Parma, OH Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Chapter 749 of the Parma Codified Ordinances treats massage as a regulated trade, not an ordinary storefront business. Section 749.02 bars anyone from operating a massage business without a City license for each separate office, and bars anyone from practicing as a massagist without a valid permit. Applicants file under oath with the Department of Public Safety on a form that demands fingerprints, a 2x2 photograph, prior addresses, employment history for the preceding three years, all non-traffic criminal convictions, and proof of a diploma from a recognized school requiring at least seventy hours of resident instruction (Section 749.04).

Within five days the application goes to the Building Division, Fire Division and County Health Department, which have thirty days to inspect the premises and certify code compliance to the Director of Public Safety (Section 749.06). The Director must act within ninety days of acceptance, and a license or permit issued under the chapter expires one year from issuance unless suspended or revoked first (Section 749.07). Operators running more than one location pay the license fee set in Section 185.04(c) for each additional address, with every satellite license expiring on the same date as the principal location's license (Section 749.09).

No massage business may stay open between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. (Section 749.17), and the licensee must keep a register of every masseur or masseuse employed, available to City representatives during business hours (Section 749.11). Physicians, chiropractors, osteopaths, registered nurses, and licensed barbers or beauticians performing scalp, neck, face or hair massage within their own licensed professions are exempt (Section 749.03).