Cincinnati, OH Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

Cincinnati's Board of Health Regulation 0007 layers city permitting on top of Ohio's tattooing and body-piercing law (ORC Chapter 3730, OAC 3701-9). Anyone opening a body art establishment, defined under § 0007-1 to include tattooing, permanent cosmetics, and body piercing, must first file a Plan Review Request Form and Application with the Health Department before construction begins (§ 0007-3(A)). The Health Commissioner issues a Certificate of Inspection only after reviewing the plans and completing a full inspection; at least one inspection is required before the first certificate and at least one every year after that (§ 0007-3(B), (E)).

Operators must ensure every worker with access to body art equipment gets annual training of the type required by OAC 3701-9-04(M)(3), and the operator is personally responsible for everyone performing services in the shop (§ 0007-5). Fees run $75 for plan review and $300 for the annual Certificate of Inspection at a permanent establishment (§ 0007-7(A)). Traveling or event-based artists, say, at a fair or convention, need a time-limited certificate instead: no plan-review fee, but $50 per artist for the first day of the event and $25 per artist for each additional day (§ 0007-7(B)).

Certificates issued on or after October 1 run through December 31 of the following year, renewal applications are due between November 1 and December 31, and anything postmarked after December 31 draws a $25 late fee (§ 0007-3(G), § 0007-7(C)).