Haverhill, MA Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

The City of Haverhill's Zoning Ordinance defines the terms governing tattoo and piercing shops in its citywide definitions section, § 11.0. BODY ART covers the practice of physical adornment by permitted establishments and practitioners using, but not limited to, body piercing, tattooing, cosmetic tattooing, branding, and scarification. The definition draws a firm line against medical-grade procedures: it excludes anything considered a medical procedure by the Board of Registration in Medicine in the Commonwealth, such as implants under the skin, which shall not be performed in a body art establishment.

That means a shop licensed as a body art establishment in Haverhill cannot offer subdermal implants at all, regardless of the practitioner's training; that work is reserved for licensed medical providers. The companion definition, BODY ART ESTABLISHMENT, identifies the permitting authority directly: it is a specified place or premises that has been granted a permit by the Haverhill Board of Health, whether public or private, where the practice of body art is performed. In practice, that routes every tattoo parlor, piercing studio, or scarification or branding business through the Board of Health rather than through Inspectional Services' general business permitting process, consistent with the statewide framework under 105 CMR 200, the Massachusetts body art regulation that assigns local boards of health as the licensing agency for body art establishments and practitioners.

Because the zoning code cross-references the establishment definition without separately spelling out application fees or inspection intervals, an operator applying for a Haverhill body art permit works directly with the Board of Health office to determine the current fee schedule and health and sanitation requirements that accompany the permit.