Virginia Law

A. A parlor, salon, or school located in a permanent building or structure must be in a location permissible under local zoning codes, if any. A parlor, salon, or school must be separated from any living quarters by complete floor to ceiling partitioning and must contain no access to living quarters. Mobile parlors and salons must be stationary while providing services and may not operate where prohibited by local ordinance.

B. The parlor, salon, school, or temporary location must be maintained in a clean and orderly manner.

C. All facilities must have a blood spill clean-up kit in the work area that contains at minimum latex gloves, two 12-inch-by-12-inch towels, one disposable trash bag, bleach, one empty spray bottle, and one mask with face shield or any Occupational Safety and Health Administration approved blood spill clean-up kit.

D. Work surfaces must be cleaned with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered, hospital-grade disinfectant. Surfaces that come in contact with blood or other body fluids must be immediately disinfected with an EPA-registered germicide solution. Appropriate personal protective equipment must be worn during cleaning and disinfecting procedures.

E. Cabinets for the storage of instruments, pigments, single-use articles, stencils, and other utensils must be provided for each operator and must be maintained in a sanitary manner.

F. Bulk single-use articles must be commercially packaged and handled in such a way as to protect them from contamination.

G. All materials applied to the human skin must be from single-use articles or transferred from bulk containers to single-use containers and must be disposed of after each use.

H. The walls, ceilings, and floors must be kept in good repair. The tattooing area must be constructed of smooth, hard surfaces that are nonporous, free of open holes or cracks, light colored, and easily cleaned. New parlors, salons, and schools must not include any dark-colored surfaces in the tattooing area. Existing parlors, salons, or schools with dark-colored surfaces in the tattooing area must replace the dark-colored surfaces with light-colored surfaces whenever the facilities are extensively remodeled or upon relocation of the business.

I. Parlors, salons, schools, or temporary locations must have adequate lighting of at least 50-foot candles of illumination in the tattooing and sterilization areas.

J. Adequate mechanical ventilation must be provided in the parlor.

K. Each parlor, salon, school, or temporary location must be equipped with hand-cleaning facilities for its personnel with unobstructed access to the tattooing area such that the tattooer can return to the area without having to touch anything with the tattooer's hands. Hand-cleaning facilities must be equipped either with hot and cold or tempered running water under pressure and liquid germicidal soap or with a sanitizing solution to clean hands. Hand-cleaning facilities must be equipped with single-use towels or mechanical hand drying devices and a covered refuse container.

L. Animals are not permitted in the parlor, salon, school, or temporary location, except for guide or service animals accompanying persons with disabilities or nonmammalian animals in enclosed glass containers, such as fish aquariums, which must be outside of the tattooing or sterilization areas. No animals are allowed in the tattooing or sterilization areas.

M. Use of tobacco products and consumption of alcoholic beverages must be prohibited in the tattooing or sterilization areas.

N. No food or drink will be stored or consumed in the tattooing or sterilization areas, except for client's use in order to sustain optimal physical condition; such food and drink must be individually packaged.

O. If tattooing is performed where cosmetology services are provided, it must be performed in an area that is separate and enclosed.

P. All steam sterilizers must be biological spore tested at least monthly.

Q. Biological spore tests must be verified through an independent laboratory.

R. Biological spore test records must be retained for a period of three years and made available upon request.

S. Steam sterilizers must be used only for instruments used by the parlor's employees.