Washington

What the record must capture

• Customer's name, age, and address
• Date of the procedure
• Name of the practitioner who did the work
• Location on the body and type of procedure
• Customer's signature

No rule makes you record an ID, but RCW 26.28.085 makes a real attempt to check a driver's license or other picture ID the only defense on an underage client, so check it and note that you did.

"Client records must be retained for a minimum of two years and made available upon request by department personnel." - WAC 308-22-070(3)

A license on a phone in Washington

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

What we read: Washington DOL home page (dol.wa.gov), 2026-09-11: no mobile or digital license offered or mentioned. RCW ch. 46.20, full text (app.leg.wa.gov), searched for digital/mobile/electronic license language: none; RCW 46.20.017 still reads 'his or her driver's license in his or her immediate possession'. SB 5105 (2023-24) history: reintroduced and referred to Transportation, no further action. 2026 bills 6002 and 6081 checked: license-plate readers and sex-designation privacy, not digital licenses. Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and TSA lists (2026-09-11): Washington absent.

On waivers.tattoo: a shop can let its clients choose a saved photo of their ID in Settings. It starts off, and in Washington 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. There is no parental-consent route in Washington, a parent cannot sign a 17-year-old in. Check ID: a genuine attempt to check a driver's license or other picture ID is the only defense if a client turns out to have been under 18.

"Every person who applies a tattoo to any minor under the age of eighteen is guilty of a misdemeanor." - RCW 26.28.085

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

Piercing a minor

Not set by the state. No state age rule for a piercing. Washington sets no age rule for a piercing: chapter 18.300 RCW licenses piercers and never sets a client's age, and the tattoo ban in RCW 26.28.085 is tattoo-only, so your house rule and your county decide. 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.

A stud-and-clasp system through the earlobe, used per the manufacturer's directions and FDA requirements, is outside the definition of body piercing entirely.

Ch. 18.300 RCW and ch. 308-22 WAC (silent on the age of a piercing client); RCW 26.28.085 (tattoo 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 Washington requires.

What the consent form must say

"The shop/business must keep a record of all customers receiving services." - WAC 308-22-070(3)

Health history and aftercare

Washington's rules are thin on paperwork: chapter 308-22 WAC covers practice standards and the customer record, and chapter 246-145 WAC covers sterilization and universal precautions. Neither requires a health-history form, a signed consent form, or written aftercare, though every reputable shop does all three.

Texting your clients in Washington

8am to 9pm, the client’s local time, from federal law. Washington sets no hours of its own. What it does set is different in kind: Wash. Rev. Code § 19.190.060, with the consent exception at § 19.190.070(1)(b), in force since 2003. It names text messages, so a text counts.

Consent. The strictest consent rule of any state, and the only one written as a ban with a way out. Washington forbids a commercial text to a Washington cell number outright, then permits one only where "the subscriber has clearly and affirmatively consented in advance to receive these text messages" (RCW 19.190.070(1)(b)). No form is prescribed: no signature, no script, no disclosure. There is no existing-customer way around it, so the yes has to be on file before the first message.

It reaches your sender too. Its own words are “initiate or assist in the transmission”, so a service that texts on your behalf is inside this rule with you. Hiring one does not move the duty off the shop.

No person conducting business in the state may initiate or assist in the transmission of an electronic commercial text message to a telephone number assigned to a Washington resident for cellular telephone or pager service. The text

$100 per message or actual damages, whichever is more, and a violation is a Consumer Protection Act claim on its own.

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. Washington 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

DOL issues both the artist license and the location license and enforces the practice rules in chapter 308-22 WAC. The Department of Health writes the sterilization and infection-control standards in chapter 246-145 WAC that artists have to work to. Local health departments do not license tattoo shops here.

Tattoo, body piercing, body art, and permanent cosmetics licensing

DOL enforces the practice standards and can ask for client records at any time; no fixed inspection interval is set in statute or rule.

Licensing

Your shop. Yes, every shop, mobile unit, or event location needs its own DOL license, and it expires 1 year from issuance (RCW 18.300.060).

Your artists. Yes, each tattoo, body art, body piercing, or permanent cosmetics practitioner needs an individual DOL license, also good for 1 year.

The licensing page

Washington 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