Massachusetts

What the form asks in Massachusetts

Massachusetts’s rule names things the standard waiver form did not ask. A shop in Massachusetts 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)“that the client has been given the aftercare instructions as required by section 6(K)” (Model Regulations for Body Art Establishments § 6(D)(2), as adopted (Haverhill))
• The risks of a tattoo the state's rule lists, in writing on a tattoo's consent“Inform the client, verbally and in writing that the following health conditions may increase health risks associated with receiving a body art procedure” (Model Regulations for Body Art Establishments § 6(D)(1)-(2), as adopted (Haverhill); Boston Body Art Regulation § 14.4)
• The risks of a piercing the state's rule lists, in writing on a piercing's consent“Inform the client, verbally and in writing that the following health conditions may increase health risks associated with receiving a body art procedure” (Model Regulations for Body Art Establishments § 6(D)(1)-(2), as adopted (Haverhill); Boston Body Art Regulation § 14.4)

What the record must capture

• Client name
• Client date of birth
• Client address
• Date of the procedure
• Name of the practitioner who did the work
• Description of the procedure and where on the body
• The signed consent form
• For a client under 18, parent ID, presence and consent

The model puts the client's date of birth on the record and requires a copy of the parent's photo ID for anyone under 18; Boston goes further and requires the client's own valid proof of identification on the consent form.

"The establishment shall maintain the following records in a secure place for a minimum of three (3) years, and such records shall be made available to the Board upon request" - Model Regulations § 5(E)

A license on a phone in Massachusetts

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

What we read: Massachusetts RMV organization page and 'Massachusetts identification (ID) requirements' page (mass.gov), 2026-09-11: no mobile or digital license offered or mentioned. malegislature.gov, H 3725 (194th): status 'Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means' after 'Bill reported favorably by committee'. Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and TSA lists (2026-09-11): Massachusetts absent.

On waivers.tattoo: a shop can let its clients choose a saved photo of their ID in Settings. It starts off, and in Massachusetts 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. A parent can consent to a body piercing other than genital piercing for a client under 18 if the parent is present, identified and signs a consent form. Never to a tattoo. Boston additionally bars any piercing under 14.

"No tattooing, piercing of genitalia, branding or scarification shall be performed on a person under the age of 18." - Model Regulations for Body Art Establishments § 4(A), as adopted (Haverhill); Boston's § 5.8.1 is the same rule in its own words

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

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. The parent, legal custodial parent or legal guardian has to accompany the minor, be properly identified, and sign a consent form; the file keeps a copy of that adult's photo ID along with proof of identification, presence and consent. Genital piercing is out under 18 no matter what.

Earlobe piercing with a presterilized single-use stud-and-clasp system is excluded from the definition of body piercing; an ear-piercing system may not be used anywhere but the lobe.

Off limits for a minor even with consent: genital piercing, plus branding and scarification, are barred under 18 regardless of consent.

Model Regulations for Body Art Establishments § 4(A)-(B), as adopted (Haverhill); Boston Body Art Regulations § 5.8.1-5.8.2 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 Massachusetts requires, and the form refuses genital piercings.

What the consent form must say

• Confirmation the risk information was given verbally and in writing
• Client states no condition prevents them receiving body art
• Client consents to the procedure
• Client received the written aftercare instructions

"Require that the client sign a form confirming that the above information was provided, that the client does not have a condition that prevents them from receiving body art..." - Model Regulations § 6(D)(2)

Health history and aftercare

Before the work starts the artist tells the client, out loud and in writing, that diabetes, hemophilia, skin disease, pigment allergies, epilepsy, blood thinners, hepatitis, HIV and latex sensitivity raise the risk, and the client signs that they were told and have no disqualifying condition. Afterward the client gets verbal and written aftercare covering cleaning, when to call a doctor, and the shop's address and phone.

"The practitioner shall provide each client with verbal and written instructions on the aftercare of the body art site." - Model Regulations § 6(K)

Texting your clients in Massachusetts

8am to 8pm, the client’s local time. M.G.L. c. 159C, § 3; 201 CMR 12.02. It does not say whether a text is a call. Treat it as if it is.

Consent. Prior express permission, and Massachusetts accepts VERBAL as well as written. 'Marketing or sales solicitation' excludes a telephone call or message '(i) to a consumer with that consumer's prior express written or verbal invitation or permission' (M.G.L. c. 159C, § 1; 201 CMR 12.01), so a consented message is not a telephonic sales call at all.

Your own clients. Yes, 24 months. 'Existing customer' is 'a residential telephone subscriber with whom the person or entity making a telephonic sales call has maintained an account or had a business relationship within the previous 24 months' (M.G.L. c. 159C, § 1). A call 'to an existing customer unless such customer has stated to the telephone solicitor that such customer no longer wishes to receive the telephonic sales calls of such telephone solicitor' is not an 'unsolicited telephonic sales call,' which is the only thing § 3 prohibits.

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.

A telephone solicitor shall not make or cause to be made an unsolicited telephonic sales call to a consumer ... to be received between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., local time, at the consumer's location The text

Private right of action with statutory damages. M.G.L. c. 159C, § 8(b): 'A person who has received more than 1 unsolicited telephonic sales call within a 12-month period by or on behalf of the same person or entity in violation of this chapter may' seek an injunction and/or 'recover for actual monetary loss from such knowing violation or ... receive not more than $5,000 in damages for such knowing violation, whichever is greater.' § 8(c) awards reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the prevailing party.

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 8pm, 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. Massachusetts 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 Department of Public Health publishes Model Regulations for Body Art Establishments but does not permit or inspect anyone. Each board of health adopts its own version, so the shop permit, the artist permit, the fees and the inspections all come from the city or town. Read your own board's regulation: the model is the common core, not the whole rule.

Body art establishment permit and body art practitioner permit, issued locally under M.G.L. c. 111, § 31

• Boston Public Health Commission, Body Art Regulations · City of Boston
• Cambridge Public Health Department, Tattoo & Body Art program · City of Cambridge
• Springfield Department of Health and Human Services · City of Springfield
• Lowell Health Department · City of Lowell
• Haverhill Board of Health, Body Art regulation · City of Haverhill

The model sets no interval. The local board inspects for the annual permit, investigates complaints, and Boston's rule lets it inspect the facility and any records at reasonable times.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes, an establishment permit from your local board of health; under the model it expires 1 year from the date it was issued.

Your artists. Yes, every artist needs a practitioner permit from the same board; the model runs it one calendar year, Boston allows up to 2.

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in Massachusetts

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 Massachusetts that is 2 things to set up and keep in step yourself:

• The risks of a tattoo the state's rule lists, in writing on a tattoo's consent
• The risks of a piercing the state's rule lists, in writing on a piercing's consent

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

Massachusetts 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