New York tanning laws for salon owners

Who regulates tanning in New York

Tanning facilities fall under Public Health Law Article 35-A (sections 3550 to 3556) and the Department of Health's rules in 10 NYCRR Subpart 72-1. Your permit issuing official is the State Commissioner of Health or a designee, or an authorized county health department, depending on your county. A county or other local jurisdiction with a Department-approved program can run its own rules, as long as they are at least as protective, and while that program is in effect its rules apply in place of most of Subpart 72-1 (72-1.2). Ask your permit issuing official which rules cover you.

The under-18 ban took effect on August 16, 2018, and most sections of Subpart 72-1 carry an effective date of January 5, 2022. On 2026-09-29, the Senate's copy of Article 35-A showed no section revised after April 17, 2020, the Department's list of regulations adopted since January 2023 had no tanning item, and neither did its proposed or emergency lists. Two bills from the 2025-26 session were pending and are not law: S3932 (with A1370) would raise the minimum age to 21, and S10097A, which passed the Senate on June 3, 2026, would require tanning facilities to carry liability insurance of at least $1 million per occurrence and $2 million in the aggregate.

Checking age and ID at the desk

1. Ask every client for a driver's license or other photo ID issued by a government entity or educational institution that shows they are at least 18. The rule covers adults too, not only people who look young.
2. Under 18: refuse UV tanning. A parent's permission does not change this.
3. Note the type of ID on the statement of acknowledgement. The Department's form has a line for it.

For the federal side, see the FDA's under-18 proposal and its withdrawal.

Before the first UV session

• Give the client the Department's Tanning Hazards Information Sheet and a chance to read the warning sign.
• Have the client sign the statement of acknowledgement in the form the commissioner prescribes. The Department publishes it in English and Spanish.
• Have the operator or a designated employee sign and date the same statement.
• Make sure the client has eyewear. Offer yours at no charge if they have none.

No one may be exposed without a signed statement on file. The law lets you keep the original off site if an electronic image or fax copy is readily available to whoever runs the device (3555(1)).

Every visit

• Log the date, the exposure time and the device used.
• Set the timer yourself. Clients must not be able to reset it.
• Clean and then sanitize the bed or booth, pillows and headrests after each use, and clean and then disinfect reusable eyewear. UV light from the device does not count.

New York sets no gap between sessions, so a 24-hour rule is your own policy. See the 24-hour tanning rule and tanning bed sanitation.

Permit, inspections and records

• Get the permit before you open, and post it. A new owner or a new location needs a new permit.
• Budget for the $120 registration fee every two years, plus an inspection fee of up to $200 per UV device each period.
• Post the warning sign, at least 11 by 17 inches, within three feet of each device, with that device's maximum exposure time filled in.
• Test every timer once a year and keep an equipment maintenance log.
• Keep visit records, timer tests, the maintenance log and injury forms for at least two years.
• Report qualifying injuries to your permit issuing official within 24 hours of hearing about them.

After written notice and a chance to be heard, the Department can suspend, revoke or annul the license, or instead assess a civil penalty of up to $250 for a violation (3552). Conditions such as inaccurate timers, missing eyewear or poor sanitizing are public health hazards that can get a device or the facility placarded until fixed (72-1.3). More in tanning salon recordkeeping and tanning bed timer rules.

How TanVision helps

With TanVision's consent forms, clients sign on their own phone or a tablet, and each signed record keeps the signature and the exact wording. The salon writes its own wording and questions, so the form can carry the Department's acknowledgement text. A session cannot start without a signed statement and a date of birth on file. Because New York prescribes the form, ask your permit issuing official whether a digitally signed version meets the rule.

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 and records the day the ID was checked. It does not compare the photo with the person, and TanVision takes no staff countersignature, so the desk still looks at the ID and notes its type, and the operator signs and dates the Department's form. The minimum age is 18 by default. If a parent signs the form for a client under 18, say for a spray tan, TanVision records guardian consent. New York allows no UV tanning under 18, so set Minors and UV rooms to No at Settings > Tanning rules: check-in then refuses UV rooms to any client under 18, even with guardian consent on file, while the consent still opens spray rooms. At Yes, the default, consent lets that client start any room, UV included, with only a warning.

Each session is saved with its date and time, the room and the minutes, and the client record shows recent visits, newest first. Exposure safety refuses a typed time above the room's maximum. Compare other states on the tanning laws by state page, including California.