Georgia

What the form asks in Georgia

Georgia’s rule names things the standard waiver form did not ask. A shop in Georgia gets them by default: the questions on its form, the rest on its record in the shop app.

• An allergies question: medicines, ointments, soaps, latex, anything put on the skin“History of allergies or adverse reactions to pigments, dyes, or other skin sensitivities” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(3)(e); latex at (3)(h))
• A bleeding-disorder question“History of hemophilia or any other blood clotting abnormalities” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(3)(c))
• The medications and blood thinners question, always on“The taking of medications such as aspirin or other anticoagulants” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(3)(g))
• The artist's license number on the signed waiver, from the shop's artist list“The name and certification number of the Body Artist who is to conduct the Body Art” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(2)(g))
• A photo of the client's ID (on every form)“Copy of government issued identification (ID)” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(2)(c))
• Aftercare instructions, acknowledged in the consent (on every form)“Client has received and understands written and verbal aftercare.” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(7)(d))
• The risks of a tattoo the state's rule lists, in writing on a tattoo's consent“The Body Artist shall inform the client, verbally and in writing that the health conditions outlined in (3) may increase health risks associated with receiving a body art procedure.” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(5); the physician, (4))
• The risks of a piercing the state's rule lists, in writing on a piercing's consent“The Body Artist shall inform the client, verbally and in writing that the health conditions outlined in (3) may increase health risks associated with receiving a body art procedure.” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(5); the physician, (4))
• A box the client ticks: they are doing this of their own free will and have read and understood the form“Client is voluntarily obtaining services of their own free will and volition” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(7)(a), (b))
• Whether the client has eaten in the last 4 hours“If the client has eaten in the last four (4) hours” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(3)(k))
• How to reach your county board of health with a complaint or question about safety, sanitization or sterilization, with its phone number, on the consent“The phone number of the Health Authority and instructions for the client, or in the case of a minor client, the minor client and parent or legal guardian, to contact the Health Authority with any complaint, question or concern regarding safety, sanitization, or sterilization procedures” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(2)(f); "Health Authority" means the local County Board of Health, r. 511-3-8-.04(40))
• The artist's own signature on the record, tapped in the shop app after the work“The signature of the Body Artist; and (k) The dates of all signatures” (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(2)(j), (k); the client's own signature, "signed in the presence of the Body Artist", is (2)(h))

What the record must capture

• Client name
• Date of birth
• Copy of government-issued identification
• The client evaluation of chronic and communicable conditions
• The signed informed consent form approved by the county board of health
• The phone number of the county board of health and how to contact it with any complaint, question or concern about safety, sanitization or sterilization

The client application has to carry a copy of the client's government-issued ID.

Digital records. Georgia's rule keeps the consent and the client record on paper or digital. ("[P]roper records of identification, an application, client evaluation, and informed consent form shall be kept, in digital or print form, and retained for a minimum of three years." — Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08)

"[P]roper records of identification, an application, client evaluation, and informed consent form shall be kept, in digital or print form, and retained for a minimum of three years." — Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08

A license on a phone in Georgia

Georgia’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet. Ga. DOR Policy Bulletin ATD-2025-02 (2025-11-07):

Retailers licensed to sell alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, vapor products, or alternative nicotine products may accept either a physical driver's license/ID card or a properly verified mDL as proof of age. The text

A picture of one is not. “Screenshots or photos of the mDL are not acceptable.” The source

On waivers.tattoo: turn on “Choose from library” in Settings and a client whose license lives on their phone can pick a saved photo of their ID for your file. It starts off, and the signed waiver says when a photo was a saved one. The license itself is the proof of age, checked the way Georgia requires.

Minors

18+. No minors, even with a parent. There is no consent route. A parent cannot sign a minor into a tattoo in Georgia. The only exception is a physician or osteopath licensed under O.C.G.A. tit. 43, ch. 34, or a technician under their direct supervision, marking the skin "for medical or cosmetic purposes" (O.C.G.A. § 16-5-71(a)), and tattooing a minor is a misdemeanor. Piercing is a different rule, a minor can be pierced with the parent or guardian present, on proper identification and a signed consent form.

"[N]o person under the age of eighteen shall be tattooed." — Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.05(6)(e)

On waivers.tattoo: your form takes 18+ for a tattoo in Georgia, and tells the client which rule says so.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. The parent or legal guardian has to be in the procedure area for the piercing, show proper identification, and sign the studio's written consent form in the Body Artist's presence; the form must name the methods and the parts of the minor's body being pierced. The client file also needs the parent's government ID, proof of parentage by certified birth certificate or court order of guardianship, and photo ID for the minor.

Ear lobes are written out of the minors clause outright, and a shop that pierces only lobes with a pre-sterilized single-use stud-and-clasp system is exempt from the entire body art chapter (r. 511-3-8-.03(2)).

Off limits for a minor even with consent: nipple and genital piercing, prohibited on minors regardless of parental or legal guardian consent. Scarification, suspension piercing, neck rings and play piercing are barred for every client, any age.

Misdemeanor (O.C.G.A. § 16-5-71.1(b))

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.05(6)(f); .08(2)(d), (h); .17(11); O.C.G.A. § 16-5-71.1 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 Georgia requires, and the form refuses nipple and genital piercings.

What the consent form must say

• An application with name, date of birth, and an ID copy
• A client evaluation of chronic and communicable conditions
• An informed consent form approved by the county board of health

"Every Body Art Studio shall require that each client complete an application, client evaluation and informed consent form approved by the Health Authority prior to having any body art activity performed upon or to their body." — Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(1)

Health history and aftercare

The client evaluation goes before the work and covers diabetes, bloodborne illness, clotting disorders, skin disease, anticoagulants, allergies, seizure history, latex sensitivity, keloids, pregnancy and when the client last ate. Aftercare goes to the client out loud and in writing on instructions the county board of health approved, and the written copy has to carry the studio's contact details plus the county board of health's name, address and phone.

"The Body Art Studio shall complete a client evaluation to ensure that the client inform the Body Artist of any known chronic medical or communicable conditions" — Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 511-3-8-.08(3)

Texting your clients in Georgia

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. Georgia has no telephone-solicitation or texting rule that goes past federal law, so federal law is the whole of it here. A marketing text to a cell phone needs prior express written consent: a signed agreement that names who may text, says the texts may be automated, and says the person does not have to agree in order to buy anything. A client can take that back any way they like, and you have 10 business days to stop.

No person or entity shall initiate any telephone solicitation to … any residential telephone subscriber before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party’s location) The text

47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1), (e). The hours reach a text because the rules set forth in paragraph (c) and (d) of this section are applicable to any person or entity making telephone solicitations or telemarketing calls or text messages to wireless telephone numbers.

What we read in Georgia: Opened O.C.G.A. § 46-5-27 in full (2025 Georgia Code) including subsections (a)–(n), the History line and all codifier amendment notes, searched for hours language, per-person caps, 'text message', 'wireless', and the existing-customer carve-out. Also opened the Georgia PSC implementing rule Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 515-14-1-.03 (Restrictions on Telephone Solicitations to Residential, Mobile or Wireless Subscribers) in full and confirmed it adds no hours restriction. ga.elaws.us returned HTTP 503 on repeated attempts; casetext returned 410; codes.findlaw.com returned 403. Justia's 2025 Georgia Code text was used and read directly.

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 8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. 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. Georgia 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

The rules are statewide, the permit is local. "Health Authority" throughout the rule means your local county board of health, it issues the studio permit on DPH forms and does the inspections, while DPH runs the body artist certification exam and issues the artist permit.

Body Art, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. ch. 511-3-8

• Fulton County Board of Health, Environmental Health, Body Art · Fulton County (Atlanta)
• Cobb & Douglas Public Health, Environmental Health, Tattoos and Piercings · Cobb and Douglas counties
• GNR Public Health, Environmental Health, Body Art Studios · Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale counties

At least twice a year. The county board of health inspects. Have the client files, ID copies, applications, evaluations, signed consents, and the studio permit ready.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes, a body art studio permit issued by your county board of health on forms prescribed by DPH. It runs until the studio stops operating, relocates, or changes owner.

Your artists. Yes, a DPH body artist certification, with a separate exam for tattooing, piercing and microblading. Valid 1 year and renewed on a standard date set by DPH.

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in Georgia

A generic waiver app is one form builder for every industry — rafting outfits, gyms, trampoline parks and tattoo shops all start from the same blank template. The tattoo part is yours: you write the questions, you keep them current when the rule changes, and you find out whether you got it right when an inspector reads your file.

In Georgia that is 10 things to set up and keep in step yourself:

• An allergies question: medicines, ointments, soaps, latex, anything put on the skin
• A bleeding-disorder question
• The medications and blood thinners question, always on
• The artist's license number on the signed waiver, from the shop's artist list
• The risks of a tattoo the state's rule lists, in writing on a tattoo's consent
• The risks of a piercing the state's rule lists, in writing on a piercing's consent
• A box the client ticks: they are doing this of their own free will and have read and understood the form
• Whether the client has eaten in the last 4 hours
• How to reach your county board of health with a complaint or question about safety, sanitization or sterilization, with its phone number, on the consent
• The artist's own signature on the record, tapped in the shop app after the work

On waivers.tattoo, a shop in Georgia gets all of it the day it starts. Your page opens with Georgia’s questions already on the form, your client signs on their own phone, and the signed waiver prints what they answered.

Georgia in our state-by-state posts

• Texting your tattoo clients: the hours, the caps, and all 51 state rules
• 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.
• Is a tattoo consent form signed on a phone legal? Yes, since 2000. Here is what your state adds on top.
• 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