Emergency plan rules in Vermont
One license type researched, regulated by Vermont Dept. of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) — Division of Licensing and Protection. Every requirement below carries the rule that imposes it.
Assisted living / residential care
Licensed in Vermont as Residential Care Home (Level III / Level IV) and Assisted Living Residence, by Vermont Dept. of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) — Division of Licensing and Protection.
Residential Care Home and Assisted Living Residence Licensing Regulations, effective April 1, 2025 (§5.6 special care units)
Vermont drill frequency for residential care homes and assisted living residences is not verified. No count is stated here.
Open the Residential Care Home and Assisted Living Residence Licensing Regulations (eff. April 1, 2025) at https://dail.vermont.gov/sites/dail/files/documents/RCH-ALR-Regulations-Effective-4-1-2025.pdf and read the body of §9.10 (Life Safety/Building Construction) and §9.11 (Disaster and Emergency Preparedness), which the research could not read; then open the Division of Fire Safety codes page (https://firesafety.vermont.gov/codes), confirm the Vermont Fire & Building Safety Code edition in force and its number, and read any drill provision for residential board and care occupancies, plus the Division's Fire Drill Guidance 2021.
A home must obtain approval from the licensing agency before establishing and operating a special care unit, including a dementia or memory care unit. The application must describe any secured areas or special provisions for safety.
RCH/ALR Licensing Regulations §5.6.a, §5.6.b(4)In a special care unit for residents with dementia, staff need a minimum of eight hours of training in total before working independently with residents, and no fewer than two hours of dementia-specific training each year.
RCH/ALR Licensing Regulations §5.6.b(6)(v)- One rule, the Residential Care Home and Assisted Living Residence Licensing Regulations effective April 1, 2025, now governs both Level III and Level IV residential care homes and assisted living residences. Older residential care home regulations still posted online are superseded.
- drills — Open the Residential Care Home and Assisted Living Residence Licensing Regulations (eff. April 1, 2025) at https://dail.vermont.gov/sites/dail/files/documents/RCH-ALR-Regulations-Effective-4-1-2025.pdf and read the body of §9.10 (Life Safety/Building Construction) and §9.11 (Disaster and Emergency Preparedness), which the research could not read; then open the Division of Fire Safety codes page (https://firesafety.vermont.gov/codes), confirm the Vermont Fire & Building Safety Code edition in force and its number, and read any drill provision for residential board and care occupancies, plus the Division's Fire Drill Guidance 2021.
Reviewed 2026-09-28
What this page is
The requirements Vermont 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 Vermont. The Compliance Calendar puts the drills and inspections on dates.