How often are fire drills required in Pennsylvania?

Personal Care Home (PCH): An UNANNOUNCED fire drill at least once a month — twelve a year — plus a fire drill during sleeping hours once every six months. Separately, a fire safety inspection and fire drill conducted by a fire safety expert must be completed annually and documented. Assisted Living Residence (ALR): An UNANNOUNCED fire drill at least once a month. A fire safety inspection and fire drill conducted by a fire safety expert must also be completed annually and documented. Source: Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. Last checked July 2026.

Pennsylvania fire drill log

Q: Who do I notify about fire drills in Pennsylvania?

Personal Care Home (PCH): Pennsylvania personal care homes must review, update and SUBMIT their written emergency procedures annually to the local emergency management agency. (Local emergency management agency)

An UNANNOUNCED fire drill at least once a month — twelve a year — plus a fire drill during sleeping hours once every six months. Separately, a fire safety inspection and fire drill conducted by a fire safety expert must be completed annually and documented.

The building

Pennsylvania requirements loaded — the rules below are Pennsylvania’s own.

Facility name *Year

Address

State *License type

Pennsylvania — Personal Care Home (PCH): An UNANNOUNCED fire drill at least once a month — twelve a year — plus a fire drill during sleeping hours once every six months. Separately, a fire safety inspection and fire drill conducted by a fire safety expert must be completed annually and documented.55 Pa. Code §2600.107 (emergency preparedness); §2600.123 (emergency evacuation); §2600.132 (fire drills) · Pennsylvania Department of Human Services · checked Jul 2026Who to notify: Pennsylvania personal care homes must review, update and SUBMIT their written emergency procedures annually to the local emergency management agency. (Local emergency management agency)

Your target for the year

12 drills this year. 12 a year under the state rule.

Worked out from Pennsylvania Department of Human Services's rule as we have it recorded. Confirm it against your licence before you rely on it — then leave the box below empty and we will keep using this number.

Use a different number instead

0 of 12 logged, 12 to go.

0 of them recorded on a night or sleeping-hours shift; Pennsylvania wants at least 2.

The drills

One row per drill. Vary the time of day and the scenario — most states require it explicitly, and a log showing four drills all at 10am on a Tuesday is the first thing a surveyor notices.

DateTimeShiftAnnounced?

ScenarioClear / accounted (min)StaffResidents

What went wrongWhat was done about itConducted by

What Pennsylvania requires

Personal Care Home (PCH) — Group home / residential care home

55 Pa. Code §2600.107 (emergency preparedness); §2600.123 (emergency evacuation); §2600.132 (fire drills) · Pennsylvania Department of Human Services · 55 Pa. Code §2600.132 · checked July 2026Who to notify: Pennsylvania personal care homes must review, update and SUBMIT their written emergency procedures annually to the local emergency management agency. (Local emergency management agency)

Assisted Living Residence (ALR) — Assisted living / residential care

An UNANNOUNCED fire drill at least once a month. A fire safety inspection and fire drill conducted by a fire safety expert must also be completed annually and documented.

55 Pa. Code §2800.107 (emergency preparedness); §2800.132 (fire drills) · Pennsylvania Department of Human Services · 55 Pa. Code §2800.132 · checked July 2026

Filling it in so it survives a survey

Vary the time and the scenario between drills — most states require it in terms, and a log showing every drill at 10am on a Tuesday is the first thing an experienced surveyor picks out. Record what went wrong and the date it was fixed: a run of flawless drills reads as a log nobody actually ran, and the corrective action is the part that shows the drill was worth holding.

The plan behind the drills

A drill tests a plan. Everything Pennsylvania requires of that plan — filing, prescribed forms, retention — sits alongside this, and the emergency plan builder writes it from the same research, so the two cannot disagree.

Everything else we’ve researched about Pennsylvania

Same state, the problems either side of this one. Each carries its own statute and the date we last checked it.

General information, not legal advice, and not a compliance determination. CompliMaint issues nothing — Pennsylvania’s licensing agency and your authority having jurisdiction do. The rule above is cited and dated to when we last checked it; verify it before you rely on it.