Providing Digitally Prearranged Remote Services to Customers
If you hold a valid practitioner license, Texas law allows you to provide a limited range of services to customers outside of a licensed establishment, if you meet certain requirements.
About Digitally Prearranged Remote Services
Texas law allows licensed individuals to offer “digitally prearranged remote services”, which are a limited range of barbering or cosmetology services that can be performed at a location other than a licensed establishment if the services are prearranged through a digital network (such as a website or online app).
Remote services are different from services provided by mobile establishments.
Remote Services You Can Provide
Only specific services are authorized to be digitally prearranged remote services, and those services must be within the scope of your license. Your license must also be current and in good standing.
Allowable Services
The following services may be performed if you currently hold a license to perform these same activities in a licensed establishment:
- Haircutting
- Hairstyling
- Weaving a person's hair by thread and needle or attaching by clamps or glue
- Arranging, beautifying, shaving with a safety razor, styling, or trimming a person’s mustache or beard
- Beautifying a person's face, neck, or arms using, antiseptic, tonic, lotion, powder, oil, clay, or cream
- Removing superfluous hair on the face using tweezers
- Massaging, cleansing and treating person’s hands or feet for polish change manicures and pedicures, and non-whirlpool foot basin pedicures only
- Applying semi-permanent, thread-like extensions composed of single fibers to a person's eyelashes
Prohibited Services
The following services are NOT allowed to be offered or provided as a remote service:
- Coloring
- Processing
- Bleaching
- Dyeing
- Tinting
- Use of depilatories, sugaring, and waxing
- Portable whirlpool foot spa pedicures
Locations
The services must be performed at a location other than a licensed establishment or school.
Examples of a suitable location may include your home or the client’s home.
Making Appointments with Customers
Under Texas law, a "remote service business" is the term for the entity that provides the app, website, or other online-system that is used to make customer appointments.
If you choose to offer remote services, you will need to either act as your own remote service business, or work with a third-party company.
Acting as Your Own Remote Service Business
If you schedule appointments via a website or app (including social media), then you are effectively acting as your own remote service business.
You must provide TDLR with a notice of intent to operate a remote service business and meet certain requirements related to:
- Providing customers with pre-appointment information
- Proving receipts after services have been rendered
- Records management
- Health and Safety Standards
For details on these requirements, please see the remote services business page.