New Mexico

What the form asks in New Mexico

New Mexico’s rule names things the standard waiver form did not ask. A shop in New Mexico 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)“that the client has been given the aftercare instructions as required by Subsection J of 16.36.5.8 NMAC” (16.36.5.11(A)(2) NMAC)
• The risks of a tattoo the state's rule lists, in writing on a tattoo's consent“inform the client, verbally and in writing that the following health conditions may increase health risks associated with receiving a body art procedure” (16.36.5.11(A)(1)-(2) NMAC)
• The risks of a piercing the state's rule lists, in writing on a piercing's consent“inform the client, verbally and in writing that the following health conditions may increase health risks associated with receiving a body art procedure” (16.36.5.11(A)(1)-(2) NMAC)

What the record must capture

• Client's name
• Date of birth
• Address
• Date of the procedure
• Name of the licensee who did the work
• Type of procedure and where it sits on the body
• Client's signature
• For a minor, written proof of parent or guardian presence and consent
• Ink colors used, with maker, catalogue number or invoice when available

New Mexico puts no ID check on the client. What the rule requires is the client's date of birth in the record, and for a minor, written proof of the parent or guardian's presence and consent. The proof of age rules in this chapter, a government photo ID showing at least 18, are about who may hold a license, not who may be tattooed.

"All records described in this paragraph shall be retained for a minimum of three years and provided to the board upon request." — 16.36.5.11(E) NMAC

A license on a phone in New Mexico

New Mexico’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. New Mexico Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, acceptable forms of identification:

State-issued mobile ID by use of an ISO 18013-5 compliant reader to verify the consumer’s age. The text

A picture of one is not. “A customer cannot “show” their Mobile ID to a business.” 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 New Mexico requires.

Minors

18+. Minors only with conditions. The statute says nothing about minors at all, and the board's rule reaches them only through the client record, which carries "the signature of the client and, if the client is a minor, written proof of parental or legal guardian presence and consent" (16.36.5.11(C)(7) NMAC). No floor age is named anywhere, and the rule does not say the parent's form must be notarized. The act is a floor, not a ceiling: "A municipality may by ordinance provide more stringent standards" (NMSA 1978 § 61-17B-13), so check your city before you rely on this.

"the signature of the client and, if the client is a minor, written proof of parental or legal guardian presence and consent" — 16.36.5.11(C)(7) NMAC

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 New Mexico requires.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. The client record for a minor has to carry written proof that a parent or legal guardian was present and consented. Both halves, presence and written consent. No floor age, no notary, no state form and no ID requirement anywhere in the text.

Piercing only the outer perimeter of the ear, no cartilage, with a pre-sterilized encapsulated single-use stud system is exempt from the whole Act (NMSA 1978 s 61-17B-7(A)).

Civil penalty up to $500 per violation in district court; the board's own schedule caps at $150

16.36.5.11(C)(7) NMAC; Body Art Safe Practices Act, NMSA 1978 ss 61-17B-3, -7, -11 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 New Mexico requires.

What the consent form must say

• Confirmation the risk information was given, out loud and in writing
• A statement the client has no condition that prevents body art
• The client's consent to the procedure
• Acknowledgment that aftercare instructions were given

"require that the client sign a form confirming that the above information was provided, that the client does not have a condition that prevents them from receiving body art" — 16.36.5.11(A)(2) NMAC

Health history and aftercare

Before the needle, the artist has to tell the client, out loud and in writing, that diabetes, hemophilia, skin disease or sensitivities, pigment allergies, epilepsy or fainting, blood thinners, and hepatitis or HIV raise the risk, and the client signs that none of it applies to them. Aftercare goes out verbally and in writing, and the written copy must cover cleaning the site, when to see a doctor (unexpected redness, swelling, rash, drainage, or a fever within 24 hours), and the shop's address and phone.

"The licensee shall provide each client with verbal and written instructions on the aftercare of the body art site." — 16.36.5.11(F) NMAC

Texting your clients in New Mexico

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. New Mexico 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 New Mexico: Its telemarketing window, 9am to 9pm at the called person's location, reaches a voice call and not a text. Read N.M. Stat. Ann. § 57-12-22 in full (subsections A-D including the D(4) definition of "telephone solicitation" and all five exclusions, and the D(1) definition of "established business relationship"). Read § 57-12-10 (private remedy) in full. Read § 57-12-23 (unsolicited facsimiles or email) for any text-message reach. Searched for a 2021-2026 New Mexico mini-TCPA or SMS-specific statute; found none. Searched Chapter 57 Article 12 for "text message", "wireless", "short message".

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. New Mexico 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

One state board licenses both sides of the counter: the establishment and each practitioner (tattoo artist, permanent makeup, piercer, scarification, plus apprentice, guest-artist and special-event licenses). The board is also the body that asks to see your records and your sterilizer logs, so there is no separate county permit to chase, though the act sets a floor and not a ceiling: a municipality may impose stricter standards by ordinance.

Board of Body Art Practitioners

The board can ask for the client records and the monthly sterilizer spore-test results (kept 3 years) at any time, and the autoclave maker's operating instructions have to be on site and available for inspection.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes, a body art establishment license from the Board of Body Art Practitioners, applied for and renewed annually, $300 either way.

Your artists. Yes, each artist holds their own license from the same board (tattoo artist, permanent makeup, body piercing, scarification), and must have it on hand and on display.

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in New Mexico

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 New Mexico 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 New Mexico gets all of it the day it starts. Your page opens with New Mexico’s questions already on the form, your client signs on their own phone, and the signed waiver prints what they answered.

New Mexico 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