New Jersey tanning laws for salon owners

Who regulates tanning in New Jersey

The Tanning Facilities Act, N.J.S.A. 26:2D-81 et seq., sets the age limits and penalties, and the Department of Health's rules at N.J.A.C. 8:28 set the day-to-day standards. The Department registers facilities, and local health departments inspect them. The registration form lists tanning salons, beauty and nail salons, and health clubs and fitness centers as places a registered facility can be, so a gym or nail salon with a bed registers too.

The current age rules come from P.L.2013, c.39, approved on April 1, 2013. The Department readopted N.J.A.C. 8:28 without change effective May 30, 2023, and the chapter now expires on May 30, 2030. The Department's adoption notices list one amendment since then, effective January 20, 2026, which updated a cross-reference in the definitions. In 2023 the Department said it was developing new rules with a stakeholder group; its proposal notices list none as of 2026-09-29, and the Legislature's bill search finds no bill with "tanning" in its synopsis in the 2022, 2024 or 2026 sessions.

Checking age and ID at the desk

1. Under 14: no tanning of any kind, spray included.
2. 14 to 16: spray tanning only. Refuse UV, even with a parent's permission.
3. 17: UV is allowed if a parent or legal guardian is at the facility for the initial consultation. Review the photosensitizing agent list with that parent.
4. 18 and over: no age restriction.

Check the age and identity of every client under 27, and of the parent of a 17-year-old, with a government-issued photo ID or at least two other documents (N.J.A.C. 8:28-3.8(b)). The inspection checklist expects the ID to be photocopied and kept in the client's file. An emancipated minor with legal proof is exempt from the age rules, and children under 17 may not stay in a tanning room while a parent, guardian or other client they came with tans.

Post the minors sign at or near reception. The Department publishes a sample that must be enlarged to the size the rule requires. Breaking the minors rules costs $1,000 for a first offense, $2,000 for a second, and $2,000 plus a five-day suspension of registration and operation for each one after that (N.J.S.A. 26:2D-87). Other violations of the Act cost $100 for a first offense and $200 for each one after that. See the FDA's withdrawn under-18 proposal for the federal side.

Before the first session

• Evaluate the client's skin phototype and record it in their file.
• Review the photosensitizing agent list with the client, and repeat it every year.
• Explain the maximum exposure time and distance for their skin type and the unit, from the manufacturer's instructions, and show them the emergency shut-off switch.
• Offer eyewear that meets the FDA standard and require it. Clean and disinfect reusable eyewear between clients.

Every visit and every year

• Keep a trained operator on site at all times, and complete the operator training requirements within 30 calendar days of initial registration (8:28-3.11(a)).
• Log the date, time and duration of every session, and never let a client go past the maximum exposure time.
• Renew registration every year; the fee rises by $10 for each sunlamp product over ten.
• Test every timer once a year, keep it accurate within 10 percent, and file the result. Keep lamp replacement logs and equivalency papers.
• Keep all records on site for three years.
• Display the DANGER - ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION sign. Ads may not call tanning safe, mention the registration, or claim approval by the Department or the local board of health.

More in tanning bed timer rules, tanning bed lamp replacement and tanning salon recordkeeping.

How TanVision helps

With TanVision's consent forms, clients sign on their own phone or a tablet, and the salon writes its own questions. A session cannot start without a signed statement and a date of birth on file. For UV rooms, exposure safety refuses a typed time above the limit or the room's own maximum; the limits follow the salon's own settings, capped at each unit's maximum.

Some New Jersey duties stay with the desk. With Minors and UV rooms at Yes, the default at Settings > Tanning rules, guardian consent on file lets a client under the salon's minimum age (18 by default) start any room, UV included, with only a warning, so turning away anyone under 17 from UV and anyone under 14 from spray is a desk rule. Set the minimum age for UV tanning to New Jersey's 17 at Settings > Tanning rules and Minors and UV rooms to No, and check-in refuses UV rooms to every client under 17 even with consent on file; consent still opens spray rooms either way. TanVision does not know whether a 17-year-old's parent is at the facility for the first consultation, so the desk checks that. For the under-27 ID check, Scan ID reads the date of birth from the barcode on a driver's license or ID card with a USB 2D scanner and records the day the ID was checked; staff still compare the photo with the person and make the photocopy. TanVision has no re-sign interval, so track the yearly photosensitivity review yourself. Client records show recent visits, newest first; confirm your records hold everything 8:28-3.12 lists for three years. Compare other states on the state list.