Skin piercing treatments

Draft Adur byelaw consultation - have your say ...

• About skin piercing treatments
• Byelaws
• How to apply for registration
• Making a complaint about a premises

• View our public register of licences

About skin piercing treatments

Your business must be registered to provide any skin-piercing treatments, unless you are a registered medical practitioner or dentist.

This is to ensure that basic health and safety standards are maintained in any premises where these activities are carried out.

Skin piercing treatments include:

• acupuncture
• cosmetic piercing
• electrolysis
• semi-permanent skin colouring
• tattooing

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Byelaws

The councils have adopted byelaws to regulate the conditions of operators and their premises in relation to hygiene and infection control. It is compulsory to register both the premises and the operator under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.

• Adur byelaws - and draft byelaw consultation
• Worthing byelaws

Byelaws in Adur:

Current byelaws:

• Byelaw for Acupuncture (Adur) (113KB)
• Byelaw for Ear Piercing and Electrolysis (Adur) (111KB)
• Byelaw for Tattooing (Adur) (123KB)

Draft Adur byelaw consultation:

The Adur byelaws are currently being updated to include the practices of body piercing and semi-permanent make-up with tattooing, ear piercing, electrolysis and acupuncture. This is inline with the Local Government Act 2004. Please find the draft byelaw and Regulatory Impact Assessment below:

• DRAFT byelaw for acupuncture, tattooing, semi-permanent skin-colouring, cosmetic piercing or electrolysis (Adur) (125KB)
• Regulatory Impact Assessment - Introduction of Skin Piercing Bylaws (58KB)

In the first stage of the consultation all current registered Adur skin piercing premises will be able to consult on the draft byelaw. Should you have any comments regarding the content of the draft Adur byelaw, please send your representation via our online portal.

• If you have previously not registered as a user on the online portal, you are required to register with your name and home address, including those that are addressed outside the Adur and Worthing area.
• Once registered please click on 'Requests' - then 'Submit a Request Complaint'.
• When entering complaint details please choose 'Adur Skin Piercing Consultation' under 'Request Subject'.
• Under 'This Request Relates To' please select 'Another Address' and then enter your trading name and address via either searching the postcode or manually entering.

The deadline for replies is Friday 7th March 2025 (now closed).

Submit comments for the draft Adur byelaw consultation

What happens next?

• The first stage of the consultation was sent to 116 skin piercing businesses (deadline for replies closed on Friday 7th March 2025):
  • 2 replies with "Yes"
  • 0 replies with "No"
  • 1 comment: The proposed licensing is missing a huge industry that sits closely with skin needling... aesthetics! For an establishment like ours, we must be able to carry out aesthetics treatments in these areas to make sense. A license is required for electrolysis, which does not pierce the skin if done correctly, but a license to administer a prescription medication via needle remains unregulated. If these regulations are to be solidified, there should be a note mate that ANY treatments deemed to "pierce" the skin is considered safe to administer in the same space licensed under these regulations. The proposed regulations make complete sense, and I believe that businesses should be regularly spot checked to ensure the terms of the licensing are being adhered to.
• A second period of consultation (from 7th April 2025) will include publication to local newspapers for the public to consult.
• After this period of consultation has completed, the draft byelaw will be sent to the Secretary of State for approval. The new Adur byelaw will replace the current Adur byelaw and the new byelaw will be published.

There will be no changes to the Worthing byelaw below.

Byelaws in Worthing:

• Byelaw for Acupuncture, Tattooing etc (Worthing) (151KB)

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How to apply for registration

When making your enquiry to us via our online portal:

• After clicking the link you will need to register in order to submit your enquiry.
• Once registered please click on 'Licensing' - then 'Apply for a Licence'.

Apply for a Licence

Fees:

To find out how much a licence will cost please see:

• Environmental Health Fees & Charges 2025/26 - Adur & Worthing Councils (114KB)

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Making a complaint about a premises

If you would like to make a complaint or have a query regarding a premises where skin piercing takes place, this can be done via our online portal:

• After clicking the link you will need to register in order to make a complaint.
• Once in the portal, select 'Requests for Service or Complaints' and then select 'Health and Safety at Work complaint/enquiry'.

Make a complaint or enquiry

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