Maryland tanning laws for salon owners

What Maryland requires at the front desk

Maryland's tanning law is one section, Health-General 20-106, plus one Maryland Department of Health regulation, COMAR 10.52.06, "Use of Tanning Devices by Minors". Both are about keeping minors out of UV equipment, so the desk carries almost all of it.

1. Do not let anyone under 18 use a tanning bed, booth or sunlamp. There is no parental consent exception and no doctor's note exception for a minor.
2. Before a customer uses a tanning device, confirm with a State or federal government-issued ID that they are not a minor. The statute asks for appropriate documentation, and the regulation names government ID.
3. Download the Department's notice and post it where customers will see it, readable and in at least 18-point type. Replace it if it gets damaged.
4. Let the local health officer in during business hours if they come to check compliance, usually after a complaint.
5. If you receive a notice of violation, correct it by the date given and send the health department a written certification of correction explaining what you fixed.

The regulation says the person in charge may not allow a customer to use a tanning device without the ID confirmation. It does not limit this to first visits, so a desk policy of checking ID at every UV check-in, or recording that you checked, is the safer reading.

Penalties and enforcement

Enforcement usually starts with a complaint. Anyone, including a police officer, can report a violation to the local health officer, who must investigate; the health officer may also investigate without one. A facility that gets a notice of violation with a penalty has 10 days to ask the Department's Environmental Health Bureau for a hearing (COMAR 10.52.06.10).

What Maryland law does not cover

• Licensing: the State issues no tanning license or registration. Counties and cities may regulate minors more strictly (COMAR 10.52.06.01B), so check locally.
• Session frequency, signed warning statements, customer records and injury reports: none in 20-106 or COMAR 10.52.06.
• Eyewear, lamps and timers: no state rule. Federal equipment rules still apply; see FDA tanning bed regulations.
• Spray tans: the law covers ultraviolet equipment only, so it sets no spray-tan age.

The ban has had no exceptions since House Bill 124 and Senate Bill 299 of 2019 (Chapters 440 and 441), which ended the old rule allowing a parent to consent in person at the facility. COMAR 10.52.06 was last revised effective October 5, 2020. The General Assembly's bill lists for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 sessions show no bill mentioning tanning or amending 20-106.

How TanVision helps in Maryland

TanVision checks age against the date of birth already on a client's record, and a session cannot start without a date of birth and a signed statement on file. The minimum age is 18 by default, which matches Maryland's law. Your consent forms can carry Maryland's warning text, and each signed record keeps the exact wording the client agreed to.

Two things matter in Maryland. With a USB 2D barcode scanner, Scan ID reads the date of birth from the barcode on a driver's license or state ID card, warns when the client is under the minimum age, and records the day the ID was checked; staff still compare the photo with the person. And a minor who signs the online consent form with a parent's signature has guardian consent recorded automatically, so set Minors and UV rooms to No at Settings > Tanning rules: check-in then refuses UV rooms to anyone under 18, even with that consent on file, while it still opens spray rooms. At Yes, the default, consent lets a client under the minimum age start any room, UV included, with only a warning. The client record and exposure safety pages explain what the check-in screen shows. For other states, see tanning laws by state.