Connecticut
Connecticut licenses the artist, not the shop: DPH issues the tattoo technician license, and your town or district health director may inspect the shop once a year for sanitation. There is no state minimum age, an unemancipated minor under 18 needs a parent's or guardian's permission. The state sets no client-record contents and no retention period at all, so what you keep is driven by your town's ordinance and your own risk sense.
What the record must capture
No state ID rule. The age rule turns on whether the client is 18, so a photo ID check is how you would show you met it.
A license on a phone in Connecticut
Connecticut does not issue a digital license. A license on a phone is not an ID a shop here can rely on.
What we read: CT DMV home page (portal.ct.gov/dmv), 'Download the DMV's mobile app' page and its FAQ, 2026-09-11: the CT DMV Mobile app offers online services, practice tests and office locations, and no digital license; no DMV page mentions a mobile ID. Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 246 (cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_246.htm) searched for mobile/digital/electronic license language: none. Apple App Store search for a Connecticut mobile ID app: none. TSA participating-states list (2026-09-11): Connecticut absent.
On waivers.tattoo: a shop can let its clients choose a saved photo of their ID in Settings. It starts off, and in Connecticut a saved photo is only ever a picture of a card: a copy for your file, never proof of age.
Minors
18+. Minors only with conditions. No age floor in state law. An unemancipated minor under 18 needs the permission of a parent or guardian. The statute does not say that permission must be written, notarized or given in person, and does not require the parent to be present. Tattooing a minor without it is a class D misdemeanor.
"[N]o person shall…(6) practice tattooing on a person who is an unemancipated minor under eighteen years of age without the permission of such person's parent or guardian." — Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-266p
On waivers.tattoo: turn on Tattooing under 18 in Settings and a client under 18 gets a parent-or-guardian section — who they are, how they are related, their own signature, and a photo of their ID. The signed waiver prints what Connecticut requires.
Piercing a minor
18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. Written permission of the minor's PARENT. The statute does not say the permission must be notarized or given in person, does not require the parent to be present, and, unlike the tattoo statute, does not name a guardian.
The ear lobe is outside the definition, and the statute defines it: 'ear lobe' means the lower portion of the auricle having no cartilage. Cartilage piercings are covered.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-92g(a) The text
On waivers.tattoo: turn on Piercing under 18 in Settings and a client under 18 gets a parent-or-guardian section — who they are, how they are related, their own signature, and a photo of their ID. The signed waiver prints what Connecticut requires.
Health history and aftercare
State law says nothing about a health-history form or aftercare instructions for tattoo clients. A town ordinance may.
Texting your clients in Connecticut
9am to 8pm, the rule does not say whose clock. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-288a(c), with the definitions at § 42-284(9), (18) (Public Act 23-98), in force since 2023-10-01. It names text messages, so a text counts.
Consent. Prior express written consent, in the federal sense, before any telephonic sales call. Section 42-284(9)(A) wants the scope of that consent disclosed to the client in advance, clearly and in writing.
Your own clients. Wide, and written into the definitions rather than an exemption list, so it takes a message outside the 9am rule entirely. A message to an existing customer is not a telephonic sales call at all until that customer tells you to stop (§ 42-284(18)(B)(vii)), and a message to a client who came into your shop, or to one you already do business with, is not a marketing or sales solicitation either (§ 42-284(9)(B), (C)).
It reaches your sender too. Its own words are “by or on behalf of a telemarketer”, so a service that texts on your behalf is inside this rule with you. Hiring one does not move the duty off the shop.
A telephonic sales call ... shall be limited to being conducted between the hours of nine o'clock a.m. and eight o'clock p.m. local time. The text
A fine of up to $20,000 per violation, and a violation is also an unfair trade practice under CUTPA, which a client can sue on.
Federal law is the floor under it: 8am to 9pm, the client’s local time, prior express written consent for a marketing text, and a STOP honored within 10 business days (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1), (e)).
What to do
- Ask separately. A yes to marketing texts belongs on its own tick, not folded into the box a client has to accept to get tattooed. Keep it with the date and what it said.
- Text between 9am to 8pm, the rule does not say whose clock. An area code is not where somebody lives, so when you cannot tell, use the tighter window.
- Honor a STOP that day. Federal law gives you 10 business days. Same-day is the version nobody argues with, and it is what the carriers expect.
- Keep the count low. Connecticut sets no cap and neither does federal law, but a shop that texts a client more than a couple of times a month is teaching them to reply STOP.
Who inspects you
DPH licenses individual tattoo technicians statewide and can discipline them. There is no state shop license; the director of health for your town, city, borough or district health department may inspect the shop annually for sanitary condition and charge up to $100 for the visit.
Tattoo Technician licensure (Practitioner Licensing and Investigations)
The local director of health may inspect once a year. The inspection is about sanitary condition. The director can enter during usual business hours, order the shop put in sanitary condition in writing, and charge up to $100 for the visit.
Licensing
Your shop. No state shop license. Some towns and health districts license or register tattoo establishments by their own ordinance; the only shop-level provision in state law is the annual sanitary inspection.
Your artists. Yes, a DPH tattoo technician license: 18 or older, a bloodborne-pathogen course meeting OSHA standards, current first aid, and either 2,000 hours of supervised training or 5 years of continuous practice in Connecticut before 2015. $250 to apply, renewed every 2 years for $200.
Connecticut in our state-by-state posts
- Texting your tattoo clients: the hours, the caps, and all 51 state rules
- OSHA wants your bloodborne pathogens training renewed every year. Your state may want it once, ever.
- Can a minor get a tattoo with parental consent? State by state
- Can a minor get a piercing with parental consent? 45 states say yes, each on its own terms
- Do you have to ask health questions before a tattoo? 20 states say yes. Here are the questions.
- Do you have to give tattoo aftercare instructions in writing? 38 states say yes.
- What has to be on a tattoo consent form? 32 states say. Here is every line they name.
- 26 states make you check ID before a tattoo. The other 25 give you a reason to.
- How long do you have to keep tattoo consent forms? Every state, one table
This page summarizes public regulations in plain language so you know what to look for, with the section each point comes from. It is not legal advice. Your local health department has the final word; ask them, and bring your records.