Emergency plan rules in Arizona
One license type researched, regulated by Arizona Department of Health Services. Every requirement below carries the rule that imposes it.
Assisted living / residential care
Licensed in Arizona as Assisted Living Facility (assisted living center or assisted living home), by Arizona Department of Health Services.
Ariz. Admin. Code R9-10-819 (Emergency and Safety Standards)
Drill frequency not verified against the current rule. The 2019 text of former R9-10-818 set a disaster drill for employees on each shift and an evacuation drill for employees and residents, but that section was renumbered to R9-10-819 and amended effective 2025-06-30, and the amended text has not been read.
Open R9-10-819 in the official Supp. 26-1 chapter PDF (https://apps.azsos.gov/public_services/Title_09/9-10.pdf) and record the disaster-drill and evacuation-drill frequencies, whether the disaster drill is per shift, who takes part, and any resident exception, as the current text states them.
No duty to submit the disaster plan to ADHS or to a local emergency management agency was found in the 2019 text of the assisted living rules. The emergency section was amended in 2025 and the current text has not been checked for a filing duty.
This is a finding, not a gap: Arizona has no filing duty here, so the plan is kept on file rather than submitted anywhere.
Evacuation drill documentation kept for at least 12 months after the drill (2019 text of former R9-10-818(A)(6); not verified against the current rule).
A written disaster plan kept where caregivers can reach it, covering when, how and where residents will be relocated; how each resident's medical record will be available to those providing services; how each resident's medication will be available to administer; and how food and water will be obtained for everyone present. The plan is reviewed at least once every 12 months.
Ariz. Admin. Code R9-10-819 (formerly R9-10-818(A)(1)-(3)) — not yet confirmed against primary text- Since 2025-06-30 the assisted living Emergency and Safety Standards section is R9-10-819; R9-10-818 is now Food Services. Older copies of the rules cite R9-10-818 for emergency standards.
- filing — Open R9-10-819 (Emergency and Safety Standards) and R9-10-105 in the official Supp. 26-1 chapter PDF (https://apps.azsos.gov/public_services/Title_09/9-10.pdf) and record whether either requires the disaster plan to be submitted to or approved by ADHS or a local emergency management agency.
- drills — Open R9-10-819 in the official Supp. 26-1 chapter PDF (https://apps.azsos.gov/public_services/Title_09/9-10.pdf) and record the disaster-drill and evacuation-drill frequencies, whether the disaster drill is per shift, who takes part, and any resident exception, as the current text states them.
- retention — Open R9-10-819 in the official Supp. 26-1 chapter PDF (https://apps.azsos.gov/public_services/Title_09/9-10.pdf) and record the retention period for evacuation drill documentation, and whether any retention period applies to disaster drill or disaster plan review documentation.
- mandate[0] — Open R9-10-819 in the official Supp. 26-1 chapter PDF (https://apps.azsos.gov/public_services/Title_09/9-10.pdf) and compare the required disaster plan elements and the review interval with this text; the values here come from the 2019 agency copy of former R9-10-818(A)(1)-(3), and the section was amended effective 2025-06-30.
Reviewed 2026-09-28
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Everything else we’ve researched about Arizona
Same state, the problems either side of this one. Each carries its own statute and the date we last checked it.
- Arizona deposit return law & letterThe landlord's deadline to return a deposit, and the itemized letter.
- Arizona deposit demand letterFor the tenant: whether the landlord is late, and by how many days.
- Arizona deposit deduction rulesWhat may fairly come out of a deposit, prorated by useful life.
- Arizona move-in condition reportThe walkthrough record that decides deposit arguments later.
What this page is
The requirements Arizona places on a facility emergency preparedness plan, taken from the state’s own rules rather than a national template. Where we have confirmed something against primary text it is stated plainly; where we have not, it says so and names what to check. Nothing here is inferred from what other states do.
The part that is the same everywhere
The federal layer does not vary by state, and it is narrower than it is usually described. OSHA 29 CFR §1910.38 does not bind every employer on its own — by its applicability paragraph it governs an emergency action plan whenever another OSHA standard requires the employer to have one, and it then settles what that plan must contain. The CMS emergency preparedness rule applies by certified provider type rather than by building. That layer, plus the exit-route, alarm and first-aid rules and the fire code’s plan structure, is covered in the main crash course rather than repeated on all fifty state pages.
Write the plan
The Emergency Plan Builder produces the document itself. It reads the same research as this page, but it does not yet carry every requirement here into the plan it writes, so check the plan against this page before you rely on it for Arizona. The Compliance Calendar puts the drills and inspections on dates.