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Business & Permits

Fire Department permit for an event, tent, kiosk or fairground rides

Last reviewed: August 15, 2026 — VerifiedBomberos

In short

The Fire Bureau issues the Special Events Permit for public activities: concerts, outdoor parties, circuses, tents, kiosks, flea markets, fireworks, fairground machines and artisan sales. First and most important: the service request sheet is delivered at least 5 days before the date of the event. Payment is made with an internal-revenue voucher to account number 5300 and the amount depends on the type of activity: $75.00 per outdoor or stage event; $75.00 per day in enclosed structures with a capacity of up to 2,500 people and $100.00 per day for greater capacity; $20.00 for a 10x10 tent up to two days and $30.00 for a 20x20; $150.00 for fireworks per day outdoors and $100.00 indoors; $150.00 for up to ten fairground machines. The application is submitted to the District office covering the municipality where the business or activity will operate.

External link

Go to the official site

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bomberos.pr.gov

What is it?

The Special Events Permit is the fire-prevention procedure for temporary activities open to the public, distinct from the permit for a permanent commercial premises. The Fire Bureau, the Public Safety Department component that issues it, acts under Ley 158 of 9 May 1942, today Ley 20 of 10 April 2017. The procedure is always the same — service request sheet completed in full, internal-revenue voucher to account 5300 for the applicable amount, and delivery to the municipality’s District office — and the only thing that changes between one activity and another is the fee.

Who can do it?

The Bomberos fee schedule names the covered activities: outdoor or stage activities; activities in enclosed structures, concerts, circuses and others; temporary 10x10 and 20x20 tents; temporary kiosks; kiosks and tables at flea markets; fireworks; sports federations; team representatives for courts, coliseums and similar venues; sports-season kiosks; amusement machines, known as machinas; and the sale or exhibition by artisans, visual artists, writers, publishers and other creators of a similar nature. In that last category the fee changes according to who sponsors it: private promoters on one side, government agencies or nonprofit entities on the other.

Requirements

Documents you need

Cost

Everything is paid with an internal-revenue voucher to account number 5300. Outdoor or stage activities: $75.00 per event. Activities in enclosed structures, concerts, circuses and others: $75.00 per day up to a structure capacity of 2,500 people, and $100.00 per day for greater capacity. Temporary 10x10 tents: $20.00 up to two days, $50.00 for 3 to 10 days, $10.00 for each additional day beyond 10 — with a new inspection — and $10.00 for each additional 100 square feet or fraction. Temporary 20x20 tents: $30.00 up to two days, $60.00 for 3 to 10 days, $15.00 for each additional day beyond 10 and $10.00 for each additional 100 square feet or fraction. Temporary kiosks: $20.00 up to two days, $50.00 for 3 to 10 days, $10.00 for each additional day beyond 10 — with a new inspection — and $10.00 for each additional 100 square feet or fraction. Kiosks or tables at flea markets: $60.00 per year. Fireworks per day: $150.00 outdoors and $100.00 indoors. Sports federations: $100.00. Team representatives, for courts, coliseums and similar venues: $300.00 per season. Sports-season kiosks: $60.00. Amusement machines (machinas): $150.00 for ten machines or fewer, $30.00 for each additional unit beyond ten, $30.00 for each additional day beyond ten days, and $200.00 every six months for machines at fixed locations. Sale or exhibition by artisans, visual artists, writers, publishers and other creators of a similar nature: $20.00 per 100 square feet when sponsored by private promoters, and $100.00 per activity, with no participant limit, when sponsored by government agencies or nonprofit entities.

Verified against the official source · August 15, 2026

Step by step

  1. Step 1: Count back five days from the event

    It is the only deadline Bomberos publishes for this procedure and the one most people discover too late: the service request sheet must be delivered at least 5 days before the date of the event. If the activity is Saturday, do not start on Thursday.

  2. Step 2: Locate your activity in the fee schedule

    The fee depends on what you are doing, not on what you will earn. Outdoors or with a stage it is charged per event: $75.00. In an enclosed structure it is charged per day: $75.00 up to a structure capacity of 2,500 people, $100.00 for greater capacity. Tents and kiosks are charged by size and by blocks of days. Machinas by machine count. Fireworks per day, and it costs more outside than inside: $150.00 outdoors against $100.00 indoors.

  3. Step 3: If the tent or kiosk runs past ten days, budget for the new inspection

    For temporary 10x10 tents and temporary kiosks, each additional day beyond 10 costs $10.00 and the schedule expressly notes that a new inspection will be carried out. For 20x20 tents the additional day beyond 10 costs $15.00. And in both, each additional 100 square feet or fraction adds $10.00, so the size actually erected matters as much as the size on the label.

  4. Step 4: If you sell crafts, look at who is sponsoring

    Sale or exhibition by artisans, visual artists, writers, publishers and other creators of a similar nature has two different fees depending on the sponsorship. Sponsored by private promoters: $20.00 per 100 square feet. Sponsored by government agencies or nonprofit entities: $100.00 per activity, with no participant limit. For a large fair run by a municipality or a nonprofit, that second line changes the budget entirely.

  5. Step 5: Buy the voucher to account 5300 and submit to the District

    The internal-revenue voucher always goes to account number 5300, for the amount corresponding to your activity. The completed application is delivered to the District office covering the municipality where the business or activity will operate, not to just any Bomberos office.

Where to do it

At the Fire Bureau District office covering the municipality where the business or activity will operate, at least 5 days before the date of the event.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

If the event is less than five days away, the published deadline no longer works for you: call your municipality’s District office before writing the activity off. If your activity has several components — a tent, some kiosks and machinas — the schedule charges them separately, so add each line. If what you will operate is a permanent commercial premises and not an activity, that is a different procedure. This guide does not say how long Bomberos takes to decide or when it inspects: the page publishes no timeframes, with the single exception of the new inspection noted for additional days beyond ten. Nor does it cover the specific regulations for machinas, inflatables or cigarette sales, which Bomberos publishes separately on its Laws and Regulations page.

Common mistakes

  • Submitting the application less than 5 days before the event.
  • Budgeting an enclosed-structure event as if it were charged per event: it is charged per day.
  • Forgetting the $10.00 per additional 100 square feet or fraction on tents and kiosks.
  • Running the tent past ten days without counting the additional day or the new inspection.
  • Paying the private-promoter fee at an artisan fair sponsored by a nonprofit, or the reverse.
  • Buying the internal-revenue voucher to an account other than 5300.
  • Filing at a District office that does not cover the event’s municipality.

Frequently asked questions

How far in advance must it be requested?

The service request sheet is delivered at least 5 days before the date of the event. It is the only deadline the Bureau publishes for this permit.

What does a tent permit cost?

A temporary 10x10 tent costs $20.00 up to two days and $50.00 for 3 to 10 days; a 20x20 costs $30.00 up to two days and $60.00 for 3 to 10 days. Both add $10.00 per additional 100 square feet or fraction, and days beyond 10 cost $10.00 on the 10x10 and $15.00 on the 20x20.

And for a concert?

Activities in enclosed structures, concerts, circuses and others are charged per day: $75.00 per day up to a structure capacity of 2,500 people, and $100.00 per day for greater capacity. Outdoors or with a stage it is $75.00 per event.

What is the fee for fairground machines?

$150.00 for ten machines or fewer, plus $30.00 for each additional unit beyond ten and $30.00 for each additional day beyond ten days. Machines at fixed locations pay $200.00 every six months.

Do fireworks need a separate permit?

The fee schedule charges them as their own line, per day: $150.00 outdoors and $100.00 indoors.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

August 15, 2026

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