How to Open a Physiotherapy Practice 2026

Opening a physiotherapy practice is an exciting career step, but also an administrative challenge. Below are 10 steps from the right to practise to your first patient. For each we give the provisions we rely on, and where we did not check the source we say so. Key stages are covered in separate articles, among them RPWDL registration, premises requirements, the cost of opening and liability insurance.

Short answer

To open a physiotherapy practice legally you need: the right to practise, a CEIDG entry, premises that meet the requirements, a liability insurance contract and an RPWDL entry (fee PLN 179 in 2026, the authority has 30 days). Medical activity may be started only after the entry is obtained (Article 103 of the Act on Medical Activity). Performing it without an entry is a petty offence (Article 147a of the Code of Petty Offences).

Step 1: the right to practise and chamber membership

Before anything else you need the right to practise as a physiotherapist. It is confirmed on application by the National Council of Physiotherapists by resolution, and the procedure should end without delay, within 3 months at the latest from submitting all required documents (Article 21 of the Act on the Physiotherapist Profession). Article 13 lists the conditions: full legal capacity, a state of health that allows practice, command of Polish, a guarantee of proper practice and a diploma confirming qualifications. A diploma from another EU, Swiss or EFTA state must be recognized under the rules on recognition of qualifications, and one from outside those states recognized as equivalent (Article 13(1)(5)).

Membership of the professional self-government, the National Chamber of Physiotherapists, is compulsory (Article 3(2)), and a member must regularly pay the membership fee and update data in the National Register of Physiotherapists (Article 63(2)). Changes are reported within 14 days (Article 32). The self-government sets the fee; we do not give it here because we did not check the current resolution. The right to practise lapses, among other things, on a final ban on practising (Article 26).

Step 2: legal form

This is the most important organizational decision. A physiotherapist's professional practice may operate (Article 5(2)(3) of the Act on Medical Activity):

• as an individual physiotherapy practice, as a sole proprietorship,
• as a group physiotherapy practice, as a civil-law, general or professional partnership; only physiotherapists who are partners provide services in it (Article 19a(4)).

If you want to employ physiotherapists to provide services or operate for example as a limited liability company, you register as a medical entity, an entrepreneur in any form (Article 4(1)(1)). Practising within a professional practice is not running a medical entity (Article 5(3)). The differences are covered in legal form of a physiotherapy practice.

[SP] Example -- Solo practice: Magda, a physiotherapist from Wrocław, opens a practice in rented premises as an individual physiotherapy practice. All responsibility for the practice rests with her.

[GR] Example -- Group practice: Artur and Karolina set up a limited liability company and want to hire a third physiotherapist to provide services, so they register as a medical entity (the voivode handles the application, the fee is 10% of the average salary, PLN 894 in 2026). If they were the only partners and provided services themselves, they could choose a group practice in the form of a partnership under Article 5(2)(3)(b).

Tip: to start, choose the form that lets you meet the requirements by the simplest path. An individual practice has fewer formalities, and changing the form later means a new entry.

Step 3: premises, design and layout of the practice

The premises and equipment of an entity performing medical activity must meet requirements appropriate to the type of activity and scope of services (Article 22). Details are set by the Minister of Health regulation of 26 March 2019 (consolidated text Journal of Laws 2022 item 402). For an individual practice, having such premises is a condition of the entry (Article 19a(1)(3)).

How many square metres you need

The regulation does not give a minimum area for a treatment room. It says only that the shape and area of rooms must allow proper placement, installation and use of devices, apparatus and equipment (§ 16). Choose the area to match your equipment: couches, exercise zones, circulation and space for devices. Plan the equipment first, then count the metres.

Requirements that follow from the regulation

Topic	What the regulation says	Basis
Premises in a building of another purpose	An outpatient facility must be fully separated from other premises in the building, excluding shared vertical and horizontal circulation	§ 14(2)(2)
Practice in a residential unit	Allowed provided the room is separated from the rooms of other users of the unit	§ 14(3)
Rooms below ground level	Therapeutic rooms are allowed subject to the consent of the competent state voivodeship sanitary inspector	§ 14(5)
Hand washing	In rooms where examinations or treatments are performed: a washbasin with hot and cold water mixer, soap dispenser, disinfectant dispenser, disposable towel container and used-towel container	§ 37(1)
Reusable equipment	A sink with a mixer in addition to washbasins (exception: washing in a separate room or outside the entity)	§ 37(2)-(3)
Floors	Of materials that can be washed and disinfected; this does not apply to kinesitherapy rooms	§ 30(1)-(3)
Mechanical ventilation and air conditioning	Periodic inspection, cleaning or disinfection at least every 12 months, documented	§ 40
Hygiene and sanitary room	Definition: toilet, washbasin, soap dispenser, disposable towel container and used-towel container	§ 2(4)

Annex 6 to the regulation (a rehabilitation facility that is a medical facility) additionally requires, among other things, a location giving access to people with disabilities including wheelchair users, a kinesitherapy room as a separate room, short-wave and microwave diathermy and laser therapy devices installed in separate booths in line with Polish Standards, and hygiene and sanitary rooms including at least one adapted for people with disabilities. Formally the annex applies to a medical facility, that is a medical entity, not a professional practice. For a practice treat it as a point of reference; whether and to what extent the sanitary inspectorate expects it to be met in your premises, confirm before signing the lease (we did not check this).

Example layout (not a requirement)

1. Entrance and reception with a waiting area.
2. A hygiene and sanitary room available to patients.
3. A treatment room with a washbasin and dispensers within the therapist's reach.
4. A separate booth or room for emitting devices (diathermy, laser) if you will use them.
5. A kinesitherapy area with space for exercise and access to the couch.
6. A place for locked storage of records and cleaning equipment.

Checks before signing the lease

• Whether the lease allows medical activity and whether the premises can be separated in line with § 14.
• Who is responsible for adaptation (washbasins, installations, ventilation) and at whose cost.
• Whether the layout lets you meet the above requirements without rebuilding the landlord will not allow.

The FUNDAMENT package contains a checklist of premises requirements and an insurance cover checklist that you can show the landlord. See the FUNDAMENT package

Step 4: CEIDG and the PKD code

For an individual physiotherapy practice, an entry in the Central Registration and Information on Business (CEIDG) is a condition (Article 19a(1)(4)). The PKD code for physiotherapy in the PKD 2025 classification, in force since 2025, is 86.95.Z "Physiotherapy activities" (Council of Ministers regulation of 18 December 2024, Journal of Laws 2024 item 1936). PKD 2007 may be used in parallel for activity classified under it earlier, no longer than until 31 December 2026. The code is described in RPWDL registration. We did not check the time and cost of CEIDG registration in the source; see the current information on the CEIDG website.

Step 5: the RPWDL entry

For physiotherapists' professional practices the Register of Entities Performing Medical Activity is kept by the National Council of Physiotherapists (Article 106(1)(4)). The application is filed electronically with a qualified electronic signature or a trusted signature and contains, among other things, the physiotherapist's data, right-to-practise number, tax ID, addresses, scope of services and start date (§ 15-16 of the Minister of Health regulation of 29 March 2019). The authority makes the entry within 30 days of receiving the application with the declaration (Article 104(1)).

The entry fee is 2% of the average monthly salary in the enterprise sector excluding profit-share bonuses for the previous year, rounded up: PLN 179 in 2026 (PLN 8,933.84 under the Statistics Poland notice; in 2025 it was PLN 166). A change of entry costs 50% of the fee, PLN 89.50 (Article 105). The full procedure, conditions and consequences are in RPWDL registration for physiotherapists.

[SP] Example -- Solo practice: Magda files the application electronically, signs it with a trusted signature, pays PLN 179 and waits for the entry. She receives the certificate of entry in electronic form.

[GR] Example -- Group practice: Artur and Karolina's "PhysioKlinika" files with the voivode as a medical entity; the fee is 10% of the average salary, PLN 894 in 2026. Every change of entry costs 50% of the fee.

Important: without an entry you cannot lawfully run a practice. Performing medical activity without the required entry is a petty offence punishable by detention, restriction of liberty or a fine (Article 147a(1) of the Code of Petty Offences; a fine of PLN 20 to PLN 5,000, Article 24(1)).

Step 6: compulsory liability insurance

Taking out a civil liability insurance contract is a condition of running an individual physiotherapy practice (Article 19a(1)(5)) and the obligation arises no later than the day before medical activity starts (Article 25(2)). The minimum guaranteed sum for an individual or group physiotherapy practice is the equivalent of EUR 30,000 per event and EUR 150,000 for all events in an insurance period not longer than 12 months (Minister of Finance regulation of 29 April 2019, § 3(1)(7) and (8)). For a medical entity the sums are higher (EUR 75,000 or 100,000 per event, depending on the type of activity).

We did not verify in the regulations whether the chamber membership fee covers the compulsory insurance; check the insurance terms and the self-government's notices before treating the obligation as met. If you need higher sums or wider cover, consider voluntary extension with an insurer. More in liability insurance for physiotherapists.

Step 7: medical records

A physiotherapist providing services within a professional practice keeps internal individual documentation in the form of an individual physiotherapy care record, started with the first service, and external documentation (certificates, rulings, opinions) at the request of the patient or authorized bodies (§ 62 of the Minister of Health regulation on medical records). The rule is electronic form; paper is the exception (§ 1(1)-(2)). Records are kept for 20 years from the end of the calendar year of the last entry (Article 29 of the Act on Patient Rights). All the fields of the record with their legal basis are in the patient record in physiotherapy, and the other starter documents in documents for a patient's first visit.

The record is supplemented by the physiotherapy management plan (data on the management and its execution are an element of the record, § 49(4)), the patient's consent to the service, and the patient's statements on information and access to records (§ 8), covered in authorization to access medical records.

[SP] Example -- Solo practice: Magda starts the record in her practice software, enters the diagnosis, the description of functioning and the description of services provided, and marks every entry with her details.

[GR] Example -- Group practice: At "PhysioKlinika" records are in one system and each therapist marks their own entries. Patients' authorization statements go into the records, not into therapists' notes.

Step 8: GDPR

Health data is a special category. The GDPR prohibits processing it unless one of the exceptions in Article 9(2) applies; point (h) allows processing necessary for, among other things, medical diagnosis, the provision of health care and treatment, on the basis of law or a contract with a health professional, with the data processed by a person bound by professional secrecy (paragraph 3). Decide separately, and with a lawyer if in doubt, on the bases for specific processes (SMS reminders, marketing, photos). The basic elements are:

• The information duty toward the patient (Article 13 GDPR), that is an information notice.
• Authorizations for persons with access to data and a register of them: authorization to process data.
• Processing agreements with suppliers processing data on the practice's behalf (Article 28 GDPR): processing agreement.
• A breach procedure. A personal data breach is reported to the supervisory authority without undue delay and, where feasible, within 72 hours of becoming aware, unless it is unlikely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of persons (Article 33(1)).
• Securing the records: GDPR at a physiotherapy practice.

GDPR breaches carry administrative fines: up to EUR 20,000,000 or 4% of worldwide annual turnover for breaching, among other things, the principles of processing and data subjects' rights (Article 83(5)), and for breaching the controller's obligations in Articles 25-39 up to EUR 10,000,000 or 2% of turnover (Article 83(4)); the higher amount applies. The authority sets them individually, considering the circumstances (Article 83(2)).

[SP] Example -- Solo practice: Magda displays the information notice, keeps records in a locked cabinet or in a system with access control, and has a procedure for the loss of a device holding data.

[GR] Example -- Group practice: Artur has a written access policy, authorizations for reception and a register of authorized persons, and a processing agreement with the practice software supplier.

Step 9: hygiene, disinfection and waste

The scope of sanitary inspection and sanctions are covered in sanitary inspection of a physiotherapy practice; we did not check those rules in this article. Good practice is to have:

• a hygiene plan describing cleaning, disinfection of surfaces and equipment (for example couches) and staff hygiene,
• a disinfection log (date, what was disinfected, with which product, by whom, signature),
• rules for medical waste in line with the Minister of Health regulation of 5 October 2017 (Journal of Laws item 1975): infectious waste (codes 18 01 02*, 18 01 03*, 18 01 80*, 18 01 82*) is collected in red containers or bags, and non-hazardous waste (among others 18 01 04) in containers of a colour other than red or yellow (§ 3).

Details of disinfection and the waste producer's duties (a contract with an authorized collector, registration in BDO) are in disinfecting equipment and couches and medical waste and BDO. We did not verify the rules on waste and BDO in this article.

Step 10: pre-opening checklist

Formalities

• [ ] Right to practise confirmed by the National Council of Physiotherapists
• [ ] Chamber membership fee paid according to the self-government's resolution
• [ ] Legal form chosen (individual practice, group practice or medical entity)
• [ ] CEIDG entry with code 86.95.Z (PKD 2025)

Registration and insurance

• [ ] RPWDL application filed electronically, fee paid (PLN 179 in 2026 for a practice)
• [ ] Liability insurance in place no later than the day before starting (minimum EUR 30,000 / 150,000 for a practice)
• [ ] Organizational rules prepared (Article 24 of the Act on Medical Activity)

Premises

• [ ] The lease covers medical activity
• [ ] Separation of the premises in line with § 14 of the regulation
• [ ] Washbasin, dispensers and containers in the treatment room (§ 37)
• [ ] A separate booth for emitting devices, if you use them

Records and GDPR

• [ ] Individual physiotherapy care record (template, electronic form)
• [ ] Patient statements: information, access to records, consent to the service
• [ ] GDPR information notice
• [ ] Authorizations and a register of authorized persons, if anyone besides you has access to data
• [ ] Data breach procedure

Hygiene and waste

• [ ] Hygiene plan and disinfection log
• [ ] Containers and bags for medical waste in line with the 2017 regulation
• [ ] A contract for waste collection and records (see the waste article)

A longer version of the list is in pre-opening checklist.

What the cost of opening consists of

The regulations fix only some items. Price the rest on your own market before signing the lease.

Item	Fixed by regulation?	Notes
RPWDL entry	Yes: PLN 179 (practice), PLN 894 (medical entity) in 2026	Article 105 of the Act on Medical Activity
Change of entry	Yes: 50% of the fee, PLN 89.50 for a practice	Article 105(2)
Chamber fee	Duty to pay: yes; amount: set by the self-government	Article 63(2)(4) of the Act on the Physiotherapist Profession
Liability insurance	Minimum guaranteed sum yes, price no	Minister of Finance regulation, § 3
Premises and adaptation	No	Rent, deposit, refurbishment, installations
Equipment and furnishing	No	Couches, devices, furniture
Records and GDPR	No	Do it yourself or use ready templates
Software, waste, cleaning products	No	Prices depend on suppliers

Prepare a breakdown with your own figures following the cost of opening a physiotherapy practice.

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FAQ -- Common questions about opening a practice

Can I work from home?

The regulations allow locating the rooms in which a professional practice is performed in a residential unit, provided that room is separated from the rooms of other users of the unit (§ 14(3) of the regulation). You must also meet the other requirements for treatment rooms (among others a washbasin and dispensers), and the lease or the housing community's rules may impose their own restrictions, which we did not check.

How long does RPWDL registration take?

The authority has 30 days from receiving the application with the declaration (Article 104(1)). After 40 days without an entry you can start activity after giving written notice to the authority, unless the authority called for completion of the application within 7 days of receiving it. Preparing the data for the application takes as long as gathering the documents on your side.

Do I need special software for medical records?

The rule is records in electronic form, and the system you keep them in must meet the requirements of § 1(6) of the regulation (among others integrity, identification of the person making an entry, time of entry, ability to print). Paper is the exception (§ 1(2)). Details in the patient record in physiotherapy.

What happens if I do not have liability insurance?

Taking out the insurance is a condition of running an individual physiotherapy practice (Article 19a(1)(5)), and the obligation arises no later than the day before medical activity starts (Article 25(2)). The declaration filed with the application covers, among other things, meeting the conditions for carrying on medical activity, and a declaration inconsistent with the facts is a ground for striking the entry off the register (Article 100(2), Article 108(2)(1)).

Can I see patients before the entry is made?

No. Medical activity may be started after the entry is obtained (Article 103), except in the situation in Article 104(2) (after 40 days from receipt of the application, after written notice to the authority).

Do I need organizational rules?

Article 24 of the Act on Medical Activity describes the organizational rules of an entity performing medical activity, and its paragraph 3 refers directly to professional practices, excluding some points for them. The rules set out, among other things, the type of activity, the place of services and the fee for providing records. Template: organizational rules for a physiotherapy practice.

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Summary

Opening a practice is a chain of linked steps: the right to practise, legal form, premises, CEIDG, insurance, the RPWDL entry, records, GDPR and hygiene. More guides on formalities are in the practice registration category.

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Legal status as of: 28 October 2026

Legal basis: Act of 15 April 2011 on Medical Activity (consolidated text Journal of Laws 2026 item 156), Articles 4, 5, 19a, 22, 24, 25 and 100-108; Act of 25 September 2015 on the Physiotherapist Profession (consolidated text Journal of Laws 2026 item 584), Articles 3, 13, 21, 26, 32 and 63; Minister of Health regulation of 26 March 2019 on requirements for premises and equipment (consolidated text Journal of Laws 2022 item 402), §§ 2, 14, 16, 30, 37 and 40 and Annex 6; Minister of Health regulation of 29 March 2019 on the register entry (Journal of Laws 2019 item 605), §§ 15-16; Statistics Poland notice (M.P. 2026 item 118); Minister of Finance regulation of 29 April 2019 (consolidated text Journal of Laws 2025 item 272), § 3; Code of Petty Offences (consolidated text Journal of Laws 2026 item 1372), Articles 24 and 147a; Council of Ministers regulation of 18 December 2024 on PKD (Journal of Laws 2024 item 1936); Act on Patient Rights (consolidated text Journal of Laws 2024 item 581, as amended), Article 29; Minister of Health regulation of 6 April 2020 on medical records (consolidated text Journal of Laws 2026 item 1391), §§ 1, 8, 49 and 62; GDPR, Articles 9, 13, 28, 33 and 83; Minister of Health regulation of 5 October 2017 on medical waste (Journal of Laws 2017 item 1975), § 3. We did not check: CEIDG registration (deadlines, costs), the chamber fee resolution, the sanitary inspectorate's expectations of practices, rules on waste and BDO, or whether the chamber fee covers compulsory insurance.

Last reviewed: 28 October 2026

The FUNDAMENT package contains a guide to RPWDL registration, organizational rules with instructions, and checklists for premises requirements and insurance cover. Patient documentation (record, therapy plan, treatment consent) is organized by the TARCZA package, and GDPR documents, including authorizations and the processing agreement, by the PREMIUM package. See the FUNDAMENT package or compare packages.

Related articles:
- Pre-opening checklist for a physiotherapy practice
- Seven common compliance mistakes at physiotherapy practices
- Premises requirements for a physiotherapy practice
- RPWDL registration for physiotherapists
- Liability insurance for physiotherapists
- Medical records in physiotherapy
- GDPR at a physiotherapy practice
- Sanitary inspection of a physiotherapy practice
- The cost of opening a physiotherapy practice
- Legal form of a physiotherapy practice
- PKD for physiotherapists: which code?
- Physiotherapy Practice Equipment List
- Is Records Software Enough for a Practice?