South Bend, IN Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Applications for both licenses go to the City Controller by February 28 each year and must be verified under oath, with the establishment application including passport-style photos, three years of address and employment history, and a disclosure of any prior license suspension or revocation. The Board of Public Safety sets a public hearing after publishing notice in a local newspaper, and can only approve the license if the applicant has not been convicted of unlawful or deviate sexual conduct within the prior three years and the location complies with the City's building, zoning, health, fire, and safety rules. Licensed nurses, physicians, chiropractors, physical therapists, and estheticians performing only skin work within their own licenses do not need a separate massage license.

Every establishment needs security lockers, a posted price list, and, if serving both sexes at once, fully separate shower, washbasin, restroom, dressing, and massage rooms for men and women. Massage rooms must have at least fifty square feet of clear floor area and a minimum forty-watt light, exterior windows outside the massage room must stay at least seventy-five percent uncovered during business hours, and hours of operation run no earlier than 7 a.m. and no later than midnight. Instruments touching a patron's skin must be sterilized between uses, linens laundered at 160 degrees Fahrenheit for twenty-five minutes, and patrons must keep their genitals and, for women, breasts fully covered throughout the session; touching a patron's genital or sexual area is unlawful regardless of consent. No alcohol or drugs are allowed on the premises, and every door must remain unlockable from inside a massage room.

The Health Department, Building, and Fire inspectors visit each establishment at least twice a year, and refusing an inspection is grounds for immediate suspension pending a court-ordered administrative warrant.