Texas

What the form asks in Texas

Texas’s rule names things the standard waiver form did not ask. A shop in Texas 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)“a client must be a minimum of 18 years of age and shall present at the time of tattooing or body piercing a valid, government issued, positive identification card including, but not limited to, a driver's license, passport, or military identification. The identification must contain a photograph of the individual and a printed date of birth.” (25 TAC § 229.406(a))
• Aftercare instructions, acknowledged in the consent (on every form)“a statement that the client has received a copy of applicable written care instructions, and that the client has read and understands the instructions” (25 TAC § 229.406(j)(7))
• The risks of a tattoo the state's rule lists, in writing on a tattoo's consent“Before receiving a tattoo, each client (and if applicable, the parent, managing conservator, or guardian) shall be informed verbally and in writing about the possible risk and dangers associated with the application of each tattoo. These shall include, but are not limited to, at least the following: the possibility of discomfort or pain; the permanence of the markings; the risk of infection; and the possibility of allergic reaction to the pigments or other materials used.” (25 TAC § 229.406(h))
• The risks of a piercing the state's rule lists, in writing on a piercing's consent“Before receiving a body piercing, each client (and if applicable, the parent, managing conservator, or guardian) shall be informed verbally and in writing about the possible risks and dangers associated with receiving a body piercing. These shall include, but are not limited to, at least the following: the possibility of discomfort or pain; the possibility of scarring; the possibility of bleeding; the possibility of swelling; the risk of infection; the possibility of nerve damage; and the increased risk for adolescents during certain stages of development.” (25 TAC § 229.406(i))

What the record must capture

• Client name, address, and phone number
• The date the tattoo was done
• Client age, date of birth, and type of photo ID shown
• Ink colors used, with lot or catalogue number when available
• Where on the body the tattoo was done
• The artist's name
• A statement the client got and understood the aftercare instructions
• The client's signature

The client shows a valid government photo ID with a printed date of birth, driver's license, passport, or military ID, and the artist writes down the age, date of birth, and which ID it was.

"Records shall be maintained at the studio for at least two years following the date of the last entry." - 25 TAC § 229.406(j)

A license on a phone in Texas

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

What we read: Texas DPS Driver License section page (dps.texas.gov/section/driver-license), 2026-09-11: no digital or mobile license offered or mentioned. Texas Legislature Online bill histories: SB 215 (89R) 'Left pending in committee' 04/23/2025; HB 3426 (89R) last action 05/06/2025 'S Received from the House'. Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and TSA lists (2026-09-11): Texas absent.

On waivers.tattoo: a shop can let its clients choose a saved photo of their ID in Settings. It starts off, and in Texas a saved photo is only ever a picture of a card: a copy for your file, never proof of age.

Minors

18+. Minors only with conditions. The one exception is covering an existing tattoo the parent wants covered, obscene or offensive, gang-related, drug-related, or something the parent or a court thinks is in the kid's best interest to cover. The parent has to be there, sign an affidavit, prove identity and relationship, and give the shop a written description or photo of the tattoo being covered.

"An artist may not tattoo a person younger than 18 years of age except as permitted in subsection (d) of this section." - 25 TAC § 229.406(c)

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 Texas requires.

Piercing a minor

18+ to sign alone. Minors only with conditions. You need all of it: a written and notarized consent from the parent, managing conservator or guardian naming the client, that adult, the exact location on the body that may be pierced, and signed by both the minor and the adult; that adult physically present at the time; an affidavit of their status; evidence of the minor's identity; and evidence of the adult's status as parent or guardian.

The earlobe is written out of the definition of body piercing, and an operator or facility doing only ear piercing is exempt from licensing. An ear piercing gun may not be used anywhere but the ear.

Class A misdemeanor for a violation of the Act or the rules (25 TAC § 229.412(c)(3)); a minor who lies about their age commits a Class B misdemeanor (§ 146.0125(d))

25 TAC § 229.406(e); Tex. Health & Safety Code § 146.0125 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 Texas requires.

What the consent form must say

• The risks told to the client out loud and in writing
• The possibility of discomfort or pain
• That the markings are permanent
• The risk of infection
• The possibility of an allergic reaction to pigments
• A signed statement the client got the aftercare instructions
• The client's signature

"Before receiving a tattoo, each client ... shall be informed verbally and in writing about the possible risk and dangers associated with the application of each tattoo." - 25 TAC § 229.406(h)

Health history and aftercare

The rules do not require a health-history questionnaire, though they bar tattooing anyone who looks drunk or high and any skin showing a rash, boil, infection, or abrasion. Aftercare is required every single time: oral plus written instructions, and the client signs the record saying they read and understand them.

"Each time tattooing or body piercing is performed the client ... shall receive oral and written instructions on the care of the area tattooed or pierced." - 25 TAC § 229.408(a)

Texting your clients in Texas

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time, from federal law. Texas sets no hours of its own. What it does set is different in kind: Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 302.001(6-a), (7), as amended by Act of May 30, 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., S.B. 140, § 1 (eff. Sept. 1, 2025); Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 302.058, 302.101, 304.002(10), 304.004, 304.052, 304.257, 305.053, 305.054, in force since 2025-09-01. It names text messages, so a text counts.

Consent. Chapter 302 is a registration regime, not a consent regime, it does not tell a seller to obtain consent; it tells an unexempt seller not to make a telephone solicitation at all without a registration certificate. Chapter 304's no-call prohibition turns on the Texas no-call list, and the private action in § 305.053 borrows the federal consent standard wholesale by making a violation of 47 U.S.C. § 227 actionable in Texas.

Your own clients. Yes, but with a two-year seasoning condition that a new shop will fail. Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 302.058 provides that chapter 302 does not apply to "a person who: (A) is soliciting business from a former or current customer; and (B) has operated under the same business name for at least two years." Chapter 304 separately does not apply to a call made "in connection with an established business relationship" (§ 304.004(2)(A)), with no time limit while the relationship is live.

It reaches your sender too. 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 a call or other transmission, including a transmission of a text or graphic message or of an image, initiated by a seller or salesperson to induce a person to purchase, rent, claim, or receive an item. The text

Private right of action, $500 minimum. Tex.

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. Texas 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

DSHS licenses the studio, not the individual artist, and one license covers one place of business. Its Environmental Sanitation Inspections Branch does the on-site inspections and can ask to see and copy the client records at any reasonable time.

Licensing of Tattoo and Certain Body Piercing Studios (Drugs and Medical Devices Group; Environmental Health Section)

The inspector can come in at any reasonable time and ask to see and copy the client records, the sterilization and spore-test records, and the autoclave manufacturer's manual.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes. Every tattoo studio needs a DSHS license for each place of business, issued for 1 or 2 years, and the holder has to renew before it expires or pay a $100 late fee.

Your artists. No. There is no individual artist license in Texas; the rules put the duties on the studio license holder and name each artist on the studio application.

The licensing page

Using a generic waiver app in Texas

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

Texas 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.
• waivers.tattoo vs Tattoo Release Forms (TRF): the iPad, or the phone in their hand
• Texas and Tennessee let you tattoo a minor for one reason: to cover up an existing tattoo
• Can a minor get a tattoo with parental consent? State by state
• waivers.tattoo vs StabPad: free, and your inbox is the filing cabinet
• 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