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

Section 1717.15 authorizes the Director of Health to collect registration fees from tattoo and body piercing establishments under the authority of Ohio Revised Code Section 3709.09 and Ohio Administrative Code Section 3709-09-03. Every new establishment pays a one-time application fee when it first registers: $50 for a tattooing-only business, $50 for a body-piercing-only business, and $50 for a combined tattooing-and-piercing operation, or $25 for a time-limited approval tied to a specific event such as a convention or pop-up. After that initial approval, the establishment owes an annual inspection fee considerably higher than the application charge, $585 a year for a tattoo-only or piercing-only shop, $635 a year for a combined tattoo-and-piercing business, and $125 for a time-limited event approval.

These fees fund the Division of Environmental and Consumer Health's inspection program, which checks establishments against the sanitation and equipment standards built into Ohio's body-art regulations. Section 1717.20 makes the fee chapter controlling over any conflicting older Toledo Board of Health rule, so a tattoo shop can't rely on an outdated fee schedule to avoid the current charges. The Toledo Municipal Code separately classifies a 'Tattoo and Body Piercing Shop' as a distinct, city-licensed land use category in the zoning code, referencing this same Chapter 1717 licensing requirement as the basis for that classification.