Arizona tanning laws for salon owners

Arizona at a glance

Minimum age for UV tanning

Arizona sets no minimum age for UV tanning. Under A.A.C. R9-7-1405(C)(6)(c)(ii), in force since March 5, 2026, an operator must stop anyone under 18 from using a sunlamp product unless they have written permission from a parent or guardian. Source 1

Parental consent for minors

A client under 18 needs written permission from a parent or guardian (R9-7-1405(C)(6)(c)(ii)). The sign every facility must post at its entrance says the authorization is signed by the parent or legal guardian in the presence of an operator of the facility (R9-7-1405(A)(6)(f)(i)). The rule sets no expiry for the permission, no session cap and no accompaniment rule. Source 1

Spray tan age rule

None in the tanning rules. R9-7-1405 covers sunlamp products, which R9-7-1401(C)(5) defines as devices with ultraviolet light sources meant to tan the skin or for phototherapy, so spray tanning is outside it. A search of the section headings in all 49 titles of the Arizona Revised Statutes on September 29, 2026 found none that mentions tanning. Source 1

State license or registration

Each facility needs a registration from the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) Bureau of Radiation Control, applied for within 30 days of getting a tanning unit and before its first use (R9-7-1402, under A.R.S. 30-672). A person running several facilities registers each one. ADHS says a registration usually runs ten years, and a per-unit annual fee is due every January 1. The sources disagree on the amount: ADHS's current fee schedule lists $50 per tanning unit, and so does the draft of Table 13.1 that ADHS posted for its 2021 fee rulemaking, but the public copy of Table 13.1 in R9-7-1306 on the Cornell Legal Information Institute site still reads $28 per device. The official code could not be checked, so confirm the amount with ADHS. Source 1

Inspections

The rules set no fixed interval. A.R.S. 30-681 lets ADHS enter at reasonable times to check compliance. ADHS says its inspections are unannounced, happen during regular working hours and are mostly (about 80 percent) a review of documents. Its program FAQ lists what to have ready: the registration, both warning signs, the operator list, training records, visit records, the injury reporting policy and injury records, your policies and procedures, and a record of the yearly timer test. Source 10

Operator training

At least one operator must be present during operating hours (R9-7-1405(C)(2)). The registrant trains every operator on the rule, skin typing and exposure times, minor and adult consent forms, photosensitizing foods, cosmetics and medications, eyewear, sanitizing, the maker's operating procedures, spotting injury or overexposure, and emergency steps. It keeps training records with dates and topics for at least three years, and keeps a list of operators (R9-7-1405(C)(3) to (6)). Source 1

Time between sessions

R9-7-1405(C)(6)(d) makes the operator limit each exposure to the manufacturer's recommended time and, over any 24-hour period, to the maximum the manufacturer recommends for 24 hours. The ADHS program FAQ reads this as one tanning session per 24 hours, with the time set by the operator from a remote control. Source 1

Signed warning statement

Before a client's first use in any continuous 12-month period, an operator asks them to read the posted warnings and gets their signature on a statement that they have read or heard and understand them. For a client who cannot read, the operator reads the warnings aloud before a witness, who also signs (R9-7-1405(C)(6)(b)). The rule in force until March 2026 used the calendar year instead, and the ADHS FAQ still says calendar year. Source 1

Records and retention

Keep each client's total number of sunlamp uses and exposure times for at least three years after the last date in the record (R9-7-1405(C)(6)(e)). Training records are kept three years after the training, and a lamp equivalency certificate three years after the lamp leaves service. The ADHS FAQ asks for five years of records in general, and says showing three years at an inspection is enough if you can produce five on request. Source 1

Injury reporting

Send ADHS a written report within 10 working days after an eye injury, skin burn, a fall in the unit or while getting in or out, a cut, an infection believed spread by the unit, or any other injury reasonably related to it, or within 10 working days of learning of it. The report gives the client's name, the facility, the date and time, what happened and any treating provider (R9-7-1405(D)). ADHS also wants a signed injury reporting policy on file; its form still cites the old section number, R9-7-1416. Source 1

Protective eyewear

An operator gives each client sanitized protective sunlamp eyewear and directions for using it (R9-7-1405(C)(6)(c)(iii)). The danger sign posted within 1 meter of each unit tells clients to wear it (R9-7-1405(A)(6)(f)(ii)). Source 1

Replacement lamps

Replace a burned-out or defective lamp or filter before any further use, with the type on the unit's label or one that is equivalent under the FDA rules that applied when the unit was made. Keep the supplier's equivalency certificate for at least three years after that lamp is out of use (R9-7-1405(A)(4) and (5)). The rule says nothing about reselling lamps. Source 1

Timers

Each tanning unit's timer may not exceed the manufacturer's maximum exposure time, must offer several settings, must be accurate to within 10 percent of the maximum, must not reset itself and restart emission for longer than the unused part of the cycle, and must be tested for accuracy every year. A remote timer control must be installed before operation, and each unit needs an emergency shutoff the client can use (R9-7-1405(A)(6)(a) to (c)). Source 1