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Page 16 — Health Care Properties Quarterly — January 2017
Senior Housing & Care
W hen initiating a new senior
living project in Colorado,
there are many factors that
contribute to a successful
outcome. The regulatory
environment for senior living com-
munities in Colorado is ever changing,
and it’s important to understand the
laws and codes that affect building
compliance for different types of ser-
vices.
The following tips are not meant to
be all inclusive or replace consulta-
tion with your architect, and operators
and developers should always con-
sult their local and state authorities.
That said, these are five of the most
important things to consider when it
comes to senior living and memory
care facility building regulations in
Colorado.
1) Comply with the International Build-
ing Code and make sure you know
which version you’re complying with.
Unlike some other states, Colorado
has no statewide building codes.
Instead, each jurisdiction adopts the
building code independently and
may or may not use the same version
of the code, which is revised every
three years. The most recent ver-
sion (released in 2015) has significant
changes, and even some advantages,
for senior living and memory care
facility construction. For example, the
2015 code includes a special category
applicable to memory care facili-
ties, which recognizes that there are
residents capable of self-preservation
with limited assistance. In other
words, if patients are able, with staff
direction, to walk out of a building on
their own in an emergency situation.
In the early stages
of your project,
determine which
version of the code
is being enforced in
order to know your
compliance respon-
sibilities.
2) Determine the
need to submit to the
Division of Fire Pre-
vention and Control
for a plan review.
The DFPC is a state
health department
board that may
require a plan review for your project.
If your facility is pursuing Medicare or
Medicaid certification – or if the local
fire inspection authority does not
have qualified plan reviewers them-
selves – then the project will require a
DFPC state plan review.
In this case, the DFPC will enforce
NFPA-101 (more on this below), and
maintains jurisdiction as a state
agency over the operation of the facil-
ity. If a local fire authority does have
a certified reviewer, however, then the
project may be reviewed or under an
alternative fire code such as the Inter-
national Fire Code. This leads us to
number three.
3) IBC is not the only code you must
comply with. While IBC is often the
first code to consider, these additional
codes are important to overall build-
ing compliance:
• NFPA-101 compliance. The DFPC
or local fire authority may require
compliance with code NFPA-101,
which involves some important dif-
ferences from IBC related to skilled
nursing and mem-
ory care facilities.
Under NFPA-101,
the operator must
determine whether
the building will be
licensed as a medi-
cal facility or a resi-
dential board and
care facility. That’s
because some oper-
ators prefer to use
a “defend-in-place”
strategy for their
facility, meaning
that, in the event of
minor fire, patients or residents can
avoid unnecessary evacuation. Instead,
they would be able to move to a sepa-
rate indoor smoke-sealed compart-
ment as a part of staged evacuation.
Under NFPA-101, an operator who
wants to adopt a “defend-in-place”
strategy may be required to design to
medical facility standards. Thus, we
recommend complying with both IBC
and NFPA-101 to cover your bases.
• Facility Guidelines Institute compli-
ance. These guidelines offer authorita-
tive direction on health care planning,
design and construction in the U.S. as
a guide for regulators, designers, build-
ers and facility owners. State licensing
requires FGI compliance in order to
align with public health, safety and
welfare codes in the health care and
senior living realm.
4) Understand the overall certifica-
tion process. Licensing and regulation
is primarily driven by the operator,
who prepares a functional program
for review and approval by the state
health department, in this case, the
Colorado Department of Public Health
and Environment. For instance, a
certification requirement may stipu-
late the need for a laundry program.
The operator must then determine
whether to provide a full laundry facil-
ity on site, or instead contract with an
outside laundry service. The architect
can provide design support, but the
operator submits the plan to the state
licensing authority. The certification
process must happen concurrently
with design for an operator to open
the facility on schedule.
5) Know that the process takes time.
Above all, develop a realistic schedule
from the outset. Allow time to work
with all required agencies and be pro-
active in your communications. Get in
front of decision-makers as early as
possible, and take advantage of your
allowance for state guidance during
the conceptual phase. At the local
level, your architect can help organize
a preliminary design review meeting
with as many affected local jurisdic-
tions as possible (such as planning
and zoning, building departments,
fire departments and city engineering
teams) early in the process to map out
a schedule.
The Colorado regulations for design-
ing senior living and health care facili-
ties are always changing.While your
architecture and design firm can (and
should) be your partner throughout
the process, they cannot write your
functional program for you. Be sure
your plans are up to code, stay aware
of the certification process, and con-
sult your local and state authorities
– as well as your architect and design
team – every step of the way.s
Darrin Jensen
Senior project
manager, OZ
Architecture,
Denver
Jami
Mohlenkamp
Principal, OZ
Architecture,
Denver
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