How to register with the ARS as a tattoo artist in France (2026 guide)

Who it is for: tattoo artists, permanent makeup artists and piercers working in France, in a studio, as a guest artist or at conventions.

In brief. Before you tattoo, perform permanent makeup or pierce, you must declare your activity to the Regional Health Agency (Agence régionale de santé, ARS) for the place where you work. This declaration comes with a training requirement: the "hygiene and safety" certification (certification « hygiène et salubrité »). This guide sets out, step by step, what the rules provide and what you need to prepare.

Who must register?

Article R.1311-2 of the French Public Health Code (Code de la santé publique) makes it compulsory to declare skin-piercing tattooing, including permanent makeup, and body piercing. Your status does not matter (sole trader, company, employee of a studio), nor does your place of work: as soon as you practise one of these techniques, the rule applies to you. The declaration procedure is set out in the order of 23 December 2008 (arrêté du 23 décembre 2008).

The declaration is personal: it covers the person who performs the procedures and the place where they perform them. In a studio with several artists, each artist must therefore check that their own situation is declared.

Who do you declare to?

The declaration is addressed to the director general of the ARS for the place of work. In practice, you contact the departmental office (délégation départementale) of the ARS for the département where your studio is located. If you tattoo in Lyon, that is ARS Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Rhône departmental office; if you work at a convention in Bordeaux, it is ARS Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Gironde office.

When must you declare?

The rule is simple: you declare before you start working. For a change, a move to a new address or stopping your activity, declare without delay; some ARS offices mention a 15-day deadline. For one-off work (trade show, convention, guest spot), you declare before the event, to the ARS for the place where the event is held.

How do you declare?

The rules require a declaration, but each ARS organises how it is submitted. More and more ARS offices now require an online form (démarches simplifiées) and no longer accept letters: this is the case, for example, of ARS Centre-Val de Loire, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Grand Est and Occitanie.

Before doing anything, go to your ARS website, in the section on tattooing, piercing and permanent makeup. There you will find the online form or, failing that, the postal or email address to use. Only send a letter or an email if your ARS accepts it.

Documents to prepare

The exact list depends on your ARS, but it usually includes:

• an identity document;
• your valid hygiene and safety certification;
• the address of your place or places of work;
• the techniques you practise (tattooing, permanent makeup, body piercing);
• your contract for the disposal of infectious healthcare waste (déchets d'activités de soins à risques infectieux, DASRI);
• sometimes, proof of business registration (SIRET number, URSSAF).

Gather these documents in digital form before opening the form: filling it in online is much quicker when everything is ready.

Special cases

You work in several places

The declaration covers the place of work. If you work in several studios, each place must be declared to the ARS it comes under. List every address.

You move or change studio

A change of address or of your activity must be declared without delay, stating the old and new addresses and the effective date. If the new place comes under a different ARS, check with that ARS.

You stop working

Stopping your activity must also be declared, without delay, to the ARS that received your declaration.

Trade shows, conventions and guest spots

One-off work is declared before the event to the ARS for the place where the event is held, even if your usual studio is already declared elsewhere. State the name of the event, its address and its dates.

The hygiene and safety certification

Declaring your activity is not enough: you must also hold the hygiene and safety certification. Since the order of 5 March 2024, amended on 11 October 2024, it is based on:

Note the date your certification was issued and plan its renewal: an expired certification can no longer be attached to a declaration.

After the declaration

Once you have declared, you may be inspected by the ARS. Your obligations do not stop with the declaration:

• you must inform every client, before the procedure, of the risks and the precautions to follow afterwards;
• for a client who is a minor, written consent from a person with parental authority is compulsory and must be kept for 3 years.

For client information and consent, you can use our free consent form template.

Common mistakes

• Sending a letter to an ARS that no longer accepts them. Always check how to submit on your ARS website.
• Forgetting to declare a convention or guest spot. One-off work is declared to the ARS for the place of the event, before the event.
• Not declaring a move or stopping work. Changes, moves and stopping must be declared without delay.
• Letting your certification expire. It is valid for 5 years: plan the refresher of at least 7 hours.
• Not declaring every place of work. Every address where you practise must be known to the relevant ARS.

To prepare your documents, you can use our free ARS declaration tool (in French).

Sources

• ARS Centre-Val de Loire: tattoo, piercing and permanent makeup professionals, your declarations (in French)
• ARS Nouvelle-Aquitaine: tattooing, piercing and permanent makeup, information for professionals (in French)
• Légifrance: order of 5 March 2024 on the training of people who practise skin-piercing tattooing and body piercing (in French)
• French Public Health Code, article R.1311-2; order of 23 December 2008.