North Carolina

What the record must capture

• Client's name
• Address
• Phone number
• Date of birth
• The client's signature

No rule tells you to check photo ID. The rule does say the client must record or verify their date of birth, and tattooing anyone under 18 is a crime, so check anyway.

"Records shall be kept for a minimum of two years and shall be made available to the department on demand." — 15A NCAC 18A .3206(b)

A license on a phone in North Carolina

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

What we read: NCDMV 'North Carolina Mobile ID Program' page read in full, 2026-09-11: written in the future tense ('At launch, North Carolina mobile IDs will be available through the new NC Wallet'; 'We expect acceptance to continue expanding throughout 2027'; Apple, Google and Samsung Wallet options 'in 2027'). N.C. Gen. Stat. ch. 20 (ncleg.gov) for § 20-4.01(21b) and § 20-7(m1). TSA list (2026-09-11): North Carolina absent.

On waivers.tattoo: a shop can let its clients choose a saved photo of their ID in Settings. It starts off, and in North Carolina 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. There is no parental-consent route for a tattoo in North Carolina, it is a Class 2 misdemeanor whoever signs. Piercing anything other than ears is the opposite: § 14-400(b) allows it on a minor with the prior consent of a custodial parent or guardian.

"It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to tattoo the arm, limb, or any part of the body of any other person under 18 years of age." — N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-400(a)

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

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. The prior consent of a custodial parent or guardian. The statute does not require the consent to be in writing, does not require the adult to be present, and names no floor age.

The ban reaches 'any part of the body other than ears', so the whole ear, cartilage included, is outside it and needs no consent under this statute.

Class 2 misdemeanor

N.C. Gen. Stat. s 14-400(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 North Carolina requires.

What the consent form must say

"Retrievable records for each patron shall be kept by the tattoo artist. The patron shall be required to record or verify their name, address, phone number, date of birth, and provide their signature." — 15A NCAC 18A .3206(a)

Health history and aftercare

No health-history questionnaire and no written-aftercare rule. What the rules do say is who you may not tattoo: nobody with visible jaundice, and no skin carrying a rash, pimples, boils, infection, or anything reddened or inflamed. When the tattoo is done, clean the area, optionally apply antibacterial ointment, and cover it with a sterile dressing. Any infection you hear about goes to the local health department within 48 hours.

"No person with visible jaundice (yellowing of the eyes or skin) shall be tattooed." — 15A NCAC 18A .3206(c)

Texting your clients in North Carolina

8am to 9pm, the rule does not say whose clock. N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 75-100 to 75-105 (ch. 75, art. 4, Telephone Solicitations); hours at § 75-102(f), in force since 2019-12-01. It names text messages, so a text counts.

Consent. "Express invitation or permission. - Any invitation or permission that is registered by the telephone subscriber on an independent form and that contains the telephone number to which calls can be placed and the signature of the telephone subscriber. The form may be completed and signed electronically." (§ 75-101(6)). In any dispute the solicitor carries the burden of producing the signed original, facsimile or electronic form (§ 75-103(e)).

Your own clients. "Established business relationship" (§ 75-101(5)), based on the consumer's purchase, rental or lease of the seller's goods or services, or a financial transaction, "within the 18 months immediately preceding the date of a telephone solicitation"; or the consumer's inquiry or application "within the three months immediately preceding." 18 months for a purchase, 3 months for an inquiry. It exempts a solicitor from the DNC bar (§ 75-102(a)) and from §§ 75-102(c)(3), (d), (g) and (j), but § 75-103 conspicuously does not list § 75-102(f), so the 8:00 A.M.-9:00 P.M. HOURS RULE STILL BINDS.

It reaches your sender too. Its own words are “causes telephone solicitations 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.

No telephone solicitor shall make a telephone solicitation before 8:00 A.M. or after 9:00 P.M. The text

Private right of action, § 75-105(b): $500 for the first violation, $1,000 for the second, and $5,000 for the third and any other violation within two years of the first; injunctive relief also available; attorney fees to a prevailing plaintiff on a willful violation (§ 75-105(d)); suit is tried in the plaintiff's county of residence. § 75-105(c) bars the private action where the violation resulted from mistake and the solicitation fell within a § 75-103(a) exemption or the solicitor complied with § 75-102(d). AG penalties under § 75-105(a) run on the same $500/$1,000/$5,000 ladder.

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 9pm, 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. North Carolina 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

State rules, county delivery. NCDHHS writes one set of rules for the whole state, but the permit is issued by the Department through your local health department, that is where you apply, that is who inspects you, and that is who sets the application fee. There is no separate county rulebook to learn.

Environmental Health Section, Tattoo Program (15A NCAC 18A .3200)

No fixed interval in the rules. The local health department inspects the premises before a permit is issued, and permits come up for renewal every year. The inspector works off the state's own form (EHS 4014, Inspection of Tattoo Establishment) and wants the patron records, the autoclave spore-test results recorded for annual review, the posted permit, and the handwashing and sterilization setup.

Licensing

Your shop. No shop or studio license. North Carolina permits people, not places, though the premises are inspected before a permit is issued and the permit lists the establishment's address.

Your artists. Yes, a tattooing permit in the individual artist's name, applied for at the local health department at least 30 days before you plan to start, valid 1 year, renewed by applying at least 30 days before it expires, and posted in the shop where clients can see it.

The licensing page

North Carolina 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