Illinois

What the form asks in Illinois

Illinois’s rule names things the standard waiver form did not ask. A shop in Illinois 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“History of allergies or adverse reactions to pigments, dyes or other skin sensitivities such as, but not limited to, latex;” (77 Ill. Adm. Code 797.700(d))
• A bleeding-disorder question“History of hemophilia (bleeding);” (77 Ill. Adm. Code 797.700(b))
• The medications and blood thinners question, always on“Medications used, such as anticoagulants that thin the blood and/or interfere with blood clotting;” (77 Ill. Adm. Code 797.700(f))
• A photo of the client's ID (on every form)“Age verification shall be obtained by government issued identification containing a birth date and photograph.” (77 Ill. Adm. Code 797.400(k))
• Aftercare instructions, acknowledged in the consent (on every form)“Verbal and written instructions for the aftercare of the body art shall be provided to each client.” (77 Ill. Adm. Code 797.600(b))

What the record must capture

• Age verified from a government photo ID showing a birth date
• The client's signed, dated disclosure of pre-existing conditions
• The original stays with you; the client gets a copy

For a tattoo, age has to be verified from a government-issued identification carrying both a birth date and a photograph.

"These documents shall be signed and dated by both parties, with a copy given to the client, and the operator shall retain the original with all other required records for a period of no less than one year." — 77 Ill. Adm. Code 797.600(c)

A license on a phone in Illinois

Illinois’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in Apple Wallet. Illinois Liquor Control Commission, Mobile IDs for Business (2025-11-19):

Under Illinois law, a Mobile ID is an acceptable form of identification which can be used by an individual to prove that they are twenty-one (21) years of age or older, similar to the use of a physical driver’s license or identification card. The text

A picture of one is not. “"Mobile driver's license" does not include a digital copy, photograph, or image of a driver's license that is not downloaded through the Secretary of State's application on a mobile device.” 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 Illinois requires.

Minors

18+. No minors, even with a parent. A parent cannot consent to a tattoo in Illinois, the ban is criminal, not a licensing rule. You also cannot let anyone under 18 stay on the premises while tattooing is happening unless a parent or legal guardian is with them. Piercing and the other body art are different: there the parent or guardian signs the consent in front of the artist.

"A person ... commits tattooing the body of a minor when he or she knowingly or recklessly tattoos or offers to tattoo a person under the age of 18." — 720 ILCS 5/12C-35(a)

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

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. Written consent of a parent or legal guardian, signed in the presence of the operator or body artist, and the form has to show the parent read and understood the state's disclosure warning. If the piercing is in the mouth, the parent's consent also says, in substantially these words: "I understand that the oral piercing of the tongue, lips, cheeks, or any other area of the oral cavity carries serious risk of infection or damage to the mouth and teeth, or both infection and damage to those areas, that could result in but is not limited to nerve damage, numbness, and life threatening blood clots."

The criminal section says 'This Section does not prohibit ear piercing' for the whole ear; the health rule's exemption is narrower, covering only the non-cartilaginous portion or lobe done with a pre-sterilized single-use stud-and-clasp system.

Off limits for a minor even with consent: nothing is barred outright, but oral-cavity piercings need the statute's verbatim risk paragraph inside the consent form.

Class A misdemeanor, plus a health-side fine of up to $1,000 per day the studio stays in violation.

720 ILCS 5/12C-40(a)(1); 77 Ill. Adm. Code 797.400(k), (l) 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 Illinois requires.

What the consent form must say

• The disclosure of pre-existing conditions, signed and dated by both
• For a minor's non-tattoo procedure, the parent signs in front of the artist
• For an oral piercing on a minor, the prescribed infection and nerve-damage language

"In any procedure other than tattooing, the parent or legal guardian shall sign a consent form in the presence of an operator/body artist." — 77 Ill. Adm. Code 797.400(k)

Health history and aftercare

Part 797 makes the client disclose pre-existing conditions, diabetes, hemophilia, skin disease or sensitivity, allergies to pigments, dyes or latex, seizures, fainting or narcolepsy, anticoagulants, and HIV and hepatitis status. Aftercare goes out both spoken and written, along with IDPH's own public education materials.

"Verbal and written instructions for the aftercare of the body art shall be provided to each client." — 77 Ill. Adm. Code 797.600(b)

Texting your clients in Illinois

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. Illinois 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 Illinois: Read 815 ILCS 413 (Telephone Solicitations) and 815 ILCS 305 (Automatic Telephone Dialers) in full at the General Assembly's own site, source notes included. The solicitation window is 8am to 9pm, the federal one; the dialer act's tighter 9am to 9pm reaches a device that plays a recorded message. Neither names a text, and the Restricted Call Registry Act was repealed by P.A. 100-621.

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. Illinois 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

IDPH issues the certificate of registration and renews it annually, and it registers the operator, not the landlord. "Certified Local Health Departments may contract with the Department to conduct the inspections in their jurisdiction," so the inspector at your door may be county staff working for the state.

Body Art Establishment registration, Body Art Code, 77 Ill. Adm. Code 797

IDPH inspects "as often as necessary to ensure compliance with this Part" (§ 797.1500(a)); its own page describes renewal inspections as periodic rather than on a fixed clock. Expect them to want the signed disclosures, the training documentation on file, your sterilizer logs and the spore-test records, those tests are kept on-site 1 year.

Licensing

Your shop. Every body art establishment needs a current IDPH certificate of registration before it operates, renewed annually, $500 with the application plus $50 for each additional work station.

Your artists. No separate state license for the individual artist; Part 797 puts body artist proficiency requirements on the establishment (§ 797.1300), and the applicant on the registration has to be at least 18.

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in Illinois

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 Illinois that is 3 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

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

Illinois 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.
• Is a tattoo consent form signed on a phone legal? Yes, since 2000. Here is what your state adds on top.
• 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