Beauty salons, barbershops and tattoo studios: the hundred square feet, the disinfection and the disposable razor

It is Rule 4.3.13 of Chapter 4.3 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, on the Health Licence, dedicated to the requirements for the design and operation of beauty salons, barbershops, tattoo studios and analogous establishments. It is thirty-one requirements about the premises, their toilets, the water, ventilation, separation from other structures, waste, the hygiene of tools and towels, the professional’s health and hygiene, and the prohibitions. This site already has guides on the professional licence for a barber or stylist and on the tattoo studio licence, and a general guide on the Health Licence written from other rules of the same chapter; this one covers the premises standard, which none of them carries.

The requirements apply to beauty salons, barbershops, tattoo studios and analogous establishments. The rule expressly adds that its provisions also apply to mobile beauty specialists, mobile barbers, aestheticians and other analogous professions. And it excludes from one specific requirement — that of not having direct communication with another establishment that is not an integral part of the business — the barbershops and beauty salons located in hotels, student centres, shopping centres and other analogous establishments. To practise the profession, every person must hold a licence from the corresponding Examining Board or the colegiación, if required by law.

• Having a minimum of one hundred square feet of floor, excluding the toilets, for an establishment where a single professional works, and forty additional square feet per professional offering services at the same time.Verified against the official source
• Having separate toilets for women and men, conveniently located, available to clients and employees, well lit and adequately ventilated, and supplied with liquid soap, paper towel or another hand-drying fitting, toilet paper and a bin.Verified against the official source
• Having a supply of potable water, cold and hot, with sufficient pressure, from a water supply approved by the Department of Health, and enough hair-washing basins for the number of clients and the establishment’s need.Verified against the official source
• If operating from a residence: that the area or premises to be used commercially be totally separate or independent from the residence, with the separate toilets for women and men available to clients and employees.Verified against the official source
• Disinfecting after each use every tool, instrument or object coming into direct contact with the person, by immersion in the solution or disinfecting agent for the time the manufacturer stipulates, using chemical germicides classified by the EPA as hospital-grade disinfectants.Verified against the official source
• Using disposable or single-use razors, sanitising the razor holder after each use and keeping an accessible spare set of razors.Verified against the official source
• That every person, owner or employee, working as a beauty technician or specialist, barber or in analogous professions be vaccinated against hepatitis B, and hold a licence from the corresponding Examining Board or the colegiación if required by law.Verified against the official source

• The licence from the corresponding Examining Board, or the colegiación if required by law, of every person practising the profession in the establishment.
• If asking to be exempted from the number of sanitary installations the Construction Code sets: the variance or exception application under Rule 4.3.3 of the chapter.

1. 1

   Step 1: The size: a hundred feet, and forty more per professional

   The establishments must have a minimum of one hundred square feet of floor, excluding the toilets. The regulation clarifies which case that minimum is for: this minimum size is permitted for an establishment where a single professional works. If more than one barber or specialist is offering services at the same time, there must be forty additional square feet per professional. It is the first calculation to make before signing a lease: a hundred for the first and forty for each additional chair that will be working at the same time.

2. 2

   Step 2: The toilets

   They must have separate toilets for women and men, conveniently located, available to clients and employees. The number of sanitary installations follows the current Puerto Rico Construction Code, though the regulation itself says this may be waived by a variance or exception application under Rule 4.3.3 of the chapter. The toilets are kept clean at all times and in good repair, supplied with liquid soap, paper towel or another hand-drying fitting, toilet paper and a bin. And they must be well lit and adequately ventilated.

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   Step 3: From home: only if it is totally separate

   Operations of this nature are not permitted in a residence, unless the area or premises to be used commercially is totally separate or independent from the residence. And even then, the separate toilets for women and men must be provided, conveniently located, available to clients and employees. That is: the house’s kitchen or living room do not qualify; an area with its own entrance and toilets, independent of the dwelling, is needed.

4. 4

   Step 4: Hot water and washbasins

   They must be provided with enough hair-washing basins; the number of basins in the establishment is determined by the number of clients and the establishment’s particular need. And there must be a supply of potable water, cold and hot, with sufficient pressure, from a water supply approved by the Department of Health. The three elements — potable, hot and pressurised — go together in the text and are checked together.

5. 5

   Step 5: Ventilation, separation and what may not be done with the premises

   The premises must have adequate natural or artificial ventilation allowing the extraction of objectionable gases, vapours or odours to the outside of the building, and they may not ventilate into the interior of other parts of the structure. They may not have direct communication with any other establishment that is not an integral part of the business — barbershops and beauty salons located in hotels, student centres, shopping centres and other analogous establishments are excluded from this provision. Using beauty salons or analogous establishments as a bedroom is prohibited. And the separation between these establishments and any other structure is by walls built from floor to ceiling, with no holes or openings.

6. 6

   Step 6: Waste and pests

   All solid waste is deposited in receptacles of non-absorbent material with well-fitting lids, and taken out of the establishment in sealed plastic bags as often as needed so it does not become a public health danger or a public nuisance. Every owner or lessee is responsible for keeping the establishment and its surroundings free of animals, insects, rats and other vermin; all areas must be kept clean and free of solid waste, and the physical plant must be kept in good repair.

7. 7

   Step 7: The tools: immersion, not ultraviolet

   This is the rule’s heart. Hairbrushes, combs, tools, tongs or tweezers, files, cuticle pushers, blackhead removers, scissors, contact cups or massage-machine pads, and any other kind of tool, instrument or object used in these establishments that comes into direct contact with the person, are disinfected after each use and kept properly in a cabinet. And the regulation closes the easy escape: storage in an ultraviolet cabinet does not substitute for the use of germicidal agents. The use of unsanitised instruments is prohibited. For disinfection, chemical germicides classified by the US Environmental Protection Agency as hospital disinfectants are used, at the concentration and contact time the manufacturer recommends. And the washing and sanitising system is by immersion of the object in the solution for the stipulated time; every establishment must have the equipment to carry out that process.

8. 8

   Step 8: The disposable razor and the spare set

   Every razor used must be disposable or single-use. The razor holder must be sanitised after each use. And the establishment must keep an accessible spare set of razors. That last line exists for a practical reason: without an accessible spare, the temptation to reuse is exactly what the regulation wants to eliminate.

9. 9

   Step 9: Hands, towels and single-use material

   Every professional must wash their hands properly with soap and water or a bactericidal solution before attending each client. If a client affected by a rash, cut, inflammation or purulent lesion is attended, the whole contact area is disinfected immediately, after washing with soap and water, followed by an effective disinfectant. Aprons, towels, head protectors and any other analogous non-disposable material are subjected to washing and disinfection after each use; where plastic protectors are used, paper towel must be used so they do not touch the client’s skin directly. All common-use towels are kept in closed compartments and each towel is strictly sanitised after being used; reusing towels without proper sanitising is prohibited, and the use of common sponges or puffs is prohibited. And single-use material is deposited after use in a sanitary receptacle and may under no circumstances be used on more than one client.

10. 10

    Step 10: The person: hygiene, hepatitis B and licence

    Both employees and owners practising a profession related to the establishment’s operations must keep their clothes clean and in good condition, their nails trimmed and clean, and take care that their person is in perfect health. Every person, owner or employee, working as a beauty technician or specialist, barber or in analogous professions, practising in Puerto Rico, must be vaccinated against hepatitis B. And to practise the profession, every person must hold a licence from the corresponding Examining Board or the colegiación, if required by law.

11. 11

    Step 11: What may not be offered, and smoking

    Every medicinal product used to coagulate blood is used only as a solution or powder and applied with sterilised gauze or cotton. Beauty specialists, barbers and analogous professionals do not give treatment for skin diseases; they may only give the facial and scalp treatments recommended by the field’s textbooks, provided no legislation or approved regulation is violated. And smoking is prohibited inside every beauty salon, barbershop or analogous establishment.

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    Step 12: If you work at clients’ homes

    The rule closes by extending its reach: this article’s provisions also apply to mobile beauty specialists, mobile barbers, aestheticians and other analogous professions. That is: the rules on immersion disinfection, disposable razors, sanitised towels, single-use material and hand-washing before each client do not stay in the premises: they travel with the professional.

These requirements are checked within the Health Licence process before OGPe and in the Department of Health’s inspections. If you need to be exempted from the number of sanitary installations the Construction Code sets, the chapter itself allows requesting it by a variance or exception under its Rule 4.3.3. The licence to practise the profession is issued by the corresponding Examining Board, which is a separate process and has its own guide on this site.

• Renting premises under one hundred square feet of floor, not counting the toilets.
• Putting several chairs working at once without the forty additional square feet per professional.
• Operating inside the residence without an area totally separate and independent from it.
• Not providing separate toilets for women and men available to clients and employees.
• Relying on the ultraviolet cabinet as a disinfection method.
• Disinfecting without immersion, or without germicides classified by the EPA as hospital-grade.
• Reusing razors instead of using disposable or single-use ones, or not keeping the spare set accessible.
• Reusing towels without sanitising them, or keeping them outside closed compartments.
• Using common sponges or puffs.
• Reusing on another client material that is single-use.
• Ventilating the premises into the interior of other parts of the structure.
• Using the salon as a bedroom, or allowing smoking inside the premises.
• Practising without the hepatitis B vaccine or without the corresponding Examining Board’s licence.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Permit Management Office

  ogpe

  ogpe.pr.gov

• Department of Health

  salud

  www.salud.pr.gov