What does a District of Columbia surveyor ask for on emergency preparedness?

DC imports the federal CMS standard wholesale (42 CFR §483.73, as adopted by District of Columbia regulation). Source: District of Columbia Department of Health — Health Regulation and Licensing Administration. Last checked July 2026.

District of Columbia survey readiness

What District of Columbia Department of Health — Health Regulation and Licensing Administration can ask you for, each line cited — and the ones you can't yet produce.

What District of Columbia requires

Assisted Living Residence — Assisted living / residential care

DC imports the federal CMS standard wholesale. The District requires assisted living residences to meet THE SAME EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS STANDARDS that CMS sets for long-term care facilities at 42 CFR §483.73 — whether or not the residence participates in Medicare or Medicaid. This is unique among the jurisdictions researched. Everywhere else the CMS four core elements attach to federal participation; in DC they attach to the local license. A DC assisted living residence therefore owes the full risk assessment, communication plan, policies and procedures, and the two-exercise-per-year testing program, on state-law authority alone. 42 CFR §483.73, as adopted by District of Columbia regulation

District of Columbia Department of Health — Health Regulation and Licensing Administration · checked July 2026

The evidence, and where it comes from

Every item above needs something you can hand over. The fire drill log produces the drill record — we have not published a District of Columbia page, because we have not verified a District of Columbia drill frequency, the emergency plan builder writes the plan itself from the same research, and the compliance calendar puts the life-safety tests on dates. Anything you record against the building shows up on the checklist already ticked.

A self-assessment against published rules, not a compliance determination. CompliMaint issues nothing — District of Columbia Department of Health — Health Regulation and Licensing Administration and your authority having jurisdiction do. Requirements we could not verify are absent rather than guessed at.

Questions people ask

What does a District of Columbia surveyor ask for on emergency preparedness?: DC imports the federal CMS standard wholesale (42 CFR §483.73, as adopted by District of Columbia regulation). Source: District of Columbia Department of Health — Health Regulation and Licensing Administration. Last checked July 2026.