Washington tanning laws for salon owners

What Washington's tanning law covers

Washington's tanning law is chapter 18.370 RCW, three short sections added by Senate Bill 6065 (chapter 87, Laws of 2014), effective June 12, 2014. It applies to any tanning facility, meaning any location, place, area, structure or business that gives people access to an ultraviolet tanning device for a fee (RCW 18.370.010(1)). That reaches a gym or an apartment building that charges for bed use, not only a salon.

The chapter does three things: it bars under-18s from UV devices unless a physician has written a prescription, it says what counts as proof of age, and it makes the facility owner liable for a civil penalty of up to $250 per violation, on top of any other penalty (RCW 18.370.020, 18.370.030). A phototherapy device used by or under the direct supervision of a licensed physician trained in phototherapy is not a tanning device under the chapter (18.370.010(2)).

On 2026-09-29 we searched the full text of every chapter of the Revised Code of Washington and the Washington Administrative Code for the word tanning. Apart from chapter 18.370, it appears only in the sales-tax definition of a retail sale, in the workers' compensation classification that groups tanning salons with beauty and nail salons (classification 6501-01, chapter 296-17A WAC), and in unrelated rules, such as those on leather tanning and industrial dip tanks. There is no state license, inspection, warning statement, record, eyewear or timer rule for tanning facilities. We did not search city or county codes, so check with your local health jurisdiction and business licensing office.

At the front desk

1. Check age before any UV session for anyone who could be under 18. The law accepts only a driver's license or other government-issued ID that shows the date of birth and a photograph (RCW 18.370.020(2)).
2. Turn away anyone under 18 from every UV bed and booth unless they bring a written prescription for ultraviolet radiation treatment from a physician licensed under chapter 18.57 or 18.71 RCW. A parent's signature does not replace it.
3. When a minor does bring a prescription, keep a copy with the client's record. The law does not require you to keep one, but it shows why you allowed the session if anyone asks.
4. Offer spray tans to clients of any age. The ban covers only devices that emit ultraviolet radiation between 200 and 400 nanometers (18.370.010(2)).

What the law leaves to you

Because Washington has no warning-statement, eyewear, exposure or record rule for tanning, those practices are yours to set. Federal performance standards for sunlamp products (21 CFR 1040.20) govern how beds, lamps and timers are built and labeled; the FDA tanning bed regulations guide covers what they mean for a salon. A signed warning statement and a visit log are still worth keeping, because they are what an insurer or a lawyer is likely to ask for after a complaint.

Washington treats tanning salon services as retail sales, so sales tax applies to them (RCW 82.04.050(3)(f)). The federal 10% excise tax on indoor UV tanning is separate; see the tanning excise tax guide.

What has changed recently

Nothing. Chapter 18.370 has not been amended since 2014, according to the history notes on each section read on 2026-09-29. We searched the full text of every House and Senate bill in the 2023-24 and 2025-26 bienniums: every mention of tanning is the existing sales-tax wording, reprinted in bills that amend RCW 82.04.050. The same search of the 2013-14 biennium finds SB 6065 and the 2013 bills that preceded it (SB 5455, SB 5521 and HB 1585), which shows the method works. The Washington State Register subject indexes for 2023 through September 2026 list no tanning rulemaking.

How TanVision helps

Each salon's minimum age in TanVision is 18 by default, which matches Washington, and age is checked against the date of birth already on the client's record. With a USB 2D barcode scanner, Scan ID reads the date of birth from the barcode on a driver's license or ID card and records the day the ID was checked; staff still look at the photo on the card. With Minors and UV rooms at Yes, the default at Settings > Tanning rules, guardian consent on file lets a client under the minimum age start any room, UV included, with only a warning, so in Washington record it only for a minor whose physician prescription you have seen, and keep that prescription with the record. At No, check-in refuses UV rooms to every client under 18, prescription or not.

Washington does not require a signed warning statement, but TanVision does: with consent forms, clients sign on their own phone or a tablet, and a session cannot start without a signed statement and a date of birth on file. Exposure safety refuses a typed time over the room's maximum, and each client record shows recent visits, newest first. Compare other states on the tanning laws by state page, starting with neighboring Oregon.