On March 9, 2026, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Quality & Safety Special Alert. The alert, “Reminder: Upcoming Deadlines for Sprinkler System Requirement for Existing Health Care Occupancies in High-Rise Buildings,” indicates that there are no new or additional requirements. Instead, the document is a reminder for facilities that are classified as existing health care occupancies and located in high-rise buildings.
Key Points
According to the Alert:
- CMS adopted the 2012 LSC on July 5, 2016, which required that all CMS-certified facilities classified as new or existing health care occupancies that are located in high-risk buildings are required to have an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system throughout the entire building by July 5, 2028.
- Nursing Facilities and Skilled Nursing Facilities should not be affected by this new provision as regulation 42 CFR 483.90(a)(6) required these facility types to have a sprinkler system installed throughout the building by August 13, 2013. Hospitals are most likely to be impacted.
- High-rise buildings are defined by the Life Safety Code as buildings “where the floor of an occupiable story is greater than 75 ft (23 m) above the lowest level of fire department vehicle access.” These buildings present an increased risk to life safety in the event of an emergency.
Read QSSAM-26-02-ALL here.
