Meet your personal services regulatory duties

Some personal services activities trigger their own registration, permit or licensing requirement on top of the workplace health and safety, fire safety, insurance, equality and data protection duties covered in the universal spine guide. This guide covers four sector-specific regimes. If more than one applies to your premises, you must comply with all of them.

A. Dry-cleaning solvent controls

If you operate a dry-cleaning machine that uses perchloroethylene (perc) or other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), you need a Part B environmental permit from your local authority in England and Wales under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. In Scotland, a Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) applies. In Northern Ireland, a PPC permit from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) applies.

The Part B permit controls emissions of solvent vapour to air. You must also comply with COSHH in relation to operator and staff exposure to perchloroethylene — including workplace exposure limit monitoring, local exhaust ventilation, health surveillance and training. HSE guidance note EH40 sets the workplace exposure limits for perc (tetrachloroethylene) at 20 ppm (8-hour TWA) and 40 ppm (15-minute short-term exposure limit).

B. Skin-piercing and special-procedures registration

If your business carries out tattooing, semi-permanent make-up, cosmetic piercing, electrolysis or acupuncture, you must register or get a licence from the local authority before you begin operating, where your area's scheme applies. In England outside London, registration is under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, Part VIII (sections 13 to 17). It applies only where the council has passed a resolution to adopt it (section 13), so ask your council whether it has. Where it applies, the local authority registers both the premises and the individual practitioner. In Greater London, boroughs generally license these treatments through the special treatment licence in section C. The City of London registers tattooing, piercing, acupuncture and electrolysis under the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1981. In Wales, a mandatory national licensing scheme for 'special procedures' (acupuncture, body piercing, electrolysis and tattooing, including semi-permanent make-up and microblading) has been in force since 29 November 2024 under Part 4 of the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017. The offences of carrying out a special procedure without a licence, or from premises or a vehicle that has not been approved (section 82(1) to (4)), have applied since 29 August 2025; the older Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 registration no longer applies to these procedures in Wales. (Wales also prohibits the intimate piercing of anyone under 18.) In Scotland, the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 requires a licence from the local authority for skin-piercing and tattooing. In Northern Ireland, Part V of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 lets a council adopt registration of the person and the premises for tattooing, semi-permanent skin-colouring, cosmetic piercing and electrolysis, and of acupuncture. Check with your council whether it has adopted it. The Tattooing of Minors (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 also applies there.

Registration or licensing conditions typically cover hygiene standards, sterilisation of equipment, use of single-use needles, record-keeping (client consent, aftercare advice) and age restrictions. Some local authorities carry out periodic inspections. If you operate a mobile service (for example, visiting clients at home), the rules depend on the nation and the council. In England the Act requires the business to be carried on at registered premises, but a registered person may visit clients at their request (section 15(2)). In Wales, a vehicle you work from needs an approval certificate. Ask your council how its scheme applies to you.

For help working out whether your treatments need registration, read Tattoo, piercing and microblading: registration and licensing.

C. Special treatment licence

In some areas, premises offering massage, manicure, saunas, light or electric treatments or other 'special treatments' need a licence from the local authority. This requirement is not universal. It depends on whether the local authority has adopted the relevant local legislation.

In London, Part II of the London Local Authorities Act 1991 (section 6) requires a special treatment licence for premises used as an establishment for special treatment. Section 4 names massage, manicure, acupuncture, tattooing, cosmetic piercing, chiropody, light, electric or other special treatment of a like kind, and vapour, sauna or other baths. Part II applies in a borough only from the appointed day its council fixes (sections 3 and 5), so ask your borough whether it applies yet. Section 27 of the London Local Authorities Act 2000 amended Part II, including by letting a borough exclude a class of treatment by resolution. The City of London is outside the 1991 Act (section 2). It licenses massage and special treatment under Part IV of the London County Council (General Powers) Act 1920. Outside London, some local authorities have adopted similar powers under local Acts. Not all local authorities operate a special treatment licensing scheme.

Check with your local authority whether a special treatment licence is required in your area before you open. If it is required, the licence typically covers premises standards, hygiene, staff qualifications, insurance, and display of the licence.

For nails and massage, read Nails and massage licences from your council. If you rent a chair or room in someone else's premises, read Am I self-employed if I rent a chair? What renters and salon owners need.

D. Legionella risk management

If your premises include a spa pool, hot tub, whirlpool bath, cooling tower, or any other water system that stores or distributes water at temperatures between 20°C and 45°C with the potential to create aerosol, you must control the risk of legionella bacteria. HSE's Approved Code of Practice L8 (Legionnaires' disease: the control of legionella bacteria in water systems) and the supporting technical guidance HSG274 apply throughout the United Kingdom; for spa pools and hot tubs specifically, follow HSG282.

You must carry out a legionella risk assessment, appoint a 'responsible person' with day-to-day control, implement a written control scheme covering temperature management, water treatment, cleaning and disinfection, and keep records. Spa pools require specific microbiological monitoring (including regular testing for legionella) and must follow the PWTAG (Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group) guidance or equivalent. HSE enforces in Great Britain; HSENI enforces in Northern Ireland.

E. Age restrictions and cosmetic-procedure rules

If you offer cosmetic injectables, it is a criminal offence in England to administer botulinum toxin (Botox) or a cosmetic dermal filler to anyone under 18 by way of business, except where a doctor (or a registered professional acting on a doctor's instruction) considers it necessary — under the Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021 (in force 1 October 2021). It is also an offence to make arrangements or book in an under-18 for these procedures.

For the licence and training position on injectables, read Licence rules for Botox and lip fillers.

If you offer sunbeds, it is an offence to allow anyone under 18 to use a sunbed on your business premises (and you must not let under-18s into a dedicated sunbed area unsupervised). This is the Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010 in England and Wales, with equivalent rules in Scotland (Public Health etc. (Scotland) Act 2008, Part 8) and Northern Ireland (Sunbeds Act (Northern Ireland) 2011).

A wider licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures is being developed in England under section 180 of the Health and Care Act 2022. Following a public consultation it is not yet in force — the government is prioritising restrictions on the highest-risk procedures first — so check the current position before you offer injectables or other invasive treatments.

Funeral directors

Funeral directing is covered by the universal spine duties — workplace health and safety (including COSHH for embalming fluids), fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection. There is currently no mandatory national licensing or registration requirement for funeral directors in England, Wales or Northern Ireland — though the Competition and Markets Authority has recommended that they introduce one. Scotland is ahead: under the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 a statutory inspection regime for funeral directors came into force on 1 March 2025 (the Burial and Cremation (Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 2025), and a funeral director licensing scheme, a code of practice and a sector register are being implemented. If you operate in Scotland, check the current requirements with the Scottish Government.