Emergency plan rules in Virginia
One license 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); -980 (emergency food, water and generator testing); -990 (plan for resident emergencies and practice exercise); Va. Code § 63.2-1732(E) (emergency power connection); 13VAC5-52-160 (Statewide Fire Prevention Code, state-regulated care facilities)
Virginia's assisted living rule does not state a number: 22VAC40-73-970 takes drill frequency from the Statewide Fire Prevention Code, 13VAC5-52 (effective January 18, 2024, replacing the repealed 13VAC5-51). Under 13VAC5-52-160, a care facility classified in Group R must hold a drill every month with all occupants; for a building classified I-1, the count comes from the fire code's drill table, so ask your fire official which classification applies. The licensing rule adds its own conditions: every required drill is unannounced, the drills may not all fall in the same month, and each drill is evaluated immediately afterward.
The fire and emergency evacuation plan must be approved by the local fire official (22VAC40-73-960). The Statewide Fire Prevention Code also requires state-regulated care facilities to keep an approved fire safety and evacuation plan (13VAC5-52-160).
Authority: Local fire official
Fire and emergency evacuation drill records: 2 years.
Immediately following each required fire and emergency evacuation drill, staff must evaluate the drill to determine whether it was effective.
22VAC40-73-970The facility must make contact with its local emergency coordinator at least once a year.
22VAC40-73-950The emergency preparedness and response plan must be reviewed at least every six months, with staff and with residents.
22VAC40-73-950The facility must keep proof that its onsite generator can run key loads, or keep a contract with a generator vendor together with a backup vendor.
22VAC40-73-950(B)–(C)The facility must have food and drinking water for 96 hours, with at least 48 hours of that supply kept on site.
22VAC40-73-980The generator must be tested monthly.
22VAC40-73-980The facility must have a plan for resident emergencies, including a resident who is missing.
22VAC40-73-990A facility with six or more residents must have a connection for emergency electrical power.
Va. Code § 63.2-1732(E)State-regulated care facilities, including those licensed by the Department of Social Services, must keep an approved fire safety and evacuation plan under the fire code's plan section (IFC 404 as adopted) and distribute it to tenants and employees.
13VAC5-52-160- Virginia's assisted living rule takes its drill count from the Statewide Fire Prevention Code (13VAC5-52, effective January 18, 2024), which replaced the repealed 13VAC5-51. The count depends on the occupancy classification the fire official assigns to the building (Group R or I-1), not on the license.
- Adult day care centers sit under a different chapter: 22VAC40-61-540 for fire and emergency evacuation drills.
Reviewed 2026-09-28
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Everything else we’ve researched about Virginia
Same state, the problems either side of this one. Each carries its own statute and the date we last checked it.
- Virginia deposit return law & letterThe landlord's deadline to return a deposit, and the itemized letter.
- Virginia deposit demand letterFor the tenant: whether the landlord is late, and by how many days.
- Virginia deposit deduction rulesWhat may fairly come out of a deposit, prorated by useful life.
- Virginia move-in condition reportThe walkthrough record that decides deposit arguments later.
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 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 Virginia. The Compliance Calendar puts the drills and inspections on dates.