including food trucks). Replace the former codes from the old classification (56.10.A and 56.10.B) in the new application with their PKD 2025 equivalents. Code 56.30.Z (serving beverages) concerns an activity consisting of serving drinks, not a kebab shop.

The business address is the address of the premises where you will operate. This matters, because the competent county sanitary inspector is the one for the seat of the establishment or the place where the establishment carries out its activity (Art. 62(1) of the Act on Food and Nutrition Safety), not your home address.

Step 2: Premises for a kebab - what Sanepid will check at the inspection

This stage usually requires the most work and money. The authority does not assess whether the premises are pretty - it assesses whether they meet the requirements of food law (Art. 148(3) of Regulation 2017/625). Here are the areas worth checking in a kebab shop:

The spit and meat processing

The vertical spit for gyros/doner is the heart of the kebab and at the same time the point that raises the most questions. It is worth having described how you control the heat treatment of the meat and how you handle the meat that stays on the spit between portions - this is part of procedures based on HACCP (Art. 5 of Regulation 852/2004). This is a topic for a separate article - we set it out in the text on HACCP for kebab: the spit, temperatures and critical points.

Extraction hood and ventilation

The spit and the fryer give off a lot of heat, smoke and grease. Regulation 852/2004 requires suitable and sufficient natural or mechanical ventilation systems (Annex II, Chapter I, point 5), and the regulation on technical conditions for buildings (§ 148(4)) provides for local extraction where the technological process produces nuisance odours. The way the air is discharged and possible disputes with neighbours depend on the building and the building rules, which we do not analyse here.

Washbasins and sinks

This is a classic on which many venues fall down. Regulation 852/2004 (Annex II, Chapter I, point 4) requires an adequate number of washbasins designated for washing hands, with hot and cold running water, with materials for washing hands and for hygienic drying; where necessary, food-washing stations are to be separated from the washbasins. A soap dispenser and single-use towels are common practice, not a provision of the rule. A single washbasin "for everything" is sometimes treated as a non-conformity.

Back of house, storeroom and zones

Regulation 852/2004 requires, among other things, an adequate number of toilets not connecting directly to rooms where food is handled (Annex II, Chapter I, point 3), where necessary changing facilities for staff (point 9), and floors and walls of impervious, washable, non-toxic materials that are easy to clean (Chapter II, point 1). Dividing the storeroom into dry and refrigerated and separating the "dirty" and "clean" zones (in a small venue often in time, not in space) is a practice worth describing in the documentation.

We have collected the full list of requirements for the premises in the article sanitary requirements for a foodservice venue. It is worth going through it before you sign the lease - alterations of premises to meet sanitary requirements can be costly, so it is better to reject a bad location before signing the contract.

Step 3: Notification to Sanepid and the premises inspection

Under the Act on Food and Nutrition Safety, you submit the application for approval of the establishment and for entry in the register of establishments to the county sanitary inspector (the county sanitary-epidemiological station) at least 14 days before the day the planned activity starts (Art. 64(1)). The establishment may start operating after approval or conditional approval (Art. 63(1)).

What happens next:

1. You submit the application using the form from the Minister of Health regulation of 29 May 2007 (Dz.U. No 106, item 730, as amended): the applicant's details, the name and seat of the establishment, the type and scope of activity according to PKD and the type of food. The Act does not list attachments (Art. 64(3)(1)-(3) was repealed), so check with the station whether it additionally asks for a description of the premises or the menu.
2. The authority carries out an on-site inspection (Art. 148(2) of Regulation 2017/625) - in practice stations call this the premises inspection.
3. You show the premises; you may also be asked for prepared HACCP/GHP (Good Hygiene Practice)/GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) documentation and registers - this is the stations' practice, not an enumeration from the rules.
4. If the establishment meets the requirements, you receive a decision on approval (Art. 62(1)(2) of the Act) and an entry in the register; you may also receive a certificate of entry (point 4).
5. If there are shortcomings, the authority may grant conditional approval (where it appears that the establishment meets the requirements for infrastructure and equipment; final approval after a further inspection within three months, and conditional approval for no longer than six months in total - Art. 148(4) of Regulation 2017/625) or refuse. How the station sets deadlines for corrections does not follow from the rules we checked.

A mistake worth avoiding: notifying at the last minute or only after opening. Running a business without submitting an application for entry in the register or for approval of the establishment and entry carries an administrative fine of PLN 1,000 to 5,000 (Art. 103(1)(4) and (2)(2) of the Act), imposed by decision of the voivodeship state sanitary inspector (Art. 104(1)). We explain exactly when to notify the establishment in the text on opening a foodservice business and Sanepid - when to notify.

Step 4: HACCP documentation for a kebab

Procedures based on HACCP principles are not optional - Art. 5(1) of Regulation 852/2004 places this obligation on operators involved in the production, processing and distribution of food after primary production, and failing to comply is an offence (Art. 100(1)(8) of the Act). Documents and records are to be proportionate to the nature and size of the business (Art. 5(2)(g)). Whether the inspector will ask for them already at the premises inspection depends on the station.

For a kebab, the documentation usually contains (Regulation 852/2004 does not impose names for documents; the split into GHP and GMP is industry practice):

• A description of the premises and the activity carried out (menu, processes, equipment).
• GHP procedures - handwashing, cleaning of surfaces, staff hygiene, cleaning and disinfection.
• GMP procedures - goods receipt, storage, heat treatment of meat from the spit.
• A hazard analysis and setting of critical control points (CCPs) - in a kebab the key is the processing and reheating of the meat.
• Registers - fridge and freezer temperature, cleaning and disinfection, goods receipt.
• Work-station instructions for staff (often in PL and EN versions, because teams in kebab shops can be mixed).

It sounds extensive, but for a small venue with a few items on the menu the system is simpler than for a large restaurant. A common mistake is downloading general documentation "for foodservice" from the internet that describes neither the spit nor your processes - such documents do not show that procedures actually work in your venue. How the critical points look specifically for meat from the spit we set out in the article on HACCP for kebab.

Step 5: Sanitary-epidemiological examinations

A person working in contact with food should obtain a medical certificate for sanitary-epidemiological purposes confirming there are no contraindications to work in which infection could be transmitted (Art. 59(2) of the Act on Food and Nutrition Safety). This also applies to you if you work with food yourself; we did not check the procedure for an owner who is not an employer towards themselves.

• Medical examinations are carried out by primary healthcare doctors or occupational medicine doctors, and laboratory tests by accredited laboratories (including laboratories of the State Sanitary Inspection or others, under agreements with it) - Art. 7(1) and (4) of the Act on the Prevention and Control of Infections and Infectious Diseases in Humans.
• Employees are referred for examinations by the employer (Art. 6(2)(3)), and the cost of employees' examinations is borne by the employer or the person commissioning the work (Art. 8(4)). A person looking for work may order the examination themselves, at their own cost (Art. 6(2a) and Art. 8(4a)).
• The scope of examinations (for example for carriage of Salmonella and Shigella bacilli), the deadlines and templates of certificates are set by an implementing regulation to this Act - we did not check it or the waiting time for results.

Kebab specifics: the spit, salads and sauces

Three things set a kebab shop apart from an ordinary kitchen, and in our opinion these are worth describing in the documentation with particular care:

Meat from the spit. The meat is cooked gradually, layer by layer, and part of it stays on the spit for many hours. This requires temperature control and a clear rule for handling meat not used by the end of the day; Regulation 852/2004 (Annex II, Chapter IX, point 5) requires food that supports the growth of microorganisms to be kept at temperatures that do not cause a risk to health and does not set a single figure here.

Salads. Cabbage, cucumber, tomato - prepared earlier and kept in the fridge. The storage temperature and shelf life are requirements worth having described (practice, not a figure from the rules). The table of storage and processing temperatures will help.

Cold sauces. Sauces based on mayonnaise or garlic are an environment favourable to bacteria if they stand in the warm. It is worth having described how you store them and how long you keep opened packs.

The most common non-conformities at a kebab inspection - and how to avoid them - we have collected in a separate article: kebab and a Sanepid inspection.

How much it costs to open a kebab shop

Costs split into official fees and the rest (premises, equipment, documentation). We do not give amounts if we do not have them in a source:

• CEIDG - the application is free of charge (Art. 13 of the CEIDG Act). For approval of the establishment and entry in the register we found no item in the list of stamp duties (consolidated text Dz.U. 2025, item 1154).
• Sanitary-epidemiological examinations - the cost of employees' examinations is borne by the employer (Art. 8(4) of the Act on the Prevention of Infections); we do not give amounts.
• Adapting the premises - the most variable item: hood and ventilation, washbasins, washable surfaces, refrigeration. Here the amounts depend on the condition of the premises.
• Equipment - spit, fryer, fridges, refrigerated display.
• HACCP documentation - the cost depends on the route: your own preparation, ready-made templates or a consultant.

We compared the options for preparing documentation in the text how much HACCP implementation costs - a comparison.

The most common mistakes when opening a kebab shop

1. Signing the lease before checking the premises for Sanepid. A lack of ventilation, a separate handwashing basin or back of house may require alterations you did not plan in the budget.
2. Starting without an approval decision. "First I will start earning, then I will register" - this is a mistake for which the Act provides a fine of PLN 1,000 to 5,000 (Art. 103(1)(4) and (2)(2)).
3. HACCP documentation downloaded from the internet. A generic text that describes neither the spit nor your menu does not show that procedures work in your venue.
4. Empty registers. You have the documentation, but nobody enters temperatures. This is a signal that the system exists only on paper.
5. No hot water at the handwashing basin. Check the tank or heater before notifying: hot and cold running water at the handwashing basin is a requirement of Annex II, Chapter I, point 4 of Regulation 852/2004.

FAQ - frequently asked questions

What PKD code for a kebab?

For a fixed kebab venue the right code is 56.11.Z from the PKD 2025 classification (restaurants, including fast food and takeaway places). If you also run a mobile booth or trailer, add 56.12.Z (mobile catering outlets). You can hold both codes at the same time. The former codes 56.10.A and 56.10.B come from PKD 2007, which from 1 January 2025 was replaced by PKD 2025 (Council of Ministers regulation of 18 December 2024, Dz.U. item 1936).

Does a kebab shop have to have HACCP?

Yes. A kebab venue is a food establishment, so the same rules apply to it as to a restaurant - including the obligation to implement and maintain procedures based on HACCP principles (Art. 5 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004; failing to comply is an offence under Art. 100(1)(8) of the Act on Food and Nutrition Safety).

How long does opening a kebab shop take?

There is no single deadline. The rules regulate only the part concerning the offices: you submit the application to the station at least 14 days before the start (Art. 64(1) of the Act), and the authority handles a matter requiring explanatory proceedings within a month, and a particularly complicated one within two months (Art. 35(3) of the Code of Administrative Procedure); we found no separate deadline for approving an establishment in the Act. The rest of the time is set by the condition of the premises and the alterations needed.

Can I open a kebab shop in premises previously used for other foodservice?

Yes, such premises may already have part of the infrastructure (ventilation, back of house, washable surfaces), but its condition has to be assessed against the requirements of Regulation 852/2004. From 5 November 2025 Art. 64(1b) of the Act provides that where the entity running the establishment changes, the new entity submits an application for changes in the register of establishments within 30 days of starting to run that establishment. We did not establish when (for example when taking over premises from another tenant) such an application is enough and when a new application for approval is needed - consult the station before taking over the premises.

Ready HACCP documentation for a kebab shop

Creating HACCP documentation from scratch takes time and carries a risk that you will miss something. The Foundation package from GastroReady is a ready-made set of HACCP, GHP and GMP documents for small foodservice - with registers, work-station instructions and a hazard analysis that you adapt to the spit, salads and sauces in your menu.

Instead of building the system from scratch, you can start from a ready base and focus on adapting it to your venue.

---

Legal status as of: 8 November 2026
Legal basis: Act on Food and Nutrition Safety (consolidated text Dz.U. 2026, item 1399): Art. 59(2), 62-64, 100(1)(8), 103-104; Minister of Health regulation of 29.05.2007 on document templates (Dz.U. No 106, item 730, as amended Dz.U. 2019, item 2097); Regulation (EC) 852/2004 (consolidated version of 24.03.2021): Art. 5, Annex II Chapters I, II, IX; Regulation (EC) 853/2004 Art. 1(5) and 178/2002 Art. 3(7); Regulation (EU) 2017/625 Art. 148; Act on the Prevention and Control of Infections and Infectious Diseases (consolidated text Dz.U. 2025, item 1675): Art. 6-8; Code of Administrative Procedure (consolidated text Dz.U. 2025, item 1691): Art. 35; CEIDG Act (consolidated text Dz.U. 2026, item 30): Art. 13; Council of Ministers regulation of 18.12.2024 on PKD (Dz.U. item 1936); Minister of Infrastructure regulation on technical conditions for buildings (consolidated text Dz.U. 2022, item 1225, as amended): § 148(4); Act on Stamp Duty (consolidated text Dz.U. 2025, item 1154). We did not check: the implementing regulation on the scope of sanitary-epidemiological examinations, the building rules on how ventilation air is discharged, the details of HACCP for meat from the spit (see the separate article) or the rules on taking over an establishment from another entity. We removed amounts and times that could not be verified. The review of 8 November 2026 covered the Act on Food and Nutrition Safety (consolidated text Dz.U. 2026, item 1399, status as of 28.09.2026); we checked the cited articles in those texts and found no changes to their meaning compared with the previous consolidated texts (Art. 64(1a)-(1b) of the Act on Food and Nutrition Safety have the wording in force since 5.11.2025 (Dz.U. 2025, item 1424), consistent with the description in the text). We have not rechecked the other acts on this list since the review of 4 October 2026.
Last review: 8 November 2026