Maryland

What the form asks in Maryland

Maryland’s rule names things the standard waiver form did not ask. A shop in Maryland 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)“Provide written after-care instructions to the client” (COMAR 10.06.01.06H(1)(k))
• The risks of a tattoo the state's rule lists, in writing on a tattoo's consent“Disclose the risks of the procedure, obtain the client's written consent for the performance of the procedure” (COMAR 10.06.01.06H(1)(a); the risks as the H(1)(m) notice names them)
• The risks of a piercing the state's rule lists, in writing on a piercing's consent“Disclose the risks of the procedure, obtain the client's written consent for the performance of the procedure” (COMAR 10.06.01.06H(1)(a); the risks as the H(1)(m) notice names them)

What the record must capture

• Name of the customer
• Date and type of procedure performed
• The technician who performed the procedure
• The signed consent, or the parent's or guardian's consent for a minor

COMAR sets no photo-ID rule; a local ordinance may, and you still need to establish the client's age to know whose consent you need.

"Maintain records of the name of the customer, the date and type of procedure performed, and the technician performing the procedure for a period of 3 years" — COMAR 10.06.01.06H(1)(b)

A license on a phone in Maryland

Maryland’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet. Maryland MVA, Acceptance of Maryland Mobile Identification Cards and Mobile Driver Licenses (2026-08-11):

Maryland Mobile Identification (ID) Cards and Mobile Driver Licenses are valid forms of identification under Maryland Transportation Article § 16-1002 and may be accepted by businesses and organizations for age and identity verification when using an authorized Mobile ID reader. The text

A picture of one is not. “A mDL is a voluntary, secure digital version of your physical driver’s license or ID issued by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. It is NOT a picture of your license or ID.” 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 Maryland requires.

Minors

18+. Minors only with conditions. Statewide, the rule is one sentence: the artist must "obtain the client's written consent for the performance of the procedure or, in the case of a minor, the consent of the parent or guardian, and retain the consent on file for a period of 3 years". It names no age floor, no parent in the room and no ID. But local rules override in practice: Baltimore City's Health Code says "No person may tattoo any minor.", and its Health Department adds "regardless of parental or guardian permission". Worcester County's code makes it "unlawful for any operator or employee to tattoo any person under the age of eighteen years of age". In Allegany County, "No person under the age of 18 shall be tattooed or pierced, unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who provides written consent." Check your own jurisdiction before relying on a parent's signature.

"obtain the client's written consent for the performance of the procedure or, in the case of a minor, the consent of the parent or guardian, and retain the consent on file for a period of 3 years" — COMAR 10.06.01.06H(1)(a)

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 Maryland requires.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. The parent's or guardian's written consent, which the shop keeps on file 3 years and hands to the health officer on request. That is the whole state requirement: no floor age, no notary, no parent present, no ID, no proof of relationship.

Only earlobe piercing with a properly disinfected ear-piercing gun and single-use sterile studs and clutches is outside the rule; a needle earlobe piercing is covered.

COMAR 10.06.01.06H(1)(a); definition at COMAR 10.06.01.02B(27) 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 Maryland requires.

What the consent form must say

• Disclosure of the risks of the procedure
• The client's written consent to the procedure
• For a minor, the parent's or guardian's consent

"Disclose the risks of the procedure, obtain the client's written consent for the performance of the procedure" — COMAR 10.06.01.06H(1)(a)

Health history and aftercare

COMAR does not require a health-history questionnaire. It does require written after-care instructions for every client, and that multiple-use instruments be cleaned and sterilized before reuse.

"Provide written after-care instructions to the client" — COMAR 10.06.01.06H(1)(k)

Texting your clients in Maryland

8am to 8pm, the client’s local time. 3 messages a day. Md. Code Ann., Com. Law § 14-4502(c), Stop the Spam Calls Act of 2023, in force since 2024-01-01. It names text messages, so a text counts.

Consent. Prior express written consent for an automated or recorded solicitation (§ 14-4502(a)(3)). The Act defines that consent as a signed agreement authorizing a solicitation "by telephone call, text message, or voicemail", naming the number, and saying that signing is not a condition of buying anything. That phrase is also the only place in the Act that names a text at all, so it is the hook that carries the window onto one.

Your own clients. Narrow, and it does not reach the clock. The Act exempts a message between a business and its customer only where the message is "initially intended for informational purposes only" and turns into a solicitation on the customer's own further question, which an offer is not. That exemption list is scoped to subsection (a); the window and the cap sit in subsection (c), which has no exemptions.

It reaches your sender too. Its own words are “make or cause to be made”, 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 person may not make or cause to be made a telephone solicitation ... [t]o a called party during the hours between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the called party's time zone. The text

A client can sue for actual damages or $500, whichever is more, trebled for a willful violation.

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 8am to 8pm, 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.
• 3 messages a day, at most. Maryland counts every marketing message you send one person.

Who inspects you

The state sets duties but issues no licence: MDH says plainly it does not license tattoo and body piercing businesses. COMAR 10.06.01.06H binds every operator statewide and the local health officer enforces it. Whether you also need a permit, and what it costs, depends on your county or city ordinance, so start with your local health department.

Environmental Health, skin-penetrating body adornment procedures under COMAR 10.06.01.06

• Baltimore City Health Department, Environmental Health, tattoo facilities (Baltimore City Health Code Title 13) · Baltimore City
• Allegany County, Chapter 487, Tattoo and Body Art Establishments · Allegany County
• Worcester County, PH 1-103 · Worcester County
• Calvert County Health Department, tattoo law · Calvert County

The state rule sets no interval, it makes your consents and client records producible to the health officer on request. Where a county or city licenses tattoo facilities, that programme sets the inspection schedule; Baltimore City publishes facility inspection dates and renews licences annually.

Licensing

Your shop. No state licence. Whether the shop needs one depends on the county or city, Baltimore City, Allegany, Worcester and Calvert have their own ordinances; in Baltimore City a facility needs a Use and Occupancy permit and the operator needs a licence.

Your artists. No state artist licence in Maryland; any artist requirement comes from the local ordinance.

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in Maryland

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 Maryland that is 2 things to set up and keep in step yourself:

• 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

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

Maryland 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.
• 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