Maine

What the form asks in Maine

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

• Aftercare instructions, acknowledged in the consent (on every form)“A signed copy of the written aftercare instructions” ("Records shall be retained for a period of not less than two (2) years." — 10-144 C.M.R. ch. 210, sec. 6(C))

What the record must capture

• Date of the procedure
• Patron's name and address
• Patron's age
• The picture ID used as proof, with its serial number
• The patron's own signature
• A signed copy of the written aftercare instructions

The patron personally writes down the picture identification used as proof and its serial number, and the practitioner then verifies the entry is correct.

"Records shall be retained for a period of not less than two (2) years." — 10-144 C.M.R. ch. 210, sec. 6(C)

A license on a phone in Maine

Maine does not issue a digital license. A license on a phone is not an ID a shop here can rely on.

What we read: Maine Secretary of State, Bureau of Motor Vehicles home and Driver Licenses and IDs pages (maine.gov/sos/bmv), 2026-09-11: no mobile or digital license offered or mentioned. Maine Legislature 132nd (2025-26) searches for a mobile/digital credential bill: none found (LD 1360, P.L. 2025 c. 163, concerns non-REAL ID cards, not digital ones). Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and TSA lists (2026-09-11): Maine absent.

On waivers.tattoo: a shop can let its clients choose a saved photo of their ID in Settings. It starts off, and in Maine a saved photo is only ever a picture of a card: a copy for your file, never proof of age.

Minors

18+. No minors, even with a parent. No exception and no consent form can fix it, a parent cannot authorize a tattoo for anyone under 18 in Maine. Verify age with a driver's license, liquor ID card, military ID card or other adequate record; the rule flags this as a critical violation, and violations carry a $50 to $500 fine or up to 6 months.

"No person shall place a tattoo mark or figure upon a person under the age of 18 years." — 32 M.R.S. sec. 4203

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

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. Prior written consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian. The rule adds that you take proper identification from the parent or guardian and note it on the record, and that the parent's signature goes on the patron record you keep 2 years. That is a critical violation if you skip it.

Only the earlobe, and only with a disposable single-use stud or solid needle applied with a mechanical device. The statute says out loud that piercing anywhere on the ear other than the lobe IS body piercing and needs a license.

Administrative penalty of $500 to $1,000 for each violation, and each uncorrected day can count as a separate offense.

32 M.R.S. § 4323; 10-144 C.M.R. ch. 209 § 4(B) 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 Maine requires.

What the consent form must say

"Permanent records for each patron, including a signed copy of the written aftercare instructions provided to the patron, shall be maintained by the person operating the establishment." — 10-144 C.M.R. ch. 210, sec. 6(B)

Health history and aftercare

The rule says the information taken in each patron's medical history and questionnaire shall be recorded on the medical history questionnaire form, but the section it points to for what must actually be asked reads 'section (4) (TBA)', a blank the 2005 rule never filled in, so the contents are undefined. Aftercare is solid: written instructions go to the patron and a signed copy stays in the file.

"The information taken in each patron's medical history and questionnaire, as required in section (4) (TBA), shall be recorded on the medical history questionnaire form." — 10-144 C.M.R. ch. 210, sec. 6(A)

Texting your clients in Maine

9am to 5pm, the client’s local time. Never on Saturdays or Sundays. 1 message every 8 hours. 10 M.R.S. § 1498(3); 10 M.R.S. § 1499-B; 10 M.R.S. § 1499-A(1)(D), in force since 1991. It is written for phone calls and never names a text. Treat it as covering texts anyway: the shop carries the risk either way.

Consent. 10 M.R.S. 1498(6)(E) lifts the whole section for a device used to 'Deliver information with the prior, written, express consent of the recipient of the call', so prior written express consent is the escape hatch from Maine's window and its cap. Under the do-not-call statute, 10 M.R.S. 1499-B(2)(A), a call 'made in response to and at the express request of the person called' is outside the section.

Your own clients. Under the do-not-call statute only. 10 M.R.S. 1499-B(2)(D) excludes 'A telephone sales call made to any person with whom the telephone solicitor has an established business relationship,' defined at 1499-B(1)(D-1) by a purchase or transaction 'within the 18 months immediately preceding the date of a telephone sales call' or an inquiry or application 'within the 3 months immediately preceding the date of the call,' and terminated the moment the consumer asks that solicitor to stop. 10 M.R.S. 1498 has no established-customer exemption, it uses prior written express consent instead.

It reaches your sender too. A service that texts on your behalf is inside this rule with you. Hiring one does not move the duty off the shop.

A person may not use an automated telephone calling device to make solicitation calls to any telephone number in the State except weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., according to the time in this State The text

10 M.R.S. 1498(8): 'Violation of this section is an unfair trade practice as prohibited by Title 5, section 207.' Same for 1499-B(10). The Maine UTPA private action, 5 M.R.S. 213(1), is available only to a person who 'purchases or leases goods, services or property ... and thereby suffers any loss of money or property', actual damages, restitution and equitable relief, so a mere recipient has no claim.

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 5pm, the client’s local time, and never on Saturdays or Sundays. 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.
• 1 message every 8 hours, at most. Maine counts every marketing message you send one person.

Who inspects you

The state licenses the person, not the shop: a separate practitioner license is issued to an individual for a specific approved establishment, so a second location means a second license. State health inspectors cover most of Maine, with Portland, Lewiston and South Portland running their own inspectors.

Health Inspection Program, tattoo practitioner licensing and inspection

Keep a copy of the most recent inspection report at the establishment and post a notice telling patrons it is available for review; sterilization records must be kept and available for inspection for at least 1 year.

Licensing

Your shop. There is no separate shop license, but no tattooing may happen outside an approved tattoo establishment (or an approved trade show), and the practitioner's license is tied to that specific approved location.

Your artists. Yes, a practitioner license from Maine DHHS, $50 for each operating location, issued annually and expiring September 30, with proof of bloodborne pathogen training taken within the last 3 years.

The licensing page

Maine 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