Article 4. Location and Installation
12VAC5-421-1540. Equipment, clothes washers and dryers, and storage cabinets, contamination prevention.
Article 4
Location and Installation
A. Except as specified in subsection B of this section, equipment, cabinets used for the storage of food, or cabinets used to store cleaned and sanitized equipment, utensils, laundered linens, and single-service and single-use articles shall not be located:
1. In locker rooms;
2. In toilet rooms or vestibules;
3. In garbage rooms;
4. In mechanical rooms;
5. Under sewer lines that are not shielded to intercept potential drips;
6. Under leaking water lines including leaking automatic fire sprinkler heads or under lines on which water has condensed;
7. Under open stairwells; or
8. Under other sources of contamination.
B. A storage cabinet used for linens or single-service or single-use articles may be stored in a locker room.
C. If a mechanical clothes washer or dryer is provided, it shall be located only where there is no exposed food; clean equipment, utensils, and linens; unwrapped single-service and single-use articles; and so that the washer or dryer is protected from contamination.
Statutory Authority
§§ 35.1-11 and 35.1-14 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 10, eff. March 1, 2002; amended, Virginia Register Volume 24, Issue 2, eff. October 16, 2007.
12VAC5-421-1550. Fixed equipment, spacing or sealing.
A. Equipment that is fixed because it is not easily movable shall be installed so that it is:
1. Spaced to allow access for cleaning along the sides, behind, and above the equipment;
2. Spaced from adjoining equipment, walls, and ceilings a distance of not more than 1/32 inch or 1 millimeter; or
3. Sealed to adjoining equipment or walls, if the equipment is exposed to spillage or seepage.
B. Counter-mounted equipment that is not easily movable shall be installed to allow cleaning of the equipment and areas underneath and around the equipment by being:
1. Sealed ; or
2. Elevated on legs as specified under 12VAC5-421-1560 D.
Statutory Authority
§§ 35.1-11 and 35.1-14 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 10, eff. March 1, 2002; amended, Virginia Register Volume 26, Issue 7, eff. January 1, 2010; Volume 37, Issue 18, eff. June 10, 2021.
12VAC5-421-1560. Fixed equipment, elevation or sealing.
A. Except as specified in subsections B and C of this section, floor-mounted equipment that is not easily movable shall be sealed to the floor or elevated on legs that provide at least a 6 inch (15 centimeter) clearance between the floor and the equipment.
B. If no part of the floor under the floor-mounted equipment is more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) from the point of cleaning access, the clearance space may be only 4 inches (10 centimeters).
C. This section does not apply to display shelving units, display refrigeration units, and display freezer units located in the consumer shopping areas of a retail food store, if the floor under the units is maintained clean.
D. Except as specified in subsection E of this section, counter-mounted equipment that is not easily movable shall be elevated on legs that provide at least a 4-inch (10 centimeter) clearance between the table and the equipment.
E. The clearance space between the table and counter-mounted equipment may be:
1. Three inches (7.5 centimeters) if the horizontal distance of the table top under the equipment is no more than 20 inches (50 centimeters) from the point of access for cleaning; or
2. Two inches (5 centimeters) if the horizontal distance of the table top under the equipment is no more than 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) from the point of access for cleaning.
Statutory Authority
§§ 35.1-11 and 35.1-14 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 10, eff. March 1, 2002; amended, Virginia Register Volume 26, Issue 7, eff. January 1, 2010.