What is the requirement for organizations to use when assessing building design and construction criteria?

Any examples are for illustrative purposes only.

When planning for new, altered, or renovated space, the applicable standard is EC.02.06.05.  The hospital manages its environment during demolition, renovation, or new construction to reduce risk to those in the organization.

The Joint Commission expects organizations to assess building design and construction requirements based on local, state, and federal regulations and codes. Typically, an organization's controlling authority for this issue is their state health department licensing entity. The organization would have to check their licensing rules to determine their criteria and whether retroactive compliance is allowed.

When these entities are silent on a particular design criterion, The Joint Commission recognizes the 2018 Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals for new construction and renovation.

The FGI allows requirements at the time of construction to be used, so the edition of the FGI applicable at the time of construction would be used for existing construction.   If the current requirements are stricter than the building codes at the time of construction, The Joint Commission would expect the organization to perform a gap analysis to validate that adequate patient and staff safety, and process integrity can be maintained.

If local, state and federal rules, regulations, and guidelines do not meet specific design needs, the use other reputable standards and guidelines that provide equivalent design criteria are acceptable.

Additional resources:
Click here for a read only copy of FGI 2018