Virginia Law

A valid certificate of occupancy is one prerequisite for licensure. When an application is for licensure of a building that has not previously been used for the type of license or use group being sought, or when renovations are made in the building, the department must approve functional design features of the building in accordance with applicable department regulations. The procedures are as follows:

1. Prior to beginning construction or renovation, the applicant or prospective applicant shall submit to the department floor plans that clearly indicate the use of space and other plans for compliance with all requirements for the building and physical environment contained in the applicable regulations.

(NOTE: Applicants and prospective applicants are urged to present their plans for compliance with departmental regulations to the department as early as possible and before entering into contracts in order to assure that the building can be preapproved as meeting the department's regulations. Architects, contractors, or building officials may not be thoroughly familiar with these functional design requirements, and costly errors can be avoided through early review by the department.)

2. The department will notify the applicant or prospective applicant within 10 working days of receipt if the plans to comply are incomplete, identifying the information still needed before the request can be considered complete.

3. When a complete plan is received, the department will issue within 20 days a preliminary approval statement or a letter indicating disapproval of the plan and the reasons for disapproval.

(NOTE: A preliminary approval statement does not imply that the department will approve the application for licensure since other factors will affect issuance decisions.)

4. All preliminary approval statements are conditional upon there being no change in the proposal or the circumstances affecting them and upon approval of all required fire, health, or building officials.

5. The department will forward a copy of the preliminary approval statement to the appropriate building official.

6. After construction or renovation, department staff will make an on-site inspection to evaluate compliance with the functional design requirements of the applicable regulations. Findings of this on-site inspection will be forwarded to the applicant and the local building official.