Emergency plan rules in Massachusetts
2 license types researched, regulated by Massachusetts Executive Office of Aging & Independence (EOAI). Every requirement below carries the rule that imposes it.
Assisted living / residential care
Licensed in Massachusetts as Assisted Living Residence (ALR) — certified, not licensed, by Massachusetts Executive Office of Aging & Independence (EOAI).
651 CMR 12.00 (current text eff. 2026-07-31), incl. 12.04(12) (all-hazards emergency plan)
Fire drills and elopement drills every quarter, on all shifts, plus one simulated evacuation drill each year. Every staff member takes part in each type of drill at least once a year.
That matches the most common figure across the states we have confirmed.
Massachusetts requires the residence to give every resident a copy of the instructions they will be given under the disaster and emergency plan. Most states require the plan to exist; this one requires it to have been handed to each resident in a form they can act on.
651 CMR 12.00The plan rests on an all-hazards risk assessment, and that assessment must include missing residents. The plan must cover both immediate and delayed evacuation and include a mutual aid plan.
651 CMR 12.04(12)The plan must provide for supplies and for alternate energy to keep heat, emergency lighting, fire protection systems and sewage working. The rule names no generator and no minimum number of days.
651 CMR 12.04(12)The residence participates in HHAN and in Silver Alert, keeps remote access to resident records, and plans how it will keep families informed during storms and power outages.
651 CMR 12.04(12)The emergency plan is reviewed annually, and staff review it quarterly.
651 CMR 12.00Emergency procedures are posted in the residence, including on the back of the door of each resident unit.
651 CMR 12.00Serious incidents are reported to EOAI within 24 hours. A displacement of residents lasting 8 hours or more is reported immediately.
651 CMR 12.00Where the residence operates a Special Care Residence: fail-safe doors, a 24-hour preparedness plan for each resident, an annual safety statement, and hourly checks overnight.
651 CMR 12.00- STRUCTURAL: Massachusetts assisted living is CERTIFIED by the Executive Office of Aging & Independence (EOAI, formerly Elder Affairs), not licensed by the Department of Public Health. Nursing homes sit with DPH under 105 CMR 150.000. Two regulators, two rule sets, two vocabularies — an operator running both in Massachusetts needs two plans, not one.
Reviewed 2026-09-28
Skilled nursing facility
Licensed in Massachusetts as Long-Term Care Facility, by Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
105 CMR 150.000; 150.002(G) (immediate report of evacuation or fire)
Drill frequency not verified. 105 CMR 150.015(E) has been read only on a secondary copy, so no number is stated here.
Open 105 CMR 150.000 on the official mass.gov PDF and read 150.015(E): the emergency plan requirement, the drill frequency and whether drills must cover all shifts.
An evacuation of the facility, or a fire in it, must be reported immediately.
105 CMR 150.002(G)- drills — Open 105 CMR 150.000 on the official mass.gov PDF and read 150.015(E): the emergency plan requirement, the drill frequency and whether drills must cover all shifts.
Reviewed 2026-09-28
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Everything else we’ve researched about Massachusetts
Same state, the problems either side of this one. Each carries its own statute and the date we last checked it.
- Massachusetts rent late fees & grace periodWhat may be charged when rent is late, and the notice to send.
- Massachusetts notice to pay rent or quitHow many days' notice before a nonpayment filing, counted on a calendar.
- Massachusetts deposit return law & letterThe landlord's deadline to return a deposit, and the itemized letter.
- Massachusetts deposit demand letterFor the tenant: whether the landlord is late, and by how many days.
- Massachusetts deposit deduction rulesWhat may fairly come out of a deposit, prorated by useful life.
- Massachusetts move-in condition reportThe walkthrough record that decides deposit arguments later.
What this page is
The requirements Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts. The Compliance Calendar puts the drills and inspections on dates.