Skin Piercing Registrations

All business providing the following treatments must register both their premises and any persons carrying out treatments at their premises.

There is no power of refusal of registration, but the activity is controlled through compliance with byelaws and separate health and safety law in each case:

• Acupuncture
• Tattooing
• Cosmetic Piercing
• Electrolysis
• Semi-permanent skin colouring (micro-pigmentation for example lip liner, eye line, microblading, body art and medical applications)

The applicant must ensure that the procedures, equipment, and facilities used are safe, hygienic, prevent the spread of disease and comply fully with the general duty of care required by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Applying

• Application Form for Skin Piercing - Operator (Word Document, 0.1 Mb)
• Application Form for Skin Piercing - Premises (Word Document, 0.1 Mb)

Return your completed application, together with the current fee to the Environmental Health Team, Charnwood Borough Council, Southfields, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 2TR. You can pay over the phone with a debit or credit card.

Once your form and fee have been received, an officer from the team will contact you to arrange an inspection of your premises. Following the inspection, if your premises is found to be safe and compliant with the byelaws, you will be issued with a registration certificate to display prominently on the premises.

Fees

• Premises Registration £130.00 (As of April 1, 2024)
• Individual operator £105.00 (As of April 1, 2024)

Make a Skin Piercing Registration Payment

You can make a Skin Piercing Registration Payment by using the online form below:

Skin Piercing Registration Payment Form

Skin piercing and the law

It is an offence to conduct skin piercing unless the registration has been formally approved. All registered persons must comply with the relevant byelaws, a copy of which are available to download as follows:

• Byelaw - Acupancture, Tattooing, Semi Permanent Skin Colouring, Cosmetic Piercing and Electrolysis (PDF Document, 3.71 Mb)

Best practice for tattooists and body piercers

There is guidance for tattooist and body piercers which has been written for registered practitioners and local authority officers for reference on best practice. It has been produced by a group involving CIEH, the Health and Safety Laboratory, Public Health England and the Tattoo and Piercing Industry Union.

Read the Tattoo and Body Piercing Toolkit

You may also find the following documents useful when setting up your business and you should use them to ensure that you are fully aware of your responsibilities as a skin piercer.

• Tattooing Advice and Safe Practice (PDF Document, 7.43 Mb)
• Body Piercing Advice and Safe Practice (PDF Document, 6.44 Mb)
• Micropigmentation Advice and Safe Practice (PDF Document, 6.6 Mb)