Public Act 375 is the law in the State of Michigan that governs over body art facilities and tattooers. Public Act 375 made it so that individuals can’t legally tattoo, brand, microblade, or perform body piercing on another individual unless it happens in a licensed facility. It also set up specific requirements for all body art facilities.
What Does ‘Licensed Facility’ Mean?
Tattoo shops are licensed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) as Body Art Facilities. The owners or operators of every tattoo shop have to actually apply for and maintain a body art facility license through MDHHS.
A body art license should not be mistaken for a Bloodborne Pathogens Certificate. The license that is granted through the State of Michigan is completely different. In order for a tattoo shop to become licensed, the owners or operators must submit a plan review, execute the plan for the shop in accordance with the plan review, pay for the license, and submit to an inspection by a health inspector all before opening its front doors.
Just because a shop is “open,” doesn’t mean it’s actually licensed.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell. It’s not just basement scratchers anymore. Some have actual brick and mortar shops now. See, since COVID, our county health departments are drowning in work, and unfortunately, some shops have managed to open up and stay open under the radar.
The license is given for the exact address of the facility. So, when we moved, we had to get a new license, even though we still have the same name and the same owner. That’s why as of Sept 2022, it looks like we have two separate licenses.
Look for their license and check the date. It has to be on display. In the age of digital editing though, a license would not be that hard to fabricate. Thankfully, the State of Michigan has a document that constantly updates. You can search by address to see if the shop you plan to go to has a current license by following the link below.
How Do I Find Out If An Artist Or Shop Is Licensed?
Well, again, licenses aren’t granted to individuals in Michigan. They are granted to tattoo shops. Even if the tattoo shop consists of one artist, it must go through the same process. In accordance with the law, the shop will have the license displayed prominently in the shop.
Now, in addition to that, the facility will also have Bloodborne Pathogens certificates for each artist up. Plus, the shop will have a certificate issued by MDEQ showing that the facility is registered and monitored as a producer of medical waste. In our case, that means the “sharps” or tattooing needles.
List Of Currently Licensed Body Art Facilities
MDHHS maintains an updated, online list of all currently licensed body art facilities. The list itself will be up-to-date as of the date listed on the PDF report. So, this list can change frequently. When a new shop is issued a license, they almost immediately update the list. For example, as of this posting, the list of licensed body art facilities is current as of just three days ago when they added a new shop.
Custom Tattoos in The Village of Fowlerville 