Colorado

What the form asks in Colorado

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

• An allergies question: medicines, ointments, soaps, latex, anything put on the skin“Allergies or adverse reactions to latex, pigments, dyes, disinfectants, soaps or metals” (6 CCR 1010-22 § 4-402(d))
• A bleeding-disorder question“Hemophilia” (6 CCR 1010-22 § 4-402(b))
• The medications and blood thinners question, always on“Treatment with anticoagulants or other medications that thin the blood and/or interfere with blood clotting” (6 CCR 1010-22 § 4-402(e))
• Aftercare instructions, acknowledged in the consent (on every form)“Documentation that both written and verbal instructions regarding risks, outcome and aftercare were given to the client” (6 CCR 1010-22 § 4-403(d))
• The aftercare suggestions for the client's tattoo, on the consent and the signed waiver, headed by the site they named“Detailed description of how to care for the body art procedure site” (6 CCR 1010-22 § 4-403(d)(3))

What the record must capture

• Client name, address, and current phone number
• Date of the procedure
• The type and location of the body art
• Proof the client got written and verbal risk and aftercare instructions
• What the client disclosed about diabetes, hemophilia, skin conditions, allergies, blood thinners

The state rule asks for no photo ID. County rules do, El Paso County requires on-site copies of the parent's and the minor's photo ID for a minor client.

"The person in charge shall have access to and shall maintain client records on the premise for a minimum of three (3) years." — 6 CCR 1010-22 § 4-401

A license on a phone in Colorado

Colorado’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in myColorado app, Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet. Colorado Liquor Enforcement Division Bulletin 19-07, carrying Executive Order B 2019 013:

The Colorado Digital ID, stored within the myColorado app, is a legal digital representation of a Colorado driver license within Colorado and, therefore, is valid for acceptance anywhere age or identity verification is required. The text

A picture of one is not. “Ask the holder to rotate the phone to see if the free-floating flower hologram appears to move. If it does not move, the image is a static photo and not the hologram, indicating a counterfeit.” 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 Colorado requires.

Minors

18+. Minors only with conditions. State law names no minimum age and no form: "No body artist shall perform a body art procedure upon a minor unless the body artist has received express consent from the minor's parent or guardian", and missing it is a petty offense with a $250 fine. The state's rule, 6 CCR 1010-22, never mentions minors. Counties go further, which the statute allows. El Paso County's consent form for a minor carries "A statement, signed in person onsite by the parent or legal guardian, attesting to their status as parent or legal guardian of the minor client", "A copy made onsite of an original state or federal photo ID of the parent or legal guardian" and "A copy made onsite of an original state, federal or school-issued photo ID of the minor client", with "A copy made onsite of an original court-issued letter of guardianship, if the person granting permission is the minor client's guardian", and nobody there pierces or tattoos a minor "without the parent or legal guardian present in the procedure area of the licensed facility in which the procedure occurs". El Paso County also bars piercing or tattooing a minor's genital, anal or nipple area, any body art on a minor but piercing and tattooing, and recording a minor's body art below the chin.

"No body artist shall perform a body art procedure upon a minor unless the body artist has received express consent from the minor's parent or guardian." — Colo. Rev. Stat. § 25-4-2103

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 Colorado requires.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. Express consent from the minor's parent or guardian. State law stops there: it does not require the consent to be written, does not name a form, does not require the parent to be present, and does not ask for ID. Counties may be stricter, and El Paso County is.

Piercing the outer perimeter or lobe of the ear with a sterilized stud-and-clasp system is excluded from both BODY ART and PIERCING in the state rules; the statute itself defines nothing.

Petty offense, $250 fine; separately, up to $250 per day against the facility for a rule violation

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 25-4-2103 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 Colorado requires.

What the consent form must say

• Client name, address, and current phone number
• Date of the procedure
• The type and location of the body art
• Shop name, address, phone, and the artist who did the work
• When to see a doctor: signs of infection, allergic reaction, healing time
• How to care for the site
• That body art should be considered permanent
• Possible side effects

"Client consent form for all procedures shall include the following: (a) Name, address and current phone number of the client (b) Date of the procedure (c) The type and location of the body art" — 6 CCR 1010-22 § 4-403

Health history and aftercare

Before the work, ask the client to disclose diabetes, hemophilia, skin disease or lesions, allergies to latex, pigment, dye, disinfectant, soap or metal, and blood thinners. Aftercare goes to the client in writing and out loud, and the consent form has to document that it did.

"[T]he client shall be asked to disclose if he/she has any of the following: (a) Diabetes (b) Hemophilia (c) Skin diseases or skin lesions" — 6 CCR 1010-22 § 4-402

Texting your clients in Colorado

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time, from federal law. Colorado sets no hours of its own. What it does set is different in kind: C.R.S. §§ 6-1-901 to -908 (Colorado No-Call List Act), esp. §§ 6-1-903(10) and 6-1-904(1); remedies via §§ 6-1-906 and 6-1-113, in force since 2003-03-25. It names text messages, so a text counts.

Consent. "prior express invitation or permission" of the subscriber, a communication sent with it is excluded from 'telephone solicitation' outright (C.R.S. § 6-1-903(10)(b)(I)). The statute does not require the consent to be written or signed.

Your own clients. Yes - 18 months. A communication 'by or on behalf of any person or entity with whom a residential subscriber or wireless telephone service subscriber has an established business relationship' is excluded (§ 6-1-903(10)(b)(II)). EBR is defined at § 6-1-903(7)(a) as a voluntary two-way communication on the basis of an application, purchase, ongoing contractual agreement or commercial transaction, expressly 'with or without consideration', that has not been terminated by either party and 'Currently exists or has existed within the immediately preceding eighteen months.' A separate 30-day window covers someone who just inquired.

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.

"Telephone solicitation" means any voice, telefacsimile, graphic imaging, or data communication, including text messaging communication over a telephone line or through a wireless telephone The text

Private right of action with $500 statutory damages. § 6-1-906(1) makes any violation a deceptive trade practice under § 6-1-105(1), enforceable under §§ 6-1-110, -112 and -113.

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 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. Colorado 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

CDPHE writes the statewide body art rules; it does not license shops. Your county or city public health agency licenses the shop and inspects it, and state law lets it adopt standards at least as stringent as the state's.

Body art rules, 6 CCR 1010-22, licensing and inspection run by county and city public health agencies

• Boulder County Public Health, Body Art Program · Boulder County
• El Paso County Public Health, Body Art · El Paso County (Colorado Springs)
• Denver Department of Public Health & Environment, Body Art Establishments · City and County of Denver
  Stricter than the state on the consent form. Denver's body art rules require every client consent form to include the "Sterilization date or package/lot number used during the procedure" and the "Source/manufacturer and lot number of ink, pigment or dyes if any are used in procedure" (Rules and Regulations for Body Artist, Body Art Establishments, and Mobile Body Art Vehicles, § 5.C). The state's consent form rule, 6 CCR 1010-22 § 4-403, asks for neither. The department's Public Health Investigations division inspects, and Denver's Department of Excise and Licenses issues the body artist and establishment licenses. The source

The state rule sets no interval, your county or city public health agency sets the schedule and inspects routinely. Inspectors can enter during business hours, examine any document the rules require, and must leave a written report by the end of the next workday.

Licensing

Your shop. No state license. The county or city public health agency licenses the shop, Boulder County charges $353 a year plus a $312 plan review, and Denver and El Paso County run their own programs.

Your artists. No state license or registration. The state rule only requires that every body artist know universal precautions, disinfection and sterilization, and either take the hepatitis B vaccine or decline it in writing. Denver licenses body artists at the city level.

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in Colorado

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 Colorado that is 4 things to set up and keep in step yourself:

• An allergies question: medicines, ointments, soaps, latex, anything put on the skin
• A bleeding-disorder question
• The medications and blood thinners question, always on
• 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 Colorado gets all of it the day it starts. Your page opens with Colorado’s questions already on the form, your client signs on their own phone, and the signed waiver prints what they answered.

Colorado 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