Washington fire drill log
Adult Family Home: Partial evacuation drills during random staffing shifts at least every two months, with each resident taking part in at least one each calendar year, and a full evacuation drill at least once each calendar year with all residents taking part together. Drills are held even when no residents live in the home, for staff practice. The rule says two months — it said sixty days until September 20, 2026.
What Washington requires
Partial evacuation drills during random staffing shifts at least every two months, with each resident taking part in at least one each calendar year, and a full evacuation drill at least once each calendar year with all residents taking part together. Drills are held even when no residents live in the home, for staff practice. The rule says two months — it said sixty days until September 20, 2026.
WAC 388-76-10895(1)–(2), as amended by WSR 26-17-004 (effective 2026-09-20) · Washington State DSHS — Home and Community Living Administration (Residential Care Services) · checked October 2026Washington licenses other facility classes whose drill frequency we have not confirmed against a primary source — including Assisted Living Facility. Those are deliberately absent from the tool rather than filled with a national default. Ask the Washington agency that licenses you for the class you hold, and read the rule above only against the license it names.
Filling it in well
Vary the time and the scenario between drills — many 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 Washington 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.
Plan the drills, and keep the other records
The fire drill schedule spreads the year’s drills across your shifts at varying times, and each planned drill opens this log on its day. The same facility keeps its generator test log, water temperature log and smoke alarm test log; every tool for care homes is on the assisted living page.
Everything else we’ve researched about Washington
Same state, the problems either side of this one. Each carries its own statute and the date we last checked it.
- Washington emergency plan rulesDrill frequency, filings, prescribed forms and retention, cited.
- Washington survey readiness checklistWhat a surveyor asks to see, item by item, from the cited rules.
- Washington staff training requirementsThe training your state's rules name, and the record that shows it.
General information, not legal advice, and not a compliance determination. CompliMaint issues nothing — Washington’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.
Questions people ask
- How often are fire drills required in Washington?
- Adult Family Home: Partial evacuation drills during random staffing shifts at least every two months, with each resident taking part in at least one each calendar year, and a full evacuation drill at least once each calendar year with all residents taking part together. Drills are held even when no residents live in the home, for staff practice. The rule says two months — it said sixty days until September 20, 2026. Source: Washington State DSHS — Home and Community Living Administration (Residential Care Services). Last checked October 2026.