Emergency plan rules in Virginia
One licence type researched, regulated by Virginia Dept. of Social Services — Division of Licensing. Every requirement below carries the rule that imposes it.
Assisted living / residential care
Licensed in Virginia as Assisted Living Facility, by Virginia Dept. of Social Services — Division of Licensing.
22VAC40-73-950 (emergency preparedness and response plan); -960 (fire and emergency evacuation plan); -970 (fire and emergency evacuation drills); -990 (plan for resident emergencies and practice exercise)
Virginia does not state a number. Drill frequency and participation follow the current Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code (13VAC5-51) — so the count comes from the fire code, not the licensing rule. Two Virginia-specific conditions ride on top: the drills required for each shift in a quarter may NOT all fall in the same month, and every required drill must be UNANNOUNCED.
Immediately following each required fire and emergency evacuation drill, staff must evaluate the drill to determine whether it was effective. Not at the next staff meeting — immediately, while people still remember what went wrong.
22VAC40-73-970- Virginia is the clearest example of a licensing rule DEFERRING to the fire code for its numbers. A plan that quotes a drill frequency from the licensing chapter is looking in the wrong place — 13VAC5-51 governs, and it can change independently of the assisted living standards.
- Adult day care centres sit under a different chapter: 22VAC40-61-540 for fire and emergency evacuation drills.
Reviewed 2026-07-30
What this page is
The requirements Virginia 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 floor does not vary by state. OSHA 29 CFR §1910.38 binds any employer: reporting an emergency, evacuation and exit-route assignments, critical-operations shutdown, accounting for everyone afterwards, rescue and medical duties, and naming who to ask about the plan. 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 and is driven by this same research, so the two cannot disagree about what Virginia requires. The Compliance Calendar puts the drills and inspections on dates.