How to Open a Tattoo Shop in Brevard County: The Space Checklist
To open a tattoo shop in Brevard County, start by knowing what you need from the space before you sign the lease.
At Reach Commercial Real Estate, we represent tenants. We help you find locations, compare costs, investigate property questions and negotiate the lease. Reach founder Cassandra Hartford has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 17 years and has closed more than 1,500 sales and leases.
This is our guide to the leasing process, from your first conversation with us through taking possession and preparing to open.
Quick answer: what you need to open a tattoo shop in Brevard County
Zoning. Melbourne's code does not list tattoo as a use, so the Community Development Director decides whether it is allowed in the district.
Non-absorbent, easily cleanable floors and walls in the tattooing area, the cleaning area and the restrooms.
A handsink for your artists and a separate sink or an ultrasonic machine for cleaning reusable items.
A steam autoclave, unless you use only individually packaged, pre-sterilized, single-use items.
A Florida Department of Health license for the location.
Lease terms for the buildout. Ask for a permit contingency, a TI allowance and free rent during the buildout.
1. Bring us these details before we search
Before we send listings, we need to understand your operation. How many artists will work at the same time? Will you clean and sterilize reusable instruments on site, or use only individually packaged, pre-sterilized, single-use items?
We start with these details from you:
Your services and the number of artists working at once.
Your equipment list, with specifications.
Your busiest hours and expected staffing.
Your preferred areas.
Your opening budget and your monthly occupancy budget.
Your target opening date.
What you will compromise on and what your business needs to function.
You do not need every detail settled. We need enough information to search for your business rather than send every available storefront.
2. Screen tattoo shop spaces before you tour
We map headcount, parking, power and signage before you tour. A listing gives us a starting point, and we ask for the information needed to evaluate the property.
For each candidate, we request the asking rent, CAM or NNN estimates, previous use, parking arrangements, existing equipment, proposed landlord work and the improvement allowance. CAM means common area maintenance.
The state rule bars a tattoo establishment from an area where food is prepared (Rule 64E-28.007(3)).
If a critical answer is missing, we keep the property under investigation. We do not treat an unanswered question as an approval.
3. Tour for how a tattoo shop runs
During a tour, we look beyond the finishes. Where will clients enter and wait? Where will each artist work? Where will contaminated reusable items be cleaned? Where will your team receive supplies and take out trash?
What are the floors and walls made of in the tattooing area, the cleaning area and the restrooms? Where would the handsink go so each artist can reach it?
4. Check zoning before signing a tattoo shop lease
A landlord's willingness to lease to a tattoo shop does not replace the local government's review.
Melbourne has no tattoo category in its use tables. The words tattoo and body art do not appear in Appendix B of its zoning code. The code's examples of personal service include barbershops, beauty shops, shoe repair and pet grooming, and tattooing is not among them.
For a use that is not listed, the Community Development Director decides whether it is allowed in the district and whether it is permitted, permitted with conditions or conditional. The planning and zoning board hears appeals of that decision.
Planning and Zoning will check an address to help determine whether a business would be permitted there, according to Melbourne's Starting a New Business Toolkit. If additional approvals are necessary, we bring the expected process and timing into the lease discussion.
See How to Find Out If Your Business Is Allowed in a Melbourne Zoning District. See also How to Get a Zoning Confirmation Letter in Melbourne. See also How to Open in a Space That Used to Be Something Else: Change of Use in Brevard County.
5. Check floors, sinks and sterilization for a tattoo shop
The Florida Department of Health's Rule 64E-28.007 sets the premises requirements for a tattoo establishment.
Floors and walls: The tattooing area, the area where items are cleaned and sterilized, and the restrooms need non-absorbent, easily cleanable floors and walls (Rule 64E-28.007(1)).
Separation: There can be no direct opening between the shop and any living or sleeping quarters, and a solid floor to ceiling wall is the minimum separation (Rule 64E-28.007(2)).
Lighting: The tattooing area and the cleaning and sterilizing area need artificial light equivalent to at least 100 foot candles (Rule 64E-28.007(9)).
Sinks: A handsink with unobstructed access has to be within each tattoo area or centrally located in the workroom, so each artist can reach it (Rule 64E-28.007(11)). Contaminated reusable items are cleaned in a separate sink or in an ultrasonic machine before sterilization (Rule 64E-28.007(12)).
Sterilization: A tattoo establishment must have a steam autoclave for sterilizing instruments (Rule 64E-28.007(13)). The autoclave is not required if you use only individually packaged, pre-sterilized, single-use items (Rule 64E-28.007(16)).
Restrooms: Tenant spaces intended for public use must provide public toilet facilities for customers (Florida Building Code, Plumbing, section 403.3).
Parking: Tattoo is not named in Melbourne's parking code. Where a specific use is not listed, the parking requirements of a similar use apply, and the city engineer determines them when a development plan showing the proposed use is submitted (Land Development Code, Section 9.73).
See How to Count the Parking Your Business Needs in Melbourne. See also How to Handle Parking for an Unlisted Use in Melbourne.
6. Know what your broker, architect, contractor and attorney each do
Reach handles the search, the cost comparison, the property questions and the business terms of the lease.
Your contractor and design professional evaluate the technical work and cost. In unincorporated Brevard County, the commercial permit application lists construction documents signed and sealed by a Florida registered architect or engineer. Your Florida commercial leasing attorney reviews the legal language and documents.
7. Compare the full cost of each tattoo shop location
We compare more than base rent. Your occupancy review should include base rent, CAM and other charges, scheduled increases, utilities, repairs assigned to you, construction, deposits and rent due before opening.
The comparison should show what you pay to get open and what you pay to stay open.
See How to Read the CAM and NNN Section of a Lease. See also How to Work Out Your Real Monthly Occupancy Cost.
8. Negotiate the lease around your opening plan
Once you select a property, we negotiate the business terms. We focus on:
A permitted use clause that describes your operation.
Approval contingencies for zoning, permits, financing and construction feasibility.
Landlord delivery and the tenant improvement allowance.
Rent commencement and construction delays.
Maintenance, additional charges, the personal guaranty and exit terms.
An allowance, rent-free period or other concession only helps when the written terms fit your project.
See How to Ask for Free Rent While You Build Out. See also How to Ask for a Tenant Improvement Allowance. See also How to Add a Permit Contingency to Your Lease.
9. Keep lease dates aligned with the buildout
After signing, your contractor and design team manage plans, permits and construction. We stay focused on the lease dates: possession and delivery, landlord work, allowance submissions, construction deadlines and rent commencement.
Melbourne requires building permits for tenant buildouts. The city's Building Section says commercial permits typically average 14 to 21 working days on a single review.
See How to Find Out How Long a Melbourne Commercial Permit Takes. See also How to Use a Private Provider for Building Permits.
10. Get your Department of Health license and business tax receipts
The Florida Department of Health licenses tattoo establishments, and a person may not operate one without a license (section 381.00777(1)(b), Florida Statutes). A license is valid only for the location listed on the license (section 381.00777(5)(a)).
The department issues the license if the establishment complies with all applicable local building, occupational, zoning and health codes (section 381.00777(3)(c)).
Melbourne's business toolkit directs businesses to obtain the city business tax receipt followed by the Brevard County receipt. Your reviewing agencies confirm when you have satisfied their opening requirements.
Extra items to add to your tattoo shop checklist
Equipment a previous tenant left behind. Before assigning value to its sinks, counters and equipment, we ask who owns them, what records exist and whether your team finds them suitable for your operation.
The starting condition. A second-generation space, another retail space and an unfinished space each need their own cost and construction review.
A bio-medical waste permit. Melbourne's License Requirements for Businesses page lists tattoo under a Bio-Medical Waste Permit from Brevard County Environmental Health Services.
A sign permit. Signage work requires a permit, according to Melbourne's Building Section FAQ. For each candidate, we request the sign criteria.
Accessibility. The ADA rule makes you and your landlord both responsible and says the lease can allocate the work between you (28 CFR 36.201(b)).
Insurance requirements. Keep track of them with your possession dates and rent commencement.
Schedule changes. If the project schedule changes, raise the lease implications early, and review the documents with your attorney rather than assume a delay changes your payment obligations.
Start your search with Reach
You do not need to find the property before calling us. In most deals the landlord pays our fee.
Call 321-514-0876 with your services, number of artists, budget, preferred area and target opening date, or with the address of a space you have found.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do you apply for the tattoo establishment license?
Rule 64E-28.005(1)(a) says a completed application on form DH 4151 goes to the county health department prior to performing tattooing. Under Rule 64E-28.007(22), the establishment allows the department to conduct, at minimum, annual inspections.
Can a city or county add its own tattoo rules?
Florida's Tattoo Act does not override any county or city law that regulates tattoo establishments (Florida Statutes, section 381.00791).
Does a business tax receipt confirm that a space is zoned for a tattoo shop?
The Brevard County Tax Collector says issuing the receipt does not confirm that the business activity complies with local zoning regulations or that the premises have the appropriate building occupancy or life safety requirements.
Sources
City of Melbourne Code, Appendix B Zoning and Appendix D Land Development Code, Section 9.73
City of Melbourne, Building Section Frequently Asked Questions
Florida Statutes, Chapter 381, Tattoo Act (ss. 381.00771 to 381.00791)
Florida Administrative Code, Chapter 64E-28 (Department of Health, tattoo establishments)
Written by Cassandra Hartford, founder and CEO of Reach Commercial Real Estate. She has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 17 years, representing buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants across Florida's Space Coast.
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