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Massage Registration

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Massage Services

The City of Redwood City adopted Redwood City Municipal Code (RCMC) Chapter 18A, “Massage Services” to provide for the orderly and consistent regulation of massage services, to enable consumers to identify legitimate massage workers and businesses, and additionally to establish minimum health and safety standards, thus protecting the public interest, health, safety and welfare of the City.

In California individual Massage Practitioners are licensed by the state through the California Massage and Therapy Council (CAMTC).  This license is required by all individuals who practice massage for compensation within the City.  Further, it shall be unlawful for any business to provide massage services within the City unless all individuals employed by the massage business to perform massage, whether as an employee or independent contractor, are Certified Massage Practitioners.  In addition to state certification it shall be unlawful for any person, association, partnership or corporation to engage in, conduct or carry on, or permit to be engaged in, conducted or carried on in or upon any premises within the City, the operation of a Certified Massage Business or the function of a Massage Practitioner without first obtaining a valid Certificate of Registration from the Police Department unless they are subject to an exemption in RCMC Section 18A.9.

Within Redwood City Municipal Code Chapter 18A the City has established a process for registering a massage business within the City. The process includes review by two primary departments: Police Department and Community Development Department. The process is summarized below:

Certificate of Registration Process

To obtain a Certificate of Registration to operate a Certified Massage Business or function as a Massage Practitioner in Redwood City the applicant will adhere to the following procedure:

  1. Read and understand Redwood City Municipal Code Chapter 18A.
  2. Obtain an application packet for Massage Establishment Registration:
    1. Massage Business Certificate of Registration Application; or,
    2. Visit the front desk of the Police Department at 1301 Maple Street, Redwood City, CA 94063.
  3. Before submitting the application to the Police Department, the applicant must obtain the following from the Community Development Department:
    1. A written Zoning Consistency Check with the Planning Division. To apply, submit a Planning Application to planning@redwoodcity.org.
    2. A Certificate of Compliance with the City Health Officer. To apply online, please click on the link here: Online Building Permit and select Health Officer under Permit Type. Once submitted your assigned permit technician will reach out to you for further instructions. When your H-Permit is officially issued, you may schedule an inspection through the Inspection Request Line at (650) 780-7361. Appointments are available Tuesdays from 9AM to 11AM only. The following checklist will be used during your inspection. 
  4. Submit the completed application, Zoning Consistency Check, and Certificate of Compliance to the Police Department.
    1. Applicants who are CAMTC certified will not require additional Live Scan fingerprinting/background checks and may drop off the paperwork without an appointment.
    2. Applicants and any person who has a five percent (5%) or greater ownership interest in said business, who are not CAMTC certified, will each have Live Scan Fingerprinting/background checks conducted by the Police Department. Please call (650) 780-7100 to schedule an appointment to drop off your paperwork and be fingerprinted.
    3. The Police Department will require the owner/applicant of a Certified Sole Proprietorship or a Certified Massage Business to produce a valid and current driver's license and/or identification card issued by a state or federal governmental agency or other photographic identification bearing a bona fide seal by a foreign government.
  5. Upon receipt of a valid Registration Certificate from the Police Department the applicant will then present the Registration Certificate to Revenue Services to obtain a Business License. No business license shall be issued until the Certificate of Registration has been issued.