Iowa

What the form asks in Iowa

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

• A photo of the client's ID (on every form)“copy of client’s identification” (Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—492.9(5))

What the record must capture

• Client's name and date of birth
• A copy of the client's identification
• Date of the procedure
• Name of the tattoo artist who did the work
• Signature of the client

You have to keep a copy of the client's identification in the record, checking it at the counter is not enough.

"Records shall be retained in a confidential manner for a minimum of three years and made available to the department or inspection agency upon request." — Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—492.9(5)

A license on a phone in Iowa

Iowa’s digital license is a real ID. It lives in Iowa Mobile ID app, Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet. Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa Mobile ID Now Available and Accepted at Businesses (2023-10-31):

Iowa Mobile ID can be accepted as a valid form of ID at businesses throughout the state by using the Iowa ABD Age to Purchase App from the Alcoholic Beverages Division of the Iowa Department of Revenue, as well as at TSA PreCheck® checkpoints within the Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and other participating airports. The text

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 Iowa requires.

Minors

18+. No minors, even with a parent. There is no parental-consent route in Iowa. DIAL says it plainly on its own page: under 18 is prohibited regardless of parental consent. Providing a tattoo to a minor is a serious misdemeanor.

"A minor shall not obtain a tattoo and a person shall not provide a tattoo to a minor. For the purposes of this section, 'minor' means an unmarried person who is under the age of eighteen years." — Iowa Code § 10A.531(3)

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

Piercing a minor

Not set by the state. No state rule on piercing a minor. Iowa sets no age rule for a piercing: the state licenses tattooing only and leaves body piercing to your county or city health department. With no state requirement to satisfy, this shop's own applies: a parent or legal guardian present, signing the waiver themselves, and showing government photo ID, with a copy kept in the client record.

no state law; Iowa Code § 10A.531 covers tattooing only 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 Iowa requires.

What the consent form must say

"Records include the client's name and date of birth, copy of client's identification, date of the procedure, name of the tattoo artist who performed the procedure(s), and signature of client." — Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—492.9(5)

Health history and aftercare

No health-history questionnaire in the rule. Printed aftercare instructions are required, when the tattoo is done you dress it and hand over written care instructions for the healing period. You also cannot tattoo any area showing skin infection, irritation or abnormality.

"... printed aftercare instructions regarding tattoo care during the healing process." — Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—492.6(9)

Texting your clients in Iowa

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time. Iowa 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 Iowa: Fetched and read Iowa Code 476.57 (2026) as the official statute file from legis.iowa.gov, it is a repealer stub. Read Iowa Code ch. 714H in full (714H.1 through 714H.8) and Iowa Code 714.16, both official statute file. Read Iowa Code ch. 716A (Electronic Mail) definitions and 716A.2. Scanned Iowa Code ch. 476 in full for 'solicit', 'telemarket' and 'no-call'. Then swept every chapter title in Iowa Code titles I-XVII via the official chapter-listing pages for telemarketing-adjacent words; nothing survives.

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. Iowa 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

DIAL issues both permits and sets the safety and sanitation criteria, and it can order a shop closed until it fixes a violation. The inspecting is done by local designated inspection agencies, the statute lets DIAL enter agreements with local boards of health for exactly that, and the agency bills the owner $250 per inspection.

Tattoo Permitting, tattoo artist and tattoo establishment permits under Iowa Admin. Code 481, ch. 492

Before you open, and annually after that: "Tattoo establishments are inspected annually." Expect them to want the client records, your written standard operating procedure, safety data sheets for the chemicals you use, and your monthly sterilizer spore-test results; the most recent inspection report has to be posted where the public can see it.

Licensing

Your shop. A tattoo establishment needs a DIAL permit before it opens, floor plan with the application, an on-site inspection first, permit posted where people can see it, nontransferable, and a new one within 30 days of any change of owner or location.

Your artists. Every tattoo artist needs their own DIAL permit: at least 18 with government-issued proof of age, current American Red Cross or equivalent certification in bloodborne pathogens and standard first aid, permit posted in the shop. It stays with the artist when they change shops.

The licensing page

Iowa in our state-by-state posts

• Texting your tattoo clients: the hours, the caps, and all 51 state rules
• OSHA wants your bloodborne pathogens training renewed every year. Your state may want it once, ever.
• 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