Belgian tanning salons follow one main text, the AR of 20 June 2002 as amended. It does not cap how often a customer tans in a year. It bans UV under 18 and for skin type 1, has a trained person or a control system adapt each dose, limits the first exposure of a session to half the normal dose, imposes 48 and then 24 hours between exposures, and asks the salon to prove all of this with signed customer documents and supporting records.
Below, each rule comes with the reason it exists, as far as the text and its annexes show it. This article is general information, not legal advice: for any point it does not settle, check with SPF Économie, which enforces the AR.
Which text regulates tanning salons in Belgium?
The royal decree (AR) of 20 June 2002 on the operating conditions of tanning centres, amended in 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2016. A 2017 decree meant to replace it was annulled in full by the Conseil d'État in 2020, so the 2002 text still applies. SPF Économie inspects salons, free of charge for the authority.
Why are under-18s and skin type 1 refused?
UV exposure is forbidden under 18 and for skin type 1, and a doctor's note lifts neither ban. The warning panel every centre displays gives the reason: UV can cause skin cancer and seriously damage the eyes. Skin type 1 is the type that cannot tan. The age limit has been 18 since 3 December 2010; before that, the text said 15.
Annex II adds people for whom UV is advised against rather than forbidden: those especially sensitive to the sun, sunburnt, with skin cancer or a skin condition that may turn cancerous, or on photosensitising medicines. The reception person tells every new customer about these risks.
Why must every new customer sign a document?
Every dose depends on the skin type, so the type has to be set by a trained person, together with the customer, after the customer has heard the risks. The signed document is the trace that this conversation took place. It holds the risk information and the skin type, a declaration that the type was determined in concertation, the customer's first name, name, address, date of birth and identity card number, and the date. The customer and the reception person both sign it.
Because the conversation is the point, a form filled in alone and dropped in a letterbox does not count, automated centres included. And because the document belongs to the salon that held the conversation, a customer who signed one elsewhere is still a new customer for you.
Why is the dose adapted to the bed and its lamps?
The AR does not count in minutes alone. The reception person or the control system adapts intensity and duration to the skin type, the bed and its lamps, and each cabin displays the manufacturer's exposure schedule for that bed. The manufacturer's instructions, lamp identification included, are kept for inspectors. On top of that, total erythemal effective irradiance may not exceed 0.3 W/m² anywhere on any bed.
Why is the first exposure limited to half a dose?
In the AR, a session is a series of exposures with at most 30 days between two of them. The first exposure of each session is limited to 50% of the normal dose. A customer who comes back after more than 30 days therefore starts a new session, at half dose again. In effect, more than a month without UV puts the customer back at the start.
Why 48 hours, then 24 hours, between exposures?
At least 48 hours separate the first and the second exposure of a session, and at least 24 hours each following one. The text does not explain the figures, but its shape is clear: the longest wait comes right after the first exposure of a series. Whether the hours run from the end or the start of an exposure is one of the points to confirm with SPF Économie.
Is there a yearly limit on tanning in Belgium?
No. The Belgian text limits the first dose and the intervals, not the number of exposures, and sets no annual dose and no rest period between series. Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and France do have an annual cap. The 20 MED per year often quoted in Belgium is a recommendation of the Académie royale de Médecine, cited in the Flemish training material, not a rule of the AR.
What do the cabin rules protect against?
The eyes, hygiene and the moment something goes wrong. Goggles are available and disinfected before reuse. Beds are disinfected at least daily and the customer gets cleaning products to clean the bed too. Each cabin has an emergency call, the bed switches off automatically on a fault, and UV emitters and filters are checked at least every three months. The annex I warning hangs where it can be read from 5 metres, in the language of the region.
Who may run the counter, and when can a centre be automated?
Every reception person must have passed a training defined by the competent Community: the IFAPME course in Wallonia, a recognised certificate in Flanders. An automated centre, where a control system starts the beds and identifies the customer by card, still needs a reception person at least four days a week, one hour a day, hands each customer one card in person, and displays the operator's details and a phone number for complaints.
In such a centre the system does the dosing work of the person, which is why the AR forbids any manipulation of the control system that leads to a breach of its rules (art. 2bis).
What records must a tanning salon keep?
The AR does not speak of a client register. It asks the salon to keep available the signed customer documents, the results of the quarterly checks, the manufacturer's instructions, and supporting documents showing that each dose was adapted to the skin type, the first exposure halved and the 48 and 24 hours respected. Where a control system applies those rules, its log is that evidence. The text fixes no retention period, so ask SPF Économie what it expects. Each establishment unit must also carry NACE-BEL code 9604002 at the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises.
Where does software fit in?
Solaryx, our software for Belgian tanning salons, applies the age, skin type and interval rules online, at the till and for walk-ins before a bed starts, sets durations from a grid per skin type, refuses to start a bed until the phototype assessment is signed, and logs each exposure with the skin type, the duration cap and the measured interval. The cabin duties, the training and the NACE code stay with the salon.
See how Solaryx applies the Belgian rules
Frequently asked questions
Does a customer back after two months start at half dose again?
Yes. After more than 30 days without an exposure a new session starts, so the first exposure is limited to half the normal dose and the next one waits at least 48 hours.
Can a doctor's note let a 17-year-old use a sunbed?
No. The ban under 18 and for skin type 1 has no medical exemption.
Do I need to keep a register of every session?
The AR asks for supporting documents that prove the dosing, the half dose and the intervals, not for a register as such. When a control system applies the rules, its log serves as that proof. Ask SPF Économie how much detail it expects.
Does the AR regulate promotions on sessions?
No article of the AR deals with advertising, discounts or health claims.