Tuscaloosa, AL Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Article V of Chapter 13 licenses and regulates every massage parlor in the city. Sec. 13-83 bars opening a massage parlor to the public or operating it for any other purpose unless the owner or person in charge has first obtained a license from the city. Before the city clerk issues that license, Sec. 13-87 requires an affidavit listing every employee working at the parlor when it opens, plus a written verification from a state-licensed physician, dated no more than 20 days before the application, that the applicant and each initial employee are free of infectious, contagious, or communicable disease. Every masseur, masseuse, or employee hired later must obtain the same physician's verification before starting work, and each verification must be renewed by a new exam every six months and carried on the person while on duty.

Once licensed, parlors answer to the county board of health's rules under Sec. 13-85 and must open their premises during all operating hours to inspection by the county health department and city police under Sec. 13-86. Sec. 13-88 bars any masseur or masseuse from massaging a person of the opposite sex, requires a patron's private parts to stay covered by towels, clothing, or undergarments in the presence of staff, and confines every massage to a cubicle or room unless that space has transparent walls or doors visible from outside. Sec. 13-89 bars using the parlor as a dormitory or sleeping place. A license can be revoked under Sec. 13-84 for any violation of the article by the licensee, an agent, or an employee, but only after written notice at least 10 days before a hearing before the city's governing body.