What permits do you need to open a salon or barber in Summit County Oh?

Tattoo / Body Piercing Initial Approval (plan review)

A salon that offers tattooing or body piercing — not an ordinary hair or nail salon, which has no body-art trigger at all — must be approved by Summit County Public Health before it operates, and the initial approval is a plan review of the premises and equipment. The charge is $400.00 each occurrence for tattooing services, for body piercing, or for the two combined, with a separate $80.00 time-limited approval for a specific event, as published at EHC 101.11(a) of the 2026 APPROVED Environmental Health Fee Schedule, Exhibit A to SCPH's Environmental Health Code Chapter 101, the adopted schedule for the 2026 calendar year, in effect through 31 December 2026. The statutory framework the schedule itself cites is ORC 3730.02(A) and 3730.03 with OAC 3701-09-03, under which body art services run on board-of-health approval rather than an artist-level state license; SCPH, as the combined general health district for the whole county, gives that approval at an Akron or Barberton address as well as anywhere else in Summit County. A studio that also builds out its space needs the Summit County Department of Building Standards commercial permits listed separately, and the county's Chapter 749 massage permits apply only where massage is also offered and the §749.21 exemptions do not cover it.

Tattoo / Body Piercing Approval Renewal

Once a body art studio in Summit County has its initial approval, continuing operation runs on an annual renewal from Summit County Public Health at $300.00, charged separately for tattooing services, for body piercing, or for combined services. The figure is published at EHC 101.11(b) of the 2026 APPROVED Environmental Health Fee Schedule, Exhibit A to SCPH's Environmental Health Code Chapter 101 — the adopted schedule for the 2026 calendar year, in effect through 31 December 2026 — and the renewal falls due on 31 December with a 25% late payment penalty on the district fee from 1 January. The renewal year and the license category line up with the initial approval: a studio approved for combined services renews on the combined line rather than paying twice. As with the initial approval, this reaches only a salon that actually performs tattooing or piercing; a hair, nail or beauty salon offering neither has no body-art renewal to make. Body art approval is a health-district function under ORC Chapter 3730 and OAC 3701-09-03, separate from the state cosmetology and barber licensing that governs the rest of a salon's services.

Massage Establishment Permit

Codified Ordinances Chapter 749 requires a permit for a massage establishment, defined as 'any establishment having a fixed place of business where any person, firm, association or corporation engages in, or carries on, any of the activities included in the definition of massage.' §749.02 reads: 'No person shall engage in, conduct or carry on, or permit to be engaged in, conducted or carried on, in or upon any premises in the County, the operation of a massage establishment without first having obtained a permit therefor from the Auditor of the County of Summit after approval of the Health Officer.' The fee is set by the ordinance text itself — §749.03(a) requires the applicant to 'pay a nonrefundable filing fee of one hundred eighty-five dollars ($185.00) to the Auditor' — and the figures come from Ord. 90-93 and Ord. 94-320 as carried in the current American Legal codification, with no later amending ordinance in the chapter's sectional history; Summit County Public Health also publishes a copy of the chapter on its Environmental Health Codes page. Under the charter the Auditor's statutory functions sit with the Fiscal Officer. The exemption in §749.21 is what decides whether a salon or studio is in scope at all: the chapter 'shall not apply to hospitals, nursing homes, sanitaria or persons holding an unrevoked massotherapist license or an unrevoked certificate to practice the healing arts under the laws of the State, or persons working under the direct supervision and in their presence … nor shall this chapter apply to barbers or cosmetologists lawfully carrying out their particular profession or business and holding a valid, unrevoked license or certificate of registration issued by the State.' A studio whose massage work is done by state-licensed massage therapists, or by state-licensed barbers or cosmetologists within their scope, is outside the chapter. Processing runs through other offices: §749.03(b) has the Auditor refer copies of the application within five days 'to the appropriate Fire Department, the Health Commissioner, the Building Inspection Department, and the appropriate Police Department,' which have thirty days to inspect and report; appeals go to a Review Board of three County Council members whose decision '[c]onstitutes a final appealable order and is subject to appeal under Ohio R.C. 2506.01' (§749.06(c)). Chapter 749 carries no territorial or nonapplicability clause across §§749.01–749.99, and Charter §1.02 provides that in a conflict 'the exercise of powers by the municipality or township shall prevail,' so a business inside an incorporated city or village should check both this chapter and its own municipality's rules.

Salon or Barbershop License

One board licenses both sides of the trade at the same price — $85 to open, $75 every two years after — but the renewal deadlines differ and are easy to miss. A cosmetology or tanning business renews by 31 January of each odd-numbered year; a barbershop renews by 31 August of each even-numbered year. Every business is inspected at least once in the two-year cycle. Moving premises or changing owner needs a fresh application, not a transfer, and a change of ownership must be applied for within thirty days. A late renewal adds $45.

Shared with other businesses in Summit County Oh

• Akron Right-to-Know Filing Fee — Summit County Public Health, $25 a year, per filing business within the City of Akron, annual, due 1 April. Also required for auto repair shops and contractors and trades; what it involves is set out on the contractors and trades page.
• Masseur / Masseuse Permit — Summit County Fiscal Office, Services Department, $85 a non-refundable filing fee per individual practitioner, one year from the date of issue — §749.09(b) sets the same one-year term for the individual permit as §749.05(b) sets for the establishment permit. Also required for fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the fitness studios page.
• Vendor's License — Ohio Department of Taxation, $50 one-time, per fixed location, no renewal — stays in effect until cancelled. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores, fitness studios, auto repair shops and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.