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United States Licensing Atlas

California Massage Therapy Regulation & CAMTC Requirements

California does not issue a conventional statewide massage-practice license. CAMTC, a private nonprofit administering a state function under the Massage Therapy Act, offers voluntary Certified Massage Therapist certification. State law does not require CAMTC certification to practice massage, but cities and counties may require CAMTC certification or local authorization and retain authority over uncertified practitioners, massage businesses, establishments, zoning, and related local controls.

Statewide requirements and local regulation are identified separately. This record is general information, not legal advice.

California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC)
CA · licensing record1 PX ≈ 1.5 MI
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Overview

Voluntary statewide CAMTC certification with local practitioner and establishment regulation

Last verified 2026-10-06

Requirements vary by city and county. A person who is not CAMTC certified must comply with every applicable local massage rule; a CAMTC certificate does not replace general business, establishment, zoning, land-use, health-and-safety, or other locally applicable requirements. Verify each place of practice directly with the relevant city or county.

Before you act

Details worth confirming

Requirements can change, and some official materials differ on narrow details. Use the current official instructions when applying or renewing.

No current CAMTC examination requirement

Current statute, requirements, school policy, and FAQ support no MBLEx or other national examination requirement for CAMTC certification; older application wording must not be treated as current.

Massage Therapy Act is time-limited

The current Massage Therapy Act is scheduled to repeal January 1, 2030 unless later legislation extends or replaces it.

Regulatory authority

California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC)

Local business, facility, zoning, and professional rules may apply in addition to statewide requirements. Confirm current requirements with the responsible authority before acting.

Entry requirements

Education, examination, and application

Credential
Certified Massage Therapist (CMT)
Credential requirement
CAMTC certification is voluntary statewide, but a city or county may require CAMTC certification or a local authorization for an uncertified practitioner and may separately regulate massage businesses and establishments.
Minimum education
500 hours
Approved education
A new CMT applicant generally must document at least 500 hours of massage education from CAMTC-approved school programs. The statute identifies a 100-hour core covering anatomy and physiology, contraindications, health and hygiene, and business and ethics. CAMTC's school-approval policy, effective January 1, 2026, then governs how the 500 hours are delivered: at least 310 must be in-person supervised hours, and those 310 include at least 250 hours of hands-on massage; the remaining 190 may be taken in person or through synchronous distance learning. Synchronous means live instruction attended in real time, not recorded or self-paced study. Every assessment required to complete the 500 hours must be taken in person, including assessments covering distance-learning hours.
Examination
CAMTC does not currently require an entry examination, a jurisprudence examination, or passage of a CAMTC-approved examination for certification. Applicants must still satisfy the current education, background, identity, disclosure, and application requirements.
MBLEx relationship
The MBLEx is not currently required for CAMTC certification. An examination may matter for another jurisdiction, employer, or future law, but it is not represented as a current California CAMTC entry requirement.
Application
Submit the current CAMTC certification application and $300 fee, provide a passport-style photo and government-issued identification, arrange for original education records to be sent as required, complete CAMTC's California Live Scan process, and answer the application's background, disciplinary, and work-history disclosures. CAMTC may request additional documentation or conduct background review before deciding the application.
Application fees
The current fee for a two-year new certification is $300. The Live Scan vendor charges a separate fingerprint-rolling and government-processing amount that varies by vendor and is not included as a fixed CAMTC fee in this record.
Background check or fingerprinting
Section 4606, as rewritten by AB 2796 (an urgency statute effective September 18, 2026), requires a fingerprint-based criminal history check submitted to the California Department of Justice, with a state-level response and subsequent-arrest notification; it no longer provides for a federal (FBI) response. Applicants still use CAMTC's Live Scan form (the DOJ's BCIA 8016, which offers DOJ and FBI service levels); confirm with CAMTC which levels it now requests. CAMTC's application and disciplinary procedures govern the evaluation of disclosures and potentially disqualifying conduct.
Reciprocity or endorsement
California has no automatic massage-license reciprocity route because CAMTC certification is not a conventional state license and CAMTC states that it has no reciprocity agreement with another state. The Massage Therapy Act and CAMTC policies nevertheless allow case-specific evaluation of education completed outside California or outside the United States, and the statute includes a discretionary route involving an out-of-state credential and requirements that meet or exceed California's. Applicants should obtain a CAMTC determination rather than assume transfer eligibility.
Additional requirements
Applicants must be at least 18, submit complete and truthful identity, education, work-location, criminal, licensing, and disciplinary information, and avoid conduct that authorizes denial under the Massage Therapy Act and CAMTC procedures. CAMTC issues new certificates only at the CMT level; legacy Certified Massage Practitioners may remain eligible for recertification but CMP is not a new-applicant pathway.

Renewal

Renewal and continuing education

Cycle
CAMTC certification and recertification run for two years.
Continuing education
No CAMTC CE required
Renewal fee
The current two-year recertification fee is $300 for certificates expiring on or after April 1, 2023. Graduated late fees are additional.
Required topics
CAMTC has no required continuing-education subjects for recertification because it does not impose a CE-hour requirement.

Sourced finding. CE is not required to renew the credential described here. Local authorizations and other credentials may differ.

Practice information

Scope, titles, and local requirements

Scope of practice
The Massage Therapy Act defines massage for purposes of the certification statute, including specified manual methods and related external applications to soft tissue for therapeutic purposes. California's voluntary certification law does not establish a comprehensive licensed scope of practice equivalent to a mandatory state practice act; local laws and other professional-practice statutes still matter.
Protected titles
A person who is not CAMTC certified may not use CMT, CMP, Certified Massage Therapist, Certified Massage Practitioner, 'licensed,' 'certified,' or related wording in a way that falsely implies CAMTC certification or a state-recognized massage credential. California does not issue an LMT license through CAMTC; legacy CMP holders may recertify, while new certificates are CMT only.
Restrictions
The Act and CAMTC discipline framework prohibit or authorize action for conduct including sexualized advertising or activity, massage of the genitals or anus, massage of a female client's breasts without written consent, fraud, impersonation, specified criminal or disciplinary conduct, and providing massage while a CAMTC certificate is suspended. Other professions' protected acts and local health-and-safety rules remain separate limits.
Municipal or local requirements
Cities and counties retain substantial authority over uncertified practitioners and massage businesses, establishments, zoning, land use, health and safety, and generally applicable business requirements. CAMTC-certified individuals receive statutory protections from certain local practitioner permits, tests, education, and background requirements, but certification does not eliminate business or establishment regulation. Local rules must be checked for every city or county of practice.
Establishments and other regulated activities
Massage businesses and establishments, zoning, land use, health and safety, and generally applicable business requirements remain subject to local authority. Acts reserved to other licensed professions remain outside CAMTC certification.
Practitioner notes
Use CAMTC's current requirements, fee schedule, certificate lookup, applications, and local-government guidance before acting. Display and identification duties apply to certificate holders. The Massage Therapy Act is scheduled to repeal January 1, 2030 unless extended or replaced, and CAMTC board materials and enacted legislation should be monitored for changes to certification, education, local authority, or a possible future licensure model.

Authoritative sources

Official record evidence

Change history

Public record revisions

No revision to this record has been published yet. Its current review dates are in the overview above, and its official sources are listed below.