Emergency plan rules in New Jersey
2 license types researched, regulated by New Jersey Department of Health. Every requirement below carries the rule that imposes it.
Assisted living / residential care
Licensed in New Jersey as Assisted Living Residence / Comprehensive Personal Care Home, by New Jersey Department of Health.
N.J.A.C. 8:36-14.1 to -14.3 (emergency plan; drills and tests at N.J.A.C. 8:36-14.3); N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.79 (emergency power, P.L.2015, c.168)
At least one emergency-plan drill EVERY CALENDAR MONTH — twelve a year — rotated so that four drills fall on each working shift annually. At least one drill each year must cover a non-fire emergency: storm, flood, other natural disaster, bomb threat or nuclear accident. Each staff member takes part in a drill at least once a year.
Submission of the written emergency plan to the Department of Health, and reporting of changes, is not verified.
Authority: New Jersey Department of Health
Every calendar month the manual pull stations are tested and the fire extinguishers are visually inspected, and each is recorded.
N.J.A.C. 8:36-14.3 — not yet confirmed against primary textThe facility must REQUEST of the local fire department that at least one joint fire drill be held each year. Once a joint drill is scheduled, the facility must notify first aid and civil defense agencies. The facility must also participate in community-wide disaster drills. These are outward-facing obligations — the plan has to name who makes the request and when.
N.J.A.C. 8:36-14.3N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.79 (P.L.2015, c.168) requires assisted living residences and comprehensive personal care homes to have emergency power that keeps a listed set of critical loads running for 48 hours: either an emergency generator, or an installed transfer switch together with a contract for a generator. The installation goes through the Department of Community Affairs' Health Care Plan Review.
N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.79The emergency plan and an evacuation diagram are posted in the facility.
N.J.A.C. 8:36 Subchapter 14 (8:36-14.1 to -14.3) — not yet confirmed against primary textAt all times at least one staff member on duty is trained in CPR and in use of an automated external defibrillator.
N.J.A.C. 8:36 Subchapter 14 (8:36-14.1 to -14.3) — not yet confirmed against primary textAssisted living residences and comprehensive personal care homes keep an outbreak response plan: the plan goes to the Department of Health, changes are reported within 30 days, and the plan is reviewed and drilled each year.
P.L.2021, c.190 (N.J.S.A. 26:2H-87.3; 26:2H-12.87) — not yet confirmed against primary text- filing — A secondary copy of N.J.A.C. 8:36-14.1 to -14.3 describes a written plan submitted to the Department of Health with changes reported. Read the official text of N.J.A.C. 8:36 Subchapter 14 (NJ administrative code on the LexisNexis portal, or an OAL-certified copy) and confirm whether submission is required, to whom, and when changes must be reported.
- mandate[0] — Read only on a secondary copy. Open N.J.A.C. 8:36-14.3 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the monthly pull-station test and extinguisher visual inspection, and the recording duty.
- mandate[3] — Read only on a secondary copy. Open N.J.A.C. 8:36-14.1 to -14.3 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the posting duty and where the plan and diagram must be posted.
- mandate[4] — Read only on a secondary copy. Open N.J.A.C. 8:36 Subchapter 14 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the section number and the exact CPR/AED staffing wording.
- mandate[5] — Read as an official summary only (foundation grade M). Open P.L.2021, c.190 and N.J.S.A. 26:2H-87.3 and 26:2H-12.87 on the NJ Legislature site (njleg.state.nj.us) and confirm which facility types it reaches, the submission recipient, the 30-day change deadline and the annual review and drill.
Reviewed 2026-09-28
Skilled nursing facility
Licensed in New Jersey as Long-Term Care Facility, by New Jersey Department of Health.
N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 (mandatory fire and emergency preparedness); N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.79 (emergency power, P.L.2015, c.168) — not yet confirmed against primary text
Drill frequency is not verified: the official text of N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 has not been read.
A secondary copy of N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 describes monthly drills covering all shifts including a weekend, plus an annual evacuation drill to which officials are invited ten working days ahead. Open N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the count, the shift and weekend distribution and the evacuation drill.
Sending the emergency plan to the municipal and county emergency management offices is not verified.
N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.79 (P.L.2015, c.168) requires nursing homes to have emergency power that keeps a listed set of critical loads running for 48 hours: either an emergency generator, or an installed transfer switch together with a contract for a generator. The installation goes through the Department of Community Affairs' Health Care Plan Review.
N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.79The facility holds signed agreements with the facilities that will receive its residents in an evacuation.
N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 — not yet confirmed against primary textThe facility keeps three days of food and a backup water supply.
N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 — not yet confirmed against primary textA fire is reported to the Department of Health by telephone immediately, followed by a written report within 72 hours.
N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 — not yet confirmed against primary textThe plan covers what the facility does when the indoor temperature reaches 82°F for four hours.
N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 — not yet confirmed against primary text- citation — N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 was read only on a secondary copy (foundation grade L–M). Open N.J.A.C. 8:39 Subchapter 31 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the section number and its current text, including the December 2021 heat-plan amendment.
- filing — A secondary copy of N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 describes the plan being sent to the municipal and county emergency management offices, and an annual meeting with county emergency management. Open N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the recipients, timing and meeting duty.
- drills — A secondary copy of N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 describes monthly drills covering all shifts including a weekend, plus an annual evacuation drill to which officials are invited ten working days ahead. Open N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the count, the shift and weekend distribution and the evacuation drill.
- mandate[1] — Read only on a secondary copy. Open N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the receiving-facility agreement duty.
- mandate[2] — Read only on a secondary copy. Open N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the supply quantities.
- mandate[3] — Read only on a secondary copy. Open N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the reporting section, the immediate telephone report and the 72-hour written report.
- mandate[4] — Read only on a secondary copy (amendment of December 2021). Open N.J.A.C. 8:39-31.6 on the official NJ administrative code (LexisNexis portal) or an OAL-certified copy and confirm the temperature, duration and required response.
Reviewed 2026-09-28
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Everything else we’ve researched about New Jersey
Same state, the problems either side of this one. Each carries its own statute and the date we last checked it.
- New Jersey deposit return law & letterThe landlord's deadline to return a deposit, and the itemized letter.
- New Jersey deposit demand letterFor the tenant: whether the landlord is late, and by how many days.
- New Jersey deposit deduction rulesWhat may fairly come out of a deposit, prorated by useful life.
What this page is
The requirements New Jersey 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 New Jersey. The Compliance Calendar puts the drills and inspections on dates.