1.2 General Licensure Requirements: Scope of Barbering, License Types, Hours, and Qualifications

Why this topic matters

Domain IX of the theory test, Licensure Requirements, is worth 14 percent. Its first subtopic is "general requirements and licensed duties (e.g., hours)." Expect questions on what counts as barbering, who is exempt, how many hours each license needs, and where a barber may legally work. The sources are Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) Title 62, Chapter 3 and Board Rule Chapter 0200-01.

What counts as barbering

Under T.C.A. § 62-3-105, any one or any combination of these practices is barbering when done for the public, with or without payment:

1. Shaving or trimming the beard
2. Cutting or styling the hair
3. Giving facial and scalp massages or treatments with oils, creams, lotions, or other preparations, by hand or with mechanical appliances
4. Singeing, curling, shampooing, coloring, bleaching, or straightening the hair, or applying hair tonics
5. Cutting, fitting, measuring, and forming head caps for wigs or hairpieces
6. Hair weaving, excluding medical or surgical procedures
7. Applying cosmetic preparations, antiseptics, powders, oils, clays, or lotions to the scalp, face, neck, or other parts of the body
8. Manicuring and nail care

Two points are often missed. Manicuring and nail care are part of the legal definition, and so is hairpiece fitting. A statement that a Tennessee master barber may not manicure is wrong under this section.

Registration is required

T.C.A. § 62-3-107 says no person may practice or attempt to practice barbering, or serve as a barber instructor or technician, without a valid certificate of registration from the Board. "Certificate of registration" is the statute's term for a license. Practicing without one is a Class B misdemeanor under § 62-3-130, and the Board can also assess civil penalties (see section 1.4).

Exempt persons. Under § 62-3-108, the chapter does not apply to these people while performing their own professional duties:

• Persons authorized to practice medicine and surgery
• Commissioned medical or surgical officers of the U.S. armed services
• Registered nurses
• Cosmetologists practicing under Title 62, Chapter 4
• Persons whose work is limited to shampooing

Where barbering may be performed

T.C.A. § 62-3-109(d) limits barbering to these places:

• A registered barber shop or barber styling shop
• A barber school or college
• A licensed funeral establishment
• A registered mobile shop
• A nursing home
• A hospital health facility
• The residence of the person being served, under a residential barber certificate (§ 62-3-135)

Cutting hair at a client's office, at a party, or in your own kitchen without a registered shop is unlawful. Home services require the separate residential certificate covered in section 1.5.

License types and training hours

Master barber qualifications

Under the current T.C.A. § 62-3-110(b), an applicant for the master barber exam must prove that they:

1. Are at least 16 years old
2. Have either completed 1,500 hours in a registered barber school or college, or hold a valid Tennessee cosmetology license and have completed 300 hours in a registered barber school covering straight razor shaving and barbering technique
3. Have completed up to one hour of domestic violence awareness training, at no cost, from a nonprofit anti-domestic-violence organization recognized by the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. The training covers recognizing signs of domestic violence, responding, and referring clients to victim resources.

A former paragraph requiring an education credential was deleted by a 2024 amendment. Older materials that list age 17 or a high school diploma are out of date. The barber technician applicant must also be at least 16 and complete the same domestic violence training.

Cosmetologist crossover. Board Rule 0200-01-.13 lets a Tennessee-licensed cosmetologist ask the Board to sit for the master barber exam after either completing 300 barber school hours on straight razor shaving and barbering technique (with credit for the remaining 1,200 hours) or holding a cosmetology license for 5 continuous years in Tennessee or a jurisdiction with reciprocity.

How the 1,500 hours are divided

Board Rule 0200-01-.02(2) requires at least one hour of theory class per day and divides the hours this way:

The 340-hour technician curriculum is 160 general, 155 physical, and 25 chemical hours.

School and student rules worth knowing

• Clinic floor. A barber student may not serve patrons until completing at least 100 hours of instruction (§ 62-3-123). Students must also have their required kit after 100 hours (Rule 0200-01-.15).
• Time limit. A student has 7 years from first enrollment to finish the required hours. After that, the Board may require more hours (§ 62-3-112).
• Full-time and part-time. Full-time students attend at least 25 hours per week; part-time students attend at least 15 (Rule 0200-01-.01).
• Apprenticeship option. A barber school may offer an apprenticeship curriculum with 50 percent of the hours in the classroom and 50 percent under a supervising master barber or barber instructor with at least 10 years of experience (Rule 0200-01-.02(4)(l)). A supervisor may oversee up to three apprentices but may instruct only one at a time. Apprentices must finish the required classroom hours and pass the initial theory exam before training in a shop, wear a name tag, and finish within one and a half times the length of the school's standard full-time program.
• Military training. The Board may count substantially equivalent military education, training, or experience (Rule 0200-01-.06(8)).

From passing to practicing

After passing both tests, you pay the $60 original certificate fee within 6 months (Rule 0200-01-.10) through the state's CORE online licensing system. Under § 62-3-116, the Board issues the certificate when the chapter's requirements are met. Do not serve clients until the license is issued. You can confirm active status at verify.tn.gov.