A Massage Establishment licence is required if you intend to carry on the business of providing massage¹ services in an establishment.

A Massage Establishment licence is not required if you are providing any of the following without any massage service or treatment:

·       Manicure

·       Pedicure

·       Light treatment

·       Electric treatment

·       Vapour treatment

·       Baths

¹Under Section 2(1) of the Massage Establishments Act, “massage” is defined as “the act of rubbing, kneading or manipulating the human body or any part of it, by any person (whether or not using any hand-held equipment), for the purpose of relaxing muscle tension, stimulating circulation, increasing suppleness or otherwise”.

The information on this page is a guide to apply for a new Massage Establishment licence.

Criteria for Grant of Licence

To be eligible for a Massage Establishment licence, you must meet the following criteria: 

1. Be a fit and proper person. The criteria and requirements for a person to be considered fit and proper to hold a licence are (but not limited to) whether the relevant person has honesty, integrity, a good reputation, competence and capability. For more details, you may click on the following link: Guidelines for considering whether a person is fit and proper to hold a licence under the Massage Establishments Act 2017
2. Be a responsible officer as defined in section 2(1) of Massage Establishments Act 2017*
3. At least 21 years of age at time of application
4. Possess a valid and relevant work pass if you are a foreigner

Applications on behalf of an organisation will require a co-licensee who is a responsible officer from the organisation and able to meet the fit and proper criteria.

*Responsible officer means:

(a) a partner of the partnership;

(b) a member of the governing body of the unincorporated association; and

(c) any director of the company or officer holding a similar managerial or an executive position in the body corporate.

Sunk Investment Not Ground For Grant of Licence

Sunk investments e.g. renovation, purchase of equipment, rental of premises are not grounds for a licence to be granted. You should ensure that you have obtained the necessary Massage Establishment Licence before starting renovation works or use the premises. Hence, you should consider the financial commitment to your business carefully if a licence/exemption has yet been granted. The following highlights two important considerations that you should take note before submitting an application to operate a Massage Establishment.

Suitability of Location

Existence of Massage Establishment outlets in the vicinity of a proposed location does not automatically indicate that your application would be approved as other factors such as the law and order situation are taken into consideration when assessing your application. You may click on this portal which serves only as a general guide for potential applicants to check if the premises falls within an area where new massage establishments may be considered.

Approval by URA or HDB

Issuance of the Planning Permission or Approval Granted by URA or HDB (if applicable) does not guarantee the approval of your Massage Establishment Licence.

Existing Licensees

A reminder letter will be sent to you two months before the expiry of your current licences.

If you are interested to continue to operate a Massage Establishment, you should submit your application for a new licence using the RRN No. stated in the reminder notification at least one month before the expiry of the current licence.

Supporting documents, such as CaseTrust Accreditation and URA/HDB Planning Approval, are to be submitted online together with the application.

Submission via email or fax will not be accepted. 

You may submit a notification to inform PLRD of your intend to operate an Exempted Massage Establishment here.

Under the Massage Establishments (ME) Act, the licensee of a licensed ME is required to seek the prior approval of the Licensing Officer before the employee is allowed to work in the Massage Establishment.

Each employee can only work at one Massage Establishment unless special approval from the Police Licensing & Regulatory Department has been given.

 

Criteria To Employ Individual in a Massage Establishment

1.      The relevant individual must not have offered or provided, for consideration, any form of sexual service.

2.      The relevant individual must not have engaged in any indecent act in the course of any employment.

3.      The relevant individual must not be convicted of any relevant offence under the Women’s Charter.

4.      The relevant individual, if employed to provide massage services in the establishment for massage, must also not be or have been convicted of any relevant offence under the Penal Code.

Criterion	Category I	Category I (Provisional)*	Category II	Category II (Provisional)*
Employment of Foreigners	No restriction on foreigners, but subject to Ministry of Manpower’s approval	Only Singapore Citizens, Singapore Permanent Residents and Malaysians with valid work permits will be allowed to work in the ME.
Approval to Employ Individuals to Work in the Massage Establishment	Approval must be obtained from PLRD before any individual may be employed to work in the massage establishment.

 

Criteria for Grant of Approval for Employment

In determining whether to grant approval for the licensee of an establishment for massage to employ an individual to work in the establishment for massage, the Licensing Officer must consider, and give such weight as the Licensing Officer considers appropriate to, all of the following matters:

·       whether the relevant individual has the requisite expertise and qualifications to perform the duty or duties in the establishment for massage for which approval for employment is sought;

·       whether the relevant individual is, in the opinion of the Licensing Officer, a fit and proper person to be employed to work in an establishment for massage according to such criteria as the Minister may prescribe;

·       whether there is any other relevant matter that makes it contrary to the public interest to grant approval.

For the purpose of determining whether a relevant individual has the requisite expertise and qualifications listed above, the Licensing Officer must consider whether the relevant individual has completed such training, or passed such course or courses, as may be approved by the Licensing Officer.

The Licensing Officer is not only confined to consideration of the matters listed above and may take into account such other matters and evidence as may be relevant.

Restriction on Employment

A licensee of an establishment for massage must not employ an individual to work in the establishment for massage except with the approval of the Licensing Officer.

A licensee of an establishment for massage must also not employ any individual in the establishment for massage —

a)      whom the licensee knows or has reason to believe is likely to engage in, or abet another person to engage in, the provision of sexual services;

b)      who is below 18 years of age; or

c)      who has not undergone and passed a medical health screening if required to do so by the Licensing Officer.

MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENTS RULES RULE 8 CRITERIA TO EMPLOY INDIVIDUAL IN ESTABLISHMENT FOR MASSAGE   1. The relevant individual must not have offered or provided, for consideration,any form of sexual service. 2. The relevant individual must not have engaged in any indecent act in thecourse of any employment. 3. The relevant individual must not be convicted of any relevant offence underthe Women’s Charter (Cap. 353). 4. The relevant individual, if employed to provide massage services in theestablishment for massage, must also not be or have been convicted of anyrelevant offence under the Penal Code (Cap. 224). 5. In this Schedule, “relevant offence” means — a) any offence under section 294, 354, 354A, 375, 376, 376A, 376AA, 376B, 376C, 376D, 376E, 376EA, 376EB, 376EC, 376ED, 376EE, 376F, 376H, 377BA, 377BB, 377BC, 377BD, 377BE, 377BF, 377BG, 377BH, 377BI, 377BJ, 377BK or 377BL, or section 509 as in forcebefore 1 January 2020, of the Penal Code; or b) any offence under section 140, 141, 142, 145, 146, 146A, 147 or 148 ofthe Women’s Charter

Dear Sir/Mdm,

The Multi-Ministry Taskforce has announced that all remaining COVID-19 measures, as well as border measures, will be stepped down from 13 February 2023 and Singapore will lower its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level from Yellow to Green.

Thus, the Safe Management Measures for the massage establishments has also ceased from 13 February 2023.You may however choose to put in place your own requirements as a company policy for workplace health and safety or business continuity reasons.

We are deeply appreciative to all of you for contributing to our fight against COVID-19 and thank you for your efforts.

Thank you and stay safe.

Dear Customers.

With effect from 1 August 2021, members of the public who wish to utilise counter services at the Police Licensing & Regulatory Department, Police Cantonment Complex (391 New Bridge Road) would be required to make an appointment in advance.

2.    To register for an appointment, please use the following link at www.picktime.com/policelicensing or the below QR code:

3.    Upon successful registration, members of the public will receive a notification with details of the scheduled appointments.

4.    For enquiries, please use our online services at www.police.gov.sg/licence or email us at SPF_Licensing_Feedback@spf.gov.sg.

5.    Thank you.

The information on this page shows additional information related to Massage Establishment Licence.