Ohio

What the form asks in Ohio

Ohio’s rule names things the standard waiver form did not ask. A shop in Ohio 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)“Each patron shall be provided with verbal and written aftercare guidelines following any body art procedure.” (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-9-04(T))
• The aftercare suggestions for the client's tattoo, on the consent and the signed waiver, headed by the site they named“A parent, guardian, or custodian of the individual under eighteen years of age signs a document provided by the business that explains the manner in which the procedure will be performed, the specific part of the body upon which the procedure will be performed, and the methods for proper care of the affected body part following the procedure” (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-9-04(P)(1); Ohio Rev. Code § 3730.06(B)(2))

What the record must capture

• The patron's name
• The patron's address
• The date of the service
• Colors and manufacturer of all inks, dyes or pigments used
• Jewelry used, size, material composition and manufacturer
• Placement of the procedure on the body

Ohio frames the ID check as your defense rather than a duty: § 3730.08 shields you from an under-18 charge only if the client showed a driver's license, commercial driver's license or a state ID card showing 18 or over, you actually compared the description against the person and checked the ID was not altered, and you had reason to believe they were 18.

"A record of each body art procedure shall be maintained for at least two years." — Ohio Admin. Code § 3701-9-04(W)

A license on a phone in Ohio

Ohio’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. Ohio Division of Liquor Control, Ohio Mobile ID guidance (2024-08-21):

Optional for permit holders. You choose whether to accept Ohio Mobile ID at your location. The text

A picture of one is not. “Do not accept a screen-only display. You must use the app on an iPhone or an ISO 18013-5 compliant reader to verify a customer's Ohio Mobile ID. A customer cannot simply show their ID on the phone screen.” 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 Ohio requires.

Minors

18+. Minors only with conditions. Under 18, a parent, guardian or custodian has to appear in person at the shop at the time of the procedure and sign a document you provide explaining how the procedure will be performed, the specific part of the body, and how to care for it afterward. No body art at all on the nipple, areola or genital area of anyone under 18. It is also an offense for anyone to give false ID or to impersonate a parent to get a minor tattooed.

"No person shall perform a tattooing procedure... on an individual who is under eighteen years of age unless consent has been given by the individual's parent, guardian, or custodian." — Ohio Rev. Code § 3730.06(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 Ohio requires.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. The parent, guardian or custodian has to appear in person at the shop at the time the piercing is done and sign a document you provide that explains how the procedure will be performed, the specific part of the body, and how to care for it afterward.

Ohio is the opposite of the usual carve-out: the statute names 'ear piercing procedure with an ear piercing gun' alongside tattooing and body piercing, so a stud-gun lobe piercing needs the parent in the room too.

Off limits for a minor even with consent: nipple, areola and genital area, for anyone under 18, regardless of consent.

Misdemeanor of the fourth degree; impersonating a parent or giving false ID to get a minor pierced is a misdemeanor of the first degree

Ohio Rev. Code s 3730.06(A)-(B); Ohio Admin. Code 3701-9-04(P); penalties at s 3730.99 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 Ohio requires, and the form refuses nipple and genital piercings.

What the consent form must say

• For a client under 18: how the procedure will be performed
• For a client under 18: the specific part of the body
• For a client under 18: the methods for proper aftercare
• The parent, guardian or custodian's signature

"signs a document provided by the business that explains the manner in which the procedure will be performed, the specific part of the body upon which the procedure will be performed, and the methods for proper care" — Ohio Admin. Code § 3701-9-04(P)(1)

Health history and aftercare

Before the work, the artist has to ask the client whether they have conditions that could affect healing, and if they do the procedure does not go ahead without documentation from a physician. Every client gets verbal and written aftercare guidelines afterward. On the sterilization side, § 3730.09 makes the operator run a weekly biological spore test on heat sterilizers, log the date and who ran it, and keep that log at least 2 years, plus written records of the color, manufacturer and lot number of every pigment used.

"Each patron shall be provided with verbal and written aftercare guidelines following any body art procedure." — Ohio Admin. Code § 3701-9-04(T)

Texting your clients in Ohio

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. Ohio 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 Ohio: Read Ohio Rev. Code § 4719.01 in full, the § 4719.01(A) definitions of "Communication", "Telephone solicitation" and "Telephone solicitor", and all 26 exemptions in division (B), including (B)(12), (B)(18) and (B)(25). Pulled the whole of ch. 4719 (all 21 sections, ~71,000 characters) off codes.ohio.gov and grepped it for "a.m.", "p.m." and "o'clock", zero hits, so the chapter contains no calling-hours provision. Read § 4719.08 (prohibited acts, divisions A-I) and § 4719.15 (civil action by purchaser). Pulled the whole of Ohio Admin. Code ch. 109:4-3 (all 31 rules, ~164,000 characters) and grepped the same terms plus "text message", zero hits; read rule 109:4-3-11 (Direct solicitations, effective March 21, 2026) in full and confirmed it carries no hours, no consent rule and no text coverage.

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. Ohio 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 state writes the rules and trains the inspectors; you never license with the state. Approval to operate comes from the board of health for your health district, that board inspects you and sets your fee, and it can adopt the state rules as a floor and go stricter. Ohio Rev. Code § 3730.11 also lets a municipality or township refuse to allow a body art business at all, so check the city before you sign a lease.

Body Art Program, Ohio Rev. Code ch. 3730 and Ohio Admin. Code ch. 3701-9, administered by local boards of health

• Columbus Public Health, Columbus City Health Code ch. 247 adopts ORC 3730 and OAC 3701-9 as the minimum standard, then charges $400 a year for tattooing, body piercing or combined body art, and $85 for a time-limited event · City of Columbus
• Cuyahoga County Board of Health, Tattoo and Body Piercing Program. Stricter than the state: artists must document current completion of first aid and bloodborne pathogens courses · Cuyahoga County (the Cleveland area, outside city health districts that run their own)
• Hamilton County Public Health, Body Art licensing. $300 initial, $300 annual renewal; up to 30 days plus a licensing inspection before approval · Hamilton County but NOT the cities of Cincinnati, Norwood or Springdale, which license their own
• Cincinnati Health Department, Environmental Health, Body Art (including temporary body art event licenses for tattooing, piercing, microblading and permanent cosmetics) · City of Cincinnati

No interval fixed in the statute. Your local board of health inspects before approval issues, then on its own schedule. The board gets access to the premises and to all records relevant to the inspection, the 2-year client records, the pigment color/manufacturer/lot log, and the weekly spore-test log.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes, approval to operate from the board of health for your health district under § 3730.03, granted after a licensing inspection and renewed annually. The fee is set locally: Hamilton County charges $300 a year, Columbus $400 a year per service category.

Your artists. No individual artist license from the state. Section 3730.09 makes the operator responsible for procedures ensuring artists are adequately trained, and some boards go further, Cuyahoga County makes artists document current first aid and bloodborne pathogens training.

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in Ohio

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 Ohio that is 1 thing to set up and keep in step yourself:

• The aftercare suggestions for the client's tattoo, on the consent and the signed waiver, headed by the site they named

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

Ohio 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