How BAQA Body Art Standards Are Developed

This page states the controls BAQA applies to standards work and, equally importantly, what the public record does not yet prove.

Current status: BAQA’s published standards are voluntary private guidance and assessment criteria. They are not legislation, a government licence, an ISO certification or automatic recognition on a national qualifications framework.

The controlled standards workflow

Scope and source recordDefine the discipline, audience, risk and jurisdiction. Log authoritative sources and their review dates.
Draft and terminology checkSeparate mandatory law from BAQA recommendations, and avoid medical, legal or recognition claims that the evidence does not support.
Relevant reviewSeek technical, practitioner, education, legal or public input appropriate to the subject. Record names or roles, conflicts and comments when that review occurs.
Decision and versionRecord who approved publication, the decision date, version, material changes and any unresolved limitation.
Publish with boundariesShow scope, status, sources and local-law priority. Do not imply that publication alone proves consultation or government endorsement.
Monitor and correctAccept corrections, review material changes and retain an understandable change record.

Presenter discussing body art discipline standards with a small group — Relevant review should be documented rather than assumed.

Meeting room with body art disciplines and standards shown on a flipchart — Each standard should have a defined scope, source record and version.

Public evidence register

The pages below are current public BAQA guidance. A detailed, named source and reviewer register has not yet been published for every document. Until a particular record identifies consultation, reviewers or testing, readers should not infer that those steps occurred.

Published document	Web page last modified	Evidence-record status
Tattooing Standards	4 September 2026	Detailed source/reviewer record pending publication
Piercing Standards	4 September 2026	Detailed source/reviewer record pending publication
Permanent Makeup (PMU) Standards	4 September 2026	Detailed source/reviewer record pending publication
Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP) Standards	4 September 2026	Detailed source/reviewer record pending publication
Body Art Removal Standards	4 September 2026	Detailed source/reviewer record pending publication
BAQA Certified Studio Standard	4 September 2026	Detailed source/reviewer record pending publication

Terminology BAQA uses

BAQA standard: Voluntary BAQA guidance or criteria. Mandatory local requirements take priority.
Membership: A private BAQA status for an approved person or organisation; not a licence to practise.
Accreditation: A BAQA review of the stated provider or course against the applicable published BAQA criteria.
Certification: A BAQA-issued status or credential within the scope shown on its record.
Validation: Confirmation of the BAQA record displayed—not proof of every external legal or professional requirement.
International: Designed for and available to a cross-border audience; not universal government or regulator recognition.

Corrections and participation

Send a source correction, conflict disclosure or proposal through Contact BAQA. Use the complaints process for a formal concern. BAQA will distinguish submitted feedback from formally adopted content.