Life Safety (LS) (Nursing Care Center / Nursing Care Center)
Life Safety Floor Plan Content - General Requirements
Publish | January 01, 0001
What are Life Safety floor plans, why are they significant, and what is the required content?
Life safety floor plans are a component of the organization's Statement of Conditions, therefore applicable to standard LS.01.01.01. Accurate and complete life safety floor plans are required to be available at the time of any survey conducted by The Joint Commission in order for the organization's facilities to be effectively evaluated. Life safety floor plans are to include all Life Safety Code, 2000 edition, features that have an impact on any health care, ambulatory or behavioral health residential occupancy. The concept is to have a comprehensive document that consolidates all construction phases of the facility over its history, to allow for LSC compliance through maintenance strategies, identification of deficiencies, inspection and training. All content is not required to be on each floor's drawing; a drawing package is acceptable. Per The Joint Commission Perspectives article of October 2012, life safety floor plans are to consist of at least:
- a legend that clearly identifies features of fire safety;
- areas of the building that are fully sprinklered (if the building is partially sprinklered; areas covered, not individual sprinkler heads);
- locations of all hazardous storage areas (both fire rated barrier types and smoke resistive barrier types);
- locations of all fire-rated barriers; locations of all smoke barriers;
- suite boundaries, including the sizes of the identified suites;
- locations of designated smoke compartments;
- locations of chutes and vertical (elevator and utility) shafts; and
- any approved equivalencies or waivers.
Note that if a non-occupied floor, or a floor occupied by another entity affects the Life Safety Code integrity of the accredited organization, then those affected features, like chutes and vertical shafts that pass through those spaces, are to be part of the life safety floor plan package. [LS.01.01.01]
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