Emergency plan rules in Kentucky
One license type researched, regulated by Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services — Office of Inspector General, Division of Health Care. Every requirement below carries the rule that imposes it.
Assisted living / residential care
Licensed in Kentucky as Assisted Living Community (ALC), Assisted Living Community with Basic Health Care (ALC-BH), or Assisted Living Community with Dementia Care (ALC-DC), by Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services — Office of Inspector General, Division of Health Care.
KRS 194A.700–729 and KRS 194A.717 (staffing); 902 KAR 20:480 (assisted living communities), Section 12 (emergency disaster plan and training)
Drill frequency for Kentucky assisted living communities is not verified. 902 KAR 20:480 sets no drill count. The statewide fire code is NFPA 101 (2018), adopted by 815 KAR 10:060, and its drill provisions for this occupancy have not been read.
Open the NFPA 101 (2018) occupancy-chapter drill provisions that apply to assisted living (as adopted by 815 KAR 10:060, https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/815/010/060/), or the Kentucky State Fire Marshal's inspection guidance, and record the required drill frequency and any per-shift or night requirement.
The emergency disaster plan is kept and posted at the community; it is not filed with the Office of Inspector General. The license application must include proof of approval by the State Fire Marshal's office and a copy of the floor plan.
This is a finding, not a gap: Kentucky has no filing duty here, so the plan is kept on file rather than submitted anywhere.
Authority: Office of Inspector General, Division of Health Care
Resident records: at least six (6) years after the resident moves out. Staff and volunteer records: at least three (3) years after separation. Quality-management documentation: at least two (2) years. No separate retention period is set for emergency training or drill records.
Each ALC, ALC-BH and ALC-DC must have a written emergency disaster plan. It must contain an evacuation plan, address sheltering in place, identify temporary relocation sites, and detail staff assignments in a disaster or emergency.
902 KAR 20:480 Section 12(1)(a)Post the emergency disaster plan prominently. Give building emergency exit diagrams to all residents, and post emergency exit diagrams on each floor.
902 KAR 20:480 Section 12(1)(b)–(d)Have a written policy describing how priority will be given to assist a resident during an emergency evacuation when the resident needs hands-on help from another person to walk, transfer, or move.
902 KAR 20:480 Section 7(4)(c); KRS 194A.717(5)Have a written policy and procedure regarding missing residents.
902 KAR 20:480 Section 12(1)(e)Provide emergency and disaster training to all staff at initial orientation and annually, and make it available to residents annually. Staff who have not had this training may work only when trained staff are also working on site.
902 KAR 20:480 Section 12(2)Keep at least a three-day supply of food to prepare well-balanced, palatable meals. Drinking water must be readily available to residents at all times.
902 KAR 20:480 Section 9(4)(a), (m)At least one awake staff member must be on site at each licensed community at all times.
KRS 194A.717- Kentucky licenses assisted living communities through the Office of Inspector General in three categories: ALC, ALC-BH (basic health care) and ALC-DC (dementia care with a secured unit). The former Department for Aging and Independent Living certification rule, 910 KAR 1:240, is repealed.
- drills — Open the NFPA 101 (2018) occupancy-chapter drill provisions that apply to assisted living (as adopted by 815 KAR 10:060, https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/815/010/060/), or the Kentucky State Fire Marshal's inspection guidance, and record the required drill frequency and any per-shift or night requirement.
Reviewed 2026-09-28
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Everything else we’ve researched about Kentucky
Same state, the problems either side of this one. Each carries its own statute and the date we last checked it.
- Kentucky deposit return law & letterThe landlord's deadline to return a deposit, and the itemized letter.
- Kentucky deposit demand letterFor the tenant: whether the landlord is late, and by how many days.
- Kentucky deposit deduction rulesWhat may fairly come out of a deposit, prorated by useful life.
- Kentucky move-in condition reportThe walkthrough record that decides deposit arguments later.
What this page is
The requirements Kentucky 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 Kentucky. The Compliance Calendar puts the drills and inspections on dates.