Emergency plan rules in Indiana
One license type researched, regulated by Indiana Department of Health. Every requirement below carries the rule that imposes it.
Group home / residential care home
Licensed in Indiana as Residential Care Facility (Licensed Assisted Living), by Indiana Department of Health.
410 IAC 16.2-5-1.3(i) (residential care facilities: fire and disaster preparedness plan, fire drills, joint fire-department drill)
Fire drills quarterly on each shift, at least twelve a year, to familiarize all facility personnel with signals and the emergency action required under varied conditions. Each drill must include the transmission of a fire alarm signal and simulation of emergency fire conditions. Between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., a coded announcement may be used instead of audible alarms.
At least every six months the facility must attempt to hold the fire and disaster drill jointly with the local fire department, and document the attempt.
410 IAC 16.2-5-1.3(i)(2) — not yet confirmed against primary text- mandate[0] — Open 410 IAC 16.2-5-1.3(i)(2) on the official Indiana Administrative Code (https://iar.iga.in.gov/code/current/410/16.2, JavaScript-only, needs a browser) and confirm the six-month joint fire-department drill wording is current. So far it has been read only as quoted in IDOH survey reports (grade B), and the 2026 Title 410 Register filings (LSA #26-14, #26-149) have not been checked for amendments to 16.2-5.
Reviewed 2026-09-28
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Everything else we’ve researched about Indiana
Same state, the problems either side of this one. Each carries its own statute and the date we last checked it.
What this page is
The requirements Indiana 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 Indiana. The Compliance Calendar puts the drills and inspections on dates.