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Orem issues its own business licenses, and you apply for either a Home Business or a Commercial Business license on the city's online portal. This guide covers the application in the order Orem handles it, what the city does and does not publish about cost, the zoning and fire sign-offs, home occupation rules, and when a license expires and what a late renewal costs.
Apply for an Orem business license online on the city's licensing portal, choosing the Home Business or Commercial Business application, and attach a photo ID. Orem's code requires the use to be allowed in your zone and the building to pass fire, building and health inspections before the license issues. Licenses expire on the last day of the month you applied, and the code adds a penalty if you renew more than 30 days late. Orem's page does not list fee amounts, so call the business license office at 801-229-7198 for today's number.
Orem's business licensing page lists the prep work in order. First, register the business name with the State of Utah at corporations.utah.gov. Orem's city code makes this a condition of the license, so skip it and the application stalls. Second, if the business handles food, runs a public pool or spa, does tattooing or piercing, offers tanning beds, or collects used oil, the page says to finish the Utah County Health Department requirements first. The Health Department is at 151 South University Avenue in Provo, 801-851-7000.
The application also needs a copy of the owner's driver's license or other current photo ID. If you run a corporation or partnership, Orem's code asks for the same details on at least one officer or partner, plus the registered agent. Our Utah County business license guide covers the state filings and how the county's cities compare. This page covers Orem only.
The Orem city business license application is online. The city's page points you to the Home Business or Commercial Business application, and the same secure.orem.org payment pages handle renewals, solicitor's licenses and name or location changes. Orem also runs a public license search at secure.orem.org/BLSearchSite, which is a quick way to check whether a business you are buying already holds a license.
Orem's business licensing page does not list a single fee, and the city code says fees are set by City Council resolution, so there is no number to quote you from the city today. For commercial businesses, the code also adds a disproportionate service fee based on your type of use, which is why two Orem businesses can pay different amounts. Call Orem's business license office at 801-229-7198 before you budget.
The only fee amounts Orem has published are in its January 2018 business license fee study, posted to orem.gov in 2025. The table shows what the city charged when that study was written. Treat it as old: the study found the city's real cost of a new commercial application ran higher than the fee, and the council has had years to change the schedule.
| Orem license item (as charged in the 2018 fee study) | Fee in 2018 |
|---|---|
| Commercial license, new business | $150 |
| Commercial new business or relocation inspection | $60 |
| Commercial license, renewal | $100 |
| Home occupation, new | $40 |
| Home occupation, renewal | $30 |
| Change of business name, ownership or location | $20 each |
| Reprint of a lost license | $5 |
| Solicitor license | $60 |
Orem's code says a license issues only if your business is a permitted use in the zone you are locating in, according to Appendix A of the city code. So check the zone before you sign a lease. The business licensing page sends zoning questions to Chapter 22 of the city code, and the code says every business has to comply with the zoning ordinance on top of holding a license.
On fire, the city page links a Fire Inspection Requirements PDF and a Fire Self-Inspection Survey at my.orem.gov/business-licensing/fire-survey, plus a Business License Inspection Checklist. It says a building or fire inspection may be required when a business changes location. Per the code, inspection corrections come before opening day, so schedule the walkthrough before your grand opening date, not after.
Orem's home occupation rules sit in Section 22-14-15 of the city code, and the licensing page links a Home Occupation Inspection Checklist. The code requires both a home occupation permit and a business license. The permit is granted only if the use meets every standard in that section, and a permit fee is set by City Council resolution.
The standards, as published in Orem's zoning code, are tight. The business has to be incidental to the home and can use no more than 1,000 square feet or 40% of the floor area, whichever is less, and garages count. Only family members who live there can run it. One non-resident employee is allowed only if the business adds little traffic and customers do not come to the house, and that employee needs an 8 by 18 foot off-street parking stall. Business trips are capped at two round trips in any hour and none between 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. There can be no signs, goods on display or outdoor storage, and no vehicle over 20,000 pounds servicing the business. In a home with an accessory apartment, customers visiting is not allowed.
The fee side is different from the zoning side. Orem's own fee study says state law, Utah Code 10-1-203, lets a city charge a home occupation license fee only when the business's offsite impact materially exceeds that of the home alone, which means most home businesses cannot be charged a license fee. That relief covers the fee only. The zoning standards above still apply, and Orem still wants the permit. Confirm what applies to your case by phone. Our guide to home based businesses in Utah County covers the rules across the county.
An Orem license runs one year and expires on the last day of the month you applied. If your license issued on November 12, for example, it expires on the last day of November the next year. Orem's page says the city mails a renewal form 45 days before expiration, and you renew online through the secure.orem.org payment pages. The code requires renewal every year.
Orem gives a 30-day cushion before the penalty starts, but not before you are out of compliance. The code says a business that keeps operating on an expired license can face criminal prosecution or other enforcement for operating without a license. To close a license, Orem's page lists a fax number, 801-229-7169, so call 801-229-7198 first to confirm how the city wants the closure submitted.
| Late renewal in Orem (city code 12-3-6) | Added penalty |
|---|---|
| Home occupation, 31 to 60 days late | $44 |
| Home occupation, after 60 days | $44 |
| Commercial, 31 to 60 days late | $44 |
| Commercial, after 60 days | $40 plus 10% per month |
Orem's code exempts nonprofits that make no profit for any individual, activities whose receipts go entirely to a church, school or religious or benevolent purpose, and operators of a Small Home Child Day Care. Exempt operators can still be charged inspection fees.
There is also a Utah County reciprocity rule. A business located in and licensed by another Utah County city, with no place of business in Orem, does not need an Orem license, as long as that other city exempts Orem businesses the same way. Solicitors never get this exemption. Anyone who violates the licensing chapter risks a Class B misdemeanor under the code, with a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both.
A city license is one of several filings. If you sell taxable goods you need a state sales tax license, which our Utah sales tax license guide walks through, and your equipment may show up on the county's business personal property tax filing.
The business licensing office is at 56 N. State St., Orem, UT 84057. Call 801-229-7198 with questions, or text 801-229-7000. The city also has a contact form at orem.gov/contact and a help center at orem.gov/help. Our Utah County chambers of commerce page lists local groups.
Set up a free Google Business Profile with the same name and address that are on your Orem license, and add the business to our Local Directory, where a listing is $99 a month. Our where to advertise in Utah County guide compares billboards, mailers, Facebook and newsletters.
We publish Provo FOMO, a free daily newsletter with about 3,100 Utah County subscribers, and we sell ads in it, so weigh this knowing that. An opening announcement is one of the things our ad plans are built for, and a single-issue ad test is $99. Hiring for opening day? Post the job locally.
