Do You Have to Be an Optician to Open an Optician Shop?

Is owning the business the same as being authorised?

It is not. Owning the business is a commercial position; practising opticianry is a regulated profession resting on a diploma and an authorisation.

Two different routes

If you hold the authorisation you can be both owner and responsible director. If you do not, you must work with an authorised person, and that person is expected to be physically present at the establishment.

Let me be plain about the second route: the relationship you build is not an ordinary employment relationship. The establishment’s ability to operate depends on that person; if they leave, the shop is left unable to function. Partnership, or a long-term contract with guarantees on both sides, is the common solution in this field.

Which documents are needed?

The standard workplace documents: lease, occupancy permit, tax certificate, chamber registration, workplace opening licence, social security declaration. On top of those, the establishment licence process runs through the provincial health directorate.

Premises conditions

Detailed conditions apply to the premises of optical establishments: a sales area, an examination and measuring section, and a workshop area are among the divisions expected. These conditions shape the choice of premises directly.

Before taking premises, ask the provincial health directorate for the current list of conditions in writing. A unit viewed without that list in hand can turn out to be unsuitable after the rent has been paid.

Prescriptions, strength and limits

The limits of what may be done in an optician shop are also drawn by the rules. Headings such as preparing lenses to a prescription, and the circumstances in which strength may be measured, are all regulated.

An eye examination and a sight measurement are different things

Diagnosing eye disease is the clinician’s work. What an optical establishment does is prepare glasses to the prescription and measure within the limits the rules allow. Explain that distinction to your staff as well; telling a customer “you have this condition” crosses the line.

Contact lenses are a separate heading

Selling and fitting contact lenses is a field with rules of its own. If you will sell lenses, ask about those conditions separately; they are not assessed in the same frame as selling spectacle lenses.

Lens care solutions and similar products may also fall under different rules. When you plan your shelves, mark which rules each product group is subject to.

Sunglasses and non-prescription products

Non-prescription sunglasses count as optical products but are assessed differently from prescription glasses, which are medical devices. In most shops the two groups sit side by side, and that is normal.

The point to watch is that the products carry the conformity marking and complete importer details. Cheap supply channels carry risk under both those headings.

Lenses and frames are two separate calculations

An optician shop’s capital sits in two places: the frames in the window and the supply of lenses. The commercial logic of the two is different.

The frame side

Frame stock behaves like a fashion product; seasons change and models date. A wide window gives the customer choice, but the capital tied up and the risk of obsolescence grow with it. Keeping stock narrow until you know which models move is sensible.

The lens side

Lenses are usually ordered to prescription and come from a laboratory. No capital is tied up there, but the delivery time decides customer satisfaction. The speed of the lens laboratory you work with sets the timescale you can promise.

When you give a customer a delivery date, base it on the laboratory’s real turnaround. Promising one day and delivering two days late is the most common way trust is lost in this trade.

Now you know this

In an optician shop the real document lies in the person, not the premises: without someone authorised to practise opticianry the establishment cannot operate. If you do not hold the authorisation, build your business model around the relationship with that person rather than treating it as an item to add later.

For the general licence order see the business licence roadmap, for a branch with a similar competence condition our hearing aid centre article, and for capital bands our medical sector page.

Staff authorisation draws the limits of the work

Who may do what in an optician shop is clearly defined, and that definition shapes the daily flow of the business directly.

What the distinction means in practice

Preparing and fitting glasses to a prescription is the authorised person’s work. Sales, window display, stock and till duties do not require that competence. So the obligation to have an authorised person on the premises does not mean every employee must hold the same authorisation.

Staffing plan

• The authorised person must be present; that post is the core of the staffing
• Sales and support staff handle the duties that do not require the authorisation
• Have a plan for the periods when the authorised person is on leave

The third point gets overlooked in the excitement of opening. Prescription work stops while the authorised person is away, so a set-up resting on one individual is a set-up to avoid.

The examination side is separate

Eye examination and determining the prescription are medical activities; offering that service inside the shop falls under a different framework. If you are considering an examination area next to the shop, plan it as a separate permit process.

Brand agreements shape both the window and the margin

Which brands you carry in an optician shop decides both how the window looks and what your margin is.

Known brands draw customers in, but the margin is narrow and they often ask for a minimum order commitment. Lesser known or own-production frames leave a wider margin but need explaining before they sell.

An established window is usually a mixture of the two: known brands provide trust and traffic, wide-margin products carry the profit. Before entering committed agreements at the start, it makes sense to learn which segment actually moves.

In Short

• An optical establishment must have a person authorised to practise the profession on its premises
• Owning the business and holding the right to practise are different things
• Without the authorisation, the relationship you build is not an ordinary employment relationship
• The establishment licence process runs through the provincial health directorate
• Sales, measuring and workshop divisions are expected on the premises
• Diagnosing eye disease is the clinician’s work; the establishment prepares to prescription
• Selling contact lenses is a field with rules of its own
• Non-prescription sunglasses need conformity marking and importer details
• Frame stock ties up capital; lenses come to order but the laboratory sets the delivery time
• The authorised person is the core of the staffing; avoid a set-up resting on one individual
• Eye examination is a medical activity and a separate permit process

For a neighbouring branch see our hearing aid centre article.

Quick Glossary

Optical establishment: the licensed business in which glasses and optical products are prepared to prescription. Responsible director: the authorised person accountable for compliance at the establishment. Prescription: the document showing the strength and features determined by the clinician. Conformity marking: the mark showing a product meets the relevant standards.

Next Step

Let’s draw up your shop’s set-up and authorised person plan together: consultation request form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Updated: September 2026