ARC 2984B
Public Safety Department (661)
Notice of Intended Action
Pursuant to the authority of Iowa Code sections 17A.3, 231C.4 and 321.4, the
Department of Public Safety hereby gives Notice of Intended Action to amend Chapter 5,
“Fire Marshal,” Iowa Administrative Code.
Iowa Code section 231C.4, as amended by 2003 Iowa Acts, Chapter 166, section 11,
requires the State Fire Marshal, in coordination with the Department of Elder Affairs and
the Department of Inspections And Appeals, to adopt rules establishing fire safety
standards for assisted living facilities certified to operate in Iowa. When regulation of
assisted living facilities in Iowa was first established in 1997, the Fire Marshal adopted
rules related to the fire safety of these facilities. Those rules require compliance with the
provisions of the 1994 edition of the Life Safety Code which apply to “residential board
and care occupancies.” The Life Safety Code is a standard adopted and published by
the National Fire Protection Association, and three subsequent editions of it have been
published since the original adoption of fire safety standards for assisted living facilities
in Iowa.
One change has been made in the rule regarding fire safety requirements for assisted
living facilities in Iowa since its original adoption. Earlier in 2003, these facilities were
given an option of complying with the provisions of the 2000 edition of the Life Safety
Code which apply to residential board and care occupancies, rather than the parallel
provisions of the 1994 edition. This alternative was offered primarily to accommodate
facilities which are colocated with and operated in conjunction with licensed health care
facilities. Licensed health care facilities in Iowa which require certification for eligibility
for Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement are required to comply with applicable
provisions of the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code.
2003 Iowa Acts, Chapter 166, calls for a restructuring of the general regulatory
structure applied to assisted living facilities in Iowa. While the amended language of
Iowa Code section 231C.4 does not require the rewriting of the Fire Marshal rules for
these facilities, updating these rules is timely. The new fire safety standards for assisted
living facilities in Iowa will be based upon the residential board and care occupancy
requirements established in the latest edition (2003) of the Life Safety Code. There are
three exceptions to these general requirements: (1) assisted living facilities which were
initially approved under the requirements of the 1994 edition of the Life Safety Code will
be allowed to continue to operate under those requirements, provided that the facilities
have been in continuous operation since July 1, 1997, and have not undergone major
renovation or remodeling since that time; (2) assisted living facilities which were
approved to operate under the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code and have been in
continuous operation since they initially began operation pursuant to that approval, or
which are located in the same structure as or adjacent to a health care facility which is
required to comply with provisions of the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code may
comply with the requirements of the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code rather than the
requirements of the 2003 edition; and (3) facilities which are in compliance with
provisions of the Life Safety Code which are contingent upon the facility’s residents and
staff having evacuation capability ratings of “prompt” or “slow,” rather than more
stringent requirements which apply to facilities with residents or staff whose evacuation
ratings are “impractical,” will be required to have evacuation capability ratings performed
by qualified health care professionals at the expense of the facility, to have evacuation
ratings updated for each new resident or staff member or for any resident or staff
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member whose health status or mobility capability changes, and to make any records
which support evacuation capability ratings of “slow” or “prompt” available to fire
inspectors or to health care facility surveyors of the Department of Inspections And
Appeals on request.
A public hearing on these proposed amendments will be held on January 7, 2004, at
11:30 a.m. over the Iowa Communications Network. Access to the public hearing will be
available through the following locations.
Third Floor Conference Room
Wallace State Office Building
East 9th and Grand
Des Moines
Department of Human Services
411 3rd Street SE, Room 550
Cedar Rapids
Southwestern Iowa Community College
1501 West Townline Road, Room 211
Creston
Department of Human Services*
Trospar-Hoyt County Services Building
4th Floor
8122 Douglas Street
Sioux City, IA 51101
*Note that the Sioux City location has been changed from that
published in the Iowa Administrative Bulletin. The Department
of Human Services address is the correct location.
Persons may present their views orally or in writing at the public hearing. Persons
who wish to make oral presentations at the public hearing should contact the Agency
Rules Administrator, Iowa Department of Public Safety, Wallace State Office Building,
Des Moines, Iowa 50319, by mail, by telephone at (515)281-5524, or by electronic mail
to admrule@dps.state.ia.us, at least one day prior to the public hearing.
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Any written comments or information regarding these proposed amendments may be
directed to the Agency Rules Administrator by mail or electronic mail at the addresses
indicated above at least one day prior to the public hearing, or submitted at the public
hearing. Persons who wish to convey their views orally other than at the public hearing
may contact the Agency Rules Administrator by telephone or in person at the
Department office at least one day prior to the public hearing.
These amendments are intended to implement Iowa Code section 231C.4, as
amended by 2003 Iowa Acts, Chapter 166, section 11.
The following amendments are proposed:
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Item 1. Amend rule 661—5.626(231C) as follows:
661 5.626(231C) Assisted living housing.
5.626(1) Definitions. The following definitions apply to rule 661 5.626(231C):
Assisted living facility means provisions of housing with services which may include
but are not limited to health related care, personal care and assistance with instrumental
activities of daily living to six or more tenants a facility that house a program that are is
certified or seeking certification by the department of elder affairs or voluntarily
accredited pursuant to the provisions of Iowa Code section 231C.3 as amended by 2003
Iowa Acts, Chapter 166, section 10 or that has been identified by the department of
inspections and appeals as a facility housing a program which requires certification
pursuant to Iowa Code section 231C.3 as amended by 2003 Iowa Acts, Chapter 166,
section 10, and is not currently certified.
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Existing assisted living facility is means an assisted living facility operating which
has been in continual operation since on or before June 30, 1997, or which was in use
on or before June 30, 1997, in another category or categories of state licensed, long
term residential care facilities and was converted after that date to use as an assisted
living facility [insert effective date of amendments] or before.
New assisted living facility is means an assisted living facility which begins
operation on or after July 1, 1997, and was not in operation prior to July 1, 1997, in any
category of state licensed, long term care facility [insert effective date of amendments].
NFPA means the National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch Park, Quincy,
MA 02269. References of the form NFPA xx, where xx is a number, refer to the
NFPA standard or pamphlet of the corresponding number.
5.626(2) New assisted living facilities. The standard “ NFPA 101, Life Safety Code,
2003 edition, Chapter 22 32, New Residential Board and Care Occupancies, 1994
edition, as published by the National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch Park,
Quincy, MA 02269, is hereby adopted by reference as the rules governing new assisted
living facilities. , with the following deletion:
Delete the definition of Residential board and care occupancy from Section 22 1.3.
5.626(3) Existing assisted living facilities. The standard NFPA 101, Life Safety Code,
2003 edition, Chapter 23 33, “Existing Residential Board and Care Occupancies," 1994
edition, as published by the National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch Park,
Quincy, MA 02269, is hereby adopted by reference as the rules governing existing
assisted living facilities. in existing apartments and in those buildings that are converted
from other classifications of state licensed, long term residential care facilities with the
following deletion:
Delete the definition of Residential board and care occupancy from Section 23 1.3.
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5.626(4) Alternative requirements. In lieu of complying with the requirements
established in subrule 5.626(2) or 5.626(3), assisted living facilities may alternatively
comply with the requirements established in this subrule.
a. An assisted living facility that begins operation on or after September 11, 2003, or
that received plan approval for initial construction or for its most recent addition or
renovation or remodeling project on or after March 11, 2003, was initially approved by
the fire marshal on the basis of compliance with the requirements of the 2000 edition of
the Life Safety Code or that is located within or adjacent to a licensed health care facility
required to comply with applicable provisions of the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code
may comply with the requirements established in NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, 2000
edition, Chapter 32, in lieu of compliance with the requirements established in subrule
5.626(2). If the facility was initially approved on the basis of compliance with Chapter
32, “New Residential Board and Care Occupancies,” the facility shall continue to comply
with the provisions of that chapter. A facility which was initially approved by the fire
marshal on the basis of compliance with Chapter 33, “Existing Residential Board and
Care Occupancies,” may continue to comply with that chapter as long it is in continuous
operation and does not undergo major renovation or remodeling. A facility that was
initially approved on the basis of compliance with Chapter 33 and whose operation is not
continuous or which undergoes major renovation or remodeling shall comply with
Chapter 32.
b. An assisted living facility that begins operation prior to September 11, 2003, or that
received plan approval for initial construction or for its most recent addition or renovation
or remodeling project prior to March 11, 2003, may comply with the requirements
established in NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, 2000 edition, Chapter 33, in lieu of
compliance with the requirements established in subrule 5.626(3).
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b. An assisted living facility that was certified prior to July 1, 1997, and that has
continuously operated under that certification since July 1, 1997, may comply with the
requirements of NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, 1994 edition, Chapter 23, “Existing
Residential Board and Care Occupancies."
c. An assisted living facility that was certified on or after July 1, 1997 and before
[insert effective date of amendments], and that has continuously operated under that
certification since before [inset effective date of amendments] may comply with the
requirements of NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, 1994 edition, Chapter 22, “New
Residential Board and Care Occupancies.”
5.626(5) Evacuation capability. For any provision of subrules 5.626(1) through
5.626(4) which is contingent upon evacuation capability, facilities may:
a. Comply with requirements for an evacuation capability rating of “impractical.”
b. Comply with requirements which are contingent upon evacuation ratings of “slow”
or “prompt,” provided that the residents and staff of the facility have undergone
evacuation rating evaluations performed by a health care professional and that all
residents and staff are rated capable of “slow” or “prompt” evacuation, respectively. The
evacuation capability ratings shall be updated each time a new resident arrives at the
facility, a new staff person is assigned to the facility, or the physical condition or capacity
for mobility of a resident or staff member changes significantly. Evacuation capability
ratings shall be performed at the expense of the facility and any records supporting the
ratings shall be made available to a fire inspector or health care facility surveyor from the
department of inspections and appeals upon request.
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This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 231C.4, as amended by 2003
Iowa Acts, Chapter 166, section 11.
______________________
Date
_____________________________
James F. Kenkel
Fire Marshal
_____________________________
Kevin W. Techau
Commissioner
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