North Dakota Barber License Requirements

North Dakota barbers are licensed by the Board of Barber Examiners at ndbarberboard.com, a separate board from the North Dakota Board of Cosmetology, under N.D. Cent. Code chapter 43-04.

The Core Requirements

Section 43-04-31 qualifies a person to receive a certificate of registration to practise barbering who:

1. Is at least eighteen years of age;
2. Is of good moral character and temperate habits; and
3. Has passed a satisfactory examination conducted by the board.

Eligibility to sit that examination comes from section 43-04-32, which requires paying the application fee and either:

• Having held an active and valid barber licence in another state for at least one year; or
• Having received a minimum of 1,100 hours of training in sanitation, safety, laws, and rules, including hours completed at a licensed barbering school or a barbering programme in a public school system.

North Dakota Issues Four Kinds of Barber Licence

Few states offer this much flexibility, and three of the four are recent additions:

• Registered barber — the full licence.
• Restricted barber — limited to specific areas in which competence has been demonstrated, and allowed to work only in a licensed host shop.
• Temporary barber — permitted to practise under supervision until the next examination results are available.
• Retired barber — a limited-capacity licence for long-serving or older barbers.

A Criminal Conviction Is Not Automatically Disqualifying

Section 43-04-31.1 states it directly: conviction of an offense does not disqualify a person from certification or a permit unless the board determines that the offence has a direct bearing upon a person's ability to serve the public as a barber, or that the person is not sufficiently rehabilitated under section 12.1-33-02.1.

Barbering is a trade with a long history of being learned in prison, and North Dakota's statute is written so that a record is assessed for relevance rather than treated as a bar.

North Dakota requires a minimum of 1,100 hours of training in sanitation, safety, laws, and rules, including hours completed at a licensed barbering school or a barbering programme in a public school system, plus other procedures the board establishes.

Or a Year of Practice Somewhere Else

Section 43-04-32 treats the two as genuine alternatives. Holding an active and valid licence to practise barbering in another state for at least one year makes you eligible for the North Dakota examination without any North Dakota hours at all.

That is a notably open door. Most states asking for equivalence want the other jurisdiction's requirements to match theirs; North Dakota asks only that you have held a valid licence and used it for a year.

The Restricted Barber Route

Section 43-04-31.2 creates a narrower credential for people who can demonstrate competence in specific areas. An applicant may apply if they:

• Have not been disciplined relating to the practice of barbering in the previous five years;
• Pass a written examination of the laws and rules governing practice in the state; and
• Have a background in barbering demonstrated by either successfully completing a restricted barber course established by the board at a licensed barbering school or public school barbering programme, or holding, within the previous five years, an active and valid barber licence in another state or country.

Two limits define it: a licensed restricted barber shall work in a licensed host shop and may not own or operate a shop, and the licence is limited to specific areas in which competence has been demonstrated.

The Retired Barber Licence

Section 43-04-31.4 is unusual enough to be worth quoting. An individual may apply for a retired barber licence and practise in a limited capacity if they are:

• At least sixty-five years of age, or have been practising a minimum of twenty years as a licensed barber; and
• Work no more than five days per month.

Very few states provide a formal way for a veteran barber to keep working a few days a month rather than choosing between a full licence and none at all.

The Board conducts its own examination under section 43-04-33.

You Can Work While You Wait — Two Different Ways

Temporary barber licence (s. 43-04-31.3). An individual who meets the eligibility requirements may apply for one on payment of the fee. It:

• Is valid for a maximum of three months;
• Must begin from the verified date of graduation or completion of training; and
• May be exercised only under the supervision of a licensed barber until results are available from the next scheduled examination.

If the holder fails the examination, they may apply for an extension, pay the fee, and register for the next scheduled examination.

Note the second condition carefully: the three months run from the date you graduated, not from the date you applied. Delay in applying eats into the permit.

Restricted barber applicants (s. 43-04-31.2(3)). An individual may practise while awaiting results if under the supervision of a licensed barber in a licensed barbershop:

• Someone who fails on the first attempt may continue practising under supervision, provided they apply for the next examination;
• They may continue until they receive the results of the second examination; and
• They may not continue if they fail on the second attempt.

The Restricted Barber Examination Is About Law

Where the full barber licence turns on a fitness-to-practise examination, the restricted barber licence turns on a written examination of the laws and rules governing practice in the state. Competence in the trade is demonstrated by the course or the prior out-of-state licence; the examination tests knowledge of North Dakota's rules.

Two things changed for North Dakota barbers in January 2026, and both are recent enough that most published guidance still describes the old position.

Continuing Education Is Now Required

Effective January 2026, the Board requires 6 hours of CE every 2 years to renew a licence, for all licensed barbers and instructors.

North Dakota previously required none. If you are working from older material that says North Dakota barbers have no continuing education obligation, that is now wrong.

Renewal Applications Are No Longer Posted to You

Also effective January 2026: applications for renewal will not be sent through the mail unless requested. Applications are available for download online instead.

If you have relied on a renewal notice arriving in the post to prompt you, that prompt has gone. Diarise your own renewal date.

Keep Your Contact Details Current

The Board states that updates to address, phone number and email must be reported to the board. With paper notices withdrawn, an out-of-date email address is now a real risk to your licence.

Fees

The Board does not publish a fee schedule on its website. We have left the application and renewal amounts unstated here rather than repeat figures from an unofficial source — contact the Board of Barber Examiners directly.

The Retired Barber Option

If you are winding down rather than stopping, section 43-04-31.4 lets a barber who is at least 65, or who has practised at least 20 years, hold a retired barber licence and work no more than five days per month. On meeting the qualifications and paying the initial licensing fee, the board shall issue it — it is a right, not a discretion.

Section 43-04-01 defines the practice of barbering as any one or combination of the following, when done upon the upper part of the human body for cosmetic purposes and not for the treatment of diseases or physical or mental ailments, and when done for payment either directly or indirectly:

1. Shaving or trimming the beard or cutting the hair.
2. Giving facial or scalp massages or treatments with oils, creams, lotions or other preparations, by hand or mechanical appliances.
3. Singeing, shampooing, or dyeing the hair or applying hair tonics.
4. Applying cosmetic preparations, antiseptics, powders, oils, clays, or lotions to scalp, face, neck, or upper part of the body.

"Directly or Indirectly" Closes a Loophole

The definition catches work done for payment either directly or indirectly, so an arrangement where the barber is not paid by the client — a salaried or commission role, or a service bundled into something else — still falls inside the practice.

Four Licensee Categories, Defined in Statute

• Restricted barber — a licensee, limited in practice to specific areas in which competence has been demonstrated, and allowed to work in a licensed host shop.
• Retired barber — a licensee meeting the age-or-service and five-days-a-month conditions.
• Temporary barber — an eligible licensee who is permitted to practise under the supervision of a licensed barber until results are available from the next scheduled examination.
• Registered barber — having met sections 43-04-31 and 43-04-32 and passed the examination.

Mobile Barbershops Are Recognised

A mobile barbershop is a barbershop operated in a mobile vehicle, trailer, or mobile structure for the exclusive use of practising barbering services performed by a licensed barber. The word exclusive matters: the vehicle must be for barbering, not a dual-purpose space.

Restricted Barbers Cannot Own a Shop

The clearest limit in the chapter. A restricted barber shall work in a licensed host shop and may not own or operate a shop. The credential is designed for practising under someone else's roof.

Records and Rehabilitation

North Dakota's treatment of criminal convictions — not disqualifying unless the offence has a direct bearing upon a person's ability to serve the public as a barber — sits alongside the restricted barber licence as a route into the trade for people whose barbering background came from somewhere other than a conventional school.