Commercial Body Art

INTRODUCTION:

Commercial body art has been regulated in the state of Louisiana since 1999. Body art is defined by Part XXVIII of Title 51 of the Louisiana Administrative Code as "the practice of physical body adornment by registered establishments and operators utilizing, but not limited to, the following techniques: tattooing, cosmetic tattooing, body piercing, branding, and scarification". The definition does not include activities defined as medical procedures by a state medical board; commercial body art (CBA) facilities and operators are specifically prohibited from performing such procedures. Moreover, it does not include the use of a pre-sterilized single-use stud and clasp ear-piercing system to pierce the earlobe; thus, women's accessory stores and mall kiosks that perform ear piercing are not governed under this authority.

The LDH Food and Drug Unit regulates commercial body art under the authority given by Part XXVIII (cited above) and LSA R.S. 40: §2833 (primarily). Each facility engaging in tattooing, body-piercing, or other CBA activities is required to be permitted in accordance with these regulations and each person performing said tasks must be registered with the state.

To find the inspector who covers your parish, please click here.

OPENING A NEW FACILITY:

You need to verify that the area you wish to operate your facility in is approved for commercial body art activity by the local zoning authority. Additionally you will need to submit certain documents for plans review prior to having your facility inspected. These are as follows:

    • A completed FD-1Ba Plans Review Questionnaire (this is the first document listed under Application Documents, below)
    • A copy of a current/recent water bill for the public water system for the location OR a negative coliform test demonstrating that the private water supply is potable
    • A copy of a recent negative spore test for the autoclave OR a certification letter signed and dated by the owner that only disposable equipment will be used for procedures at the facility
    • A copy of a contract with an approved red bag/sharps waste transporter OR a letter of agreement from a local medical facility with its own biohazardous waste incincerator allowing you to use its facilities 
    • A copy of your proposed firm's aftercare instructions for available procedures and blank consent forms/procedure record forms
    • For firms operating on private sewage treatment systems: a copy of the permit for said system issued by the local parish health unit and a pump-out and recertification if the unit is more than two years old

 

You will need the following additional items to give your inspector when he performs your preoperational inspection:

  • A completed FD-55 form for the facility
  • A completed FD-56 form for each operator or manager
  • A remittance in the form of a cashier's check or money order in the amount of $1,000 for the facility
  • A remittance in the form of a cashier's check or money order in the amount of $100 per operator for new registrations or $60 per operator for a renewal
  • Current-year training cards for each operator (Note that all training must be provided by approved trainers on the list below.)
  • A current state-issued photo ID for each operator (a driver's license or identification card issued by the Office of Motor Vehicles is preferred)

Am I an operator, manager or owner?

An operator is any person who performs commercial body art (tattooing, permanent makeup or cosmetics, or body piercing) on human subjects. An owner is what it sounds like--the proprietor, president, or managing member, depending on the business organization of a commercial body art facility. A manager is a person designated by the owner of a facility to run the day-to-day operations of a commercial body art facility. It is NOT required for a facility to have a manager, but note that if an owner chooses to specify an individual as a manager for the facility, managers fall under a different fee schedule from operators (see FEE SCHEDULES, below). Managers also do not have to be operators and owners do not have to be operators either.

TRAINING FACILITIES:

A training facility (as defined in §109(B) of Part XXVIII) is one that "provides training the commercial body art field to students for a fee." This is a distinct category from the firms referenced in our Approved Trainers list below, which provide mandated safety training, not professional training in the performance of commercial body art. Trainers and training facilities fall under a distinct fee schedule from conventional shops, but the application process and paperwork is the same as the one described above. A training facility may be operated on the same physical premises as a conventional shop if and only if training activities are conducted at a separate time from normal operations.

FEE SCHEDULES: 

  • FACILITY FEES FOR A BRAND-NEW FACILITY ARE $1,000. IF YOUR FACILITY MOVES TO A NEW LOCATION, THIS WILL TRIGGER A REQUIREMENT FOR A $1,000 REGISTRATION FEE ALONG WITH THE OTHER REQUIRED PAPERWORK.
  • FACILITY FEES FOR A NEW TRAINING FACILITY ARE $3,000.
  • RENEWAL FEES FOR A FACILITY IN CONTINUOUS OPERATION ARE $500 PER YEAR. THUS, IF YOU HAVE BEEN OPERATING JOE'S TATTOOS FOR FOUR YEARS AND YOU ONLY PAID YOUR INITIAL REGISTRATION FEE OF $1,000 IN 2017, IN 2021, YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR $2,000 (I.E., YOU WILL HAVE A PAST-DUE BALANCE OF $1,500 FOR THIS FACILITY).
  • RENEWAL FEES FOR A TRAINING FACILITY IN CONTINUOUS OPERATION ARE $1,000 PER YEAR. THUS, IF YOU HAVE BEEN OPERATING JOE'S TATTOO SCHOOL FOR FOUR YEARS AND YOU ONLY PAID YOUR INITIAL REGISTRATION FEE OF $3,000 IN 2017, IN 2021, YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR $4,000 (I.E., YOU WILL HAVE A PAST-DUE BALANCE OF $3,000 FOR THIS FACILITY).
  • OPERATOR FEES FOR A NEW OPERATOR ARE $100. EXCEPTION: IF YOU ARE A SHOP OWNER, YOUR OPERATOR FEE IS INCLUDED IN THE SHOP FEE, SO YOU DO NOT NEED TO SUBMIT AN ADDITIONAL OPERATOR FEE. IF YOU WISH TO OPERATE AT MULTIPLE SHOPS IN THIS STATE, YOU MUST SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR EACH SHOP AND YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO PAY $100 IN CONJUNCTION WITH EACH APPLICATION. 
  • IF YOU ARE RENEWING AN OPERATOR REGISTRATION, THE FEE IS $60 PER FACILITY PER YEAR (EXCEPT FOR OWNERS). EXAMPLE: JANE OPERATOR HAS BEEN OPERATING AT JOE'S TATTOOS FROM 2018-2021 AND BILL'S TATTOOS FROM 2018-2021, BUT SHE DID NOT RENEW HER REGISTRATIONS AT EITHER FACILITY. SHE SUBMITS PAPERWORK TO RENEW HER REGISTRATIONS FOR 2021. SHE WILL OWE A PAST-DUE BALANCE OF $120 FOR EACH FACILITY IN ADDITION TO THE $60 FEE FOR CALENDAR-YEAR 2021. EXCEPTION: IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN OPERATING IN THE STATE OF LOUISIANA FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, YOU MAY SUBMIT AN AFFIDAVIT TO THIS EFFECT TO THE DEPARTMENT WITH YOUR RENEWAL APPLICATION PACKET IN LIEU OF SUBMITTING FEES FOR THE PERIOD IN QUESTION. 
  • NOTE THAT THE "NEW" FEE APPLIES ONLY TO OPERATORS WHO ARE TRULY NEW. IF YOU REGISTER IN 2019 AND PAY YOUR $100, THEN GO WORK IN REAL ESTATE FOR A YEAR BEFORE RETURNING TO RENEW YOUR OPERATOR REGISTRATION IN 2021, YOU DO NOT OWE $100--YOU OWE $60 (ALONG WITH AN AFFIDAVIT OF THE TYPE DESCRIBED ABOVE). 
  • A NEW MANAGER FEE IS $200. IF YOU ARE A MANAGER/OPERATOR, YOU MUST PAY A COMBINED FEE OF $300. THE RENEWAL FEE FOR A MANAGER/OPERATOR IS $210 PER FACILITY PER YEAR, AND THE FEE FOR A MANAGER IS $150 PER FACILITY PER YEAR.
  • IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FEES YOU MAY OWE FOR A RENEWAL, IT IS HIGHLY ADVISABLE TO CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT FOR INFORMATION AT 225-342-7533. 

 

TEMPORARY EVENTS:

A temporary event is a trade show or similar special event where commercial body art is performed for demonstration or commercial purposes. Temporary events must be registered with the department. These events have special requirements and procedures.

  • Event organizers or managers are responsible for collecting all required documents associated with a temporary event from prospective operators.
  • Events are structured by booths, and the event fees are based on the number of booths and the type of operators that man a given booth. In-state operators who wish to work at events must have a current registration and provide a copy of that certificate to the event organizer. Out-of-state operators must provide copies of current first aid, CPR, and bloodborne pathogens training along with any certifications, permits or licenses issued by their respective home jurisdictions to the event organizer.
  • Any booth hosting one or more out-of-state operators will be assessed an out-of-state fee. Out-of-state fees are $250 per booth and in-state fees are $100 per booth.
  • Handwashing facilities must be available to all operators.
  • Current (<30 days old) spore tests must be provided for any autoclaves in use. Alternatively, an affidavit may be supplied for each booth indicating that the associated operators will be using single-service articles (tubes, tips, and needles) only.
  • Event organizers are responsible for ensuring that potentially infectious biohazardous waste generated at the event is disposed of in accordance with the requirements specified below (in Regulations).

Your inspector will conduct a preoperational inspection and issue an FD-58 CBA Temporary Event Certificate. He or she will also conduct an inspection during the event to ensure that the activities conducted are compliant with our regulatory requirements.

The first step to getting your temporary event registered is to contact your inspector. To find the inspector who covers the parish where your event will take place, please click here.

REGISTRATION RENEWALS:

Operator and facility registrations expire on December 31 of every calendar year. Renewal notices are mailed on or around November 30.

In order to renew a facility registration, you will need to submit the following items:

  • A completed FD-55a Renewal Application for a Commercial Body Art Facility
  • A remittance in the form of a cashier's check or money order for all requisite fees
  • A completed FD-56a Renewal Application for a Commercial Body Art Operator/Manager for each operator at your facility
  • A copy of current training cards from an approved provider (see Approved Trainers below) in the subject areas of first aid, CPR, and bloodborne pathogens and disease transmission prevention for each operator at your facility
  • A copy of a current state-issued photo ID (driver's license or identification card) for each operator at your facility

A note regarding the registration of microblading firms located within salons

 

UPDATED 5/11/18: On February 5, the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology issued a ruling via a declaratory order that microblading is permitted in its licensed facilities as long as the activity takes place in a dedicated room with a door and it is performed by a department (LDH)-registered operator and under the auspices of an LDH registration (facility). 

APPLICATION DOCUMENTS

 If you are a prospective CBA facility owner or CBA operator (tattoo artist, piercer, et cetera), the following documents may be of use (all documents below are in Adobe Acrobat format; go to the Adobe Acrobat website to obtain Reader software if needed):

 

  • CBA Plans Review Questionnaire - READ THIS FIRST if you need to open a new commercial body art facility.
  • FD-55 Application for Commercial Body Art Facility Registration - pdf        fillable pdf
  • FD-56 Application for Commercial Body Art Operator/Manager Registration - pdf      fillable pdf
  • FD-55a Renewal Application for Commercial Body Art Facility Registration - pdf        fillable pdf
  • FD-56a Renewal Application for Commercial Body Art Operator/Manager Registration - pdf      fillable pdf

REGULATIONS

APPROVED TRAINERS

  • CBA Trainers List - Part XXVIII requires all CBA operators to hold current training certificates in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid, and bloodborne pathogens and disease transmission prevention. We will accept online training for the bloodborne pathogens/disease transmission prevention course ONLY. The other two courses must be classroom training. Note that all training cards/certificates MUST bear an expiration date!