The Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) opened a three-month public comment period for the draft of the 2026 edition of its Guidelines for Design and Construction for Residential and Support Care Settings.
The public comment period is open until Sept. 30 to all users of the documents. The Health Guidelines Revision Committee will review all comments before the release of the 2026 edition, which will be renamed the FGI Facility Code for Residential Care and Support Settings.
Also new in 2026, the documents will no longer contain advisory guidance, such as appendix text. Instead, language that formerly was included in the appendices will appear in a new series of handbooks—featuring expanded design guidance, including best practices, checklists, and diagrams created in collaboration with subject-matter experts—that will be released concurrently with the 2026 FGI Facility Code.
Some of the changes proposed for the 2026 code for residential and care support settings include:
- Strengthened requirements for clearances around toilets where permitted by accessibility standards.
- Clarified minimum requirements for electrical outlets, call devices, and medical gas and vacuum systems.
- Added capacity for single-resident units in nursing homes and assisted living communities.
- Increased minimum size requirements for rooms accommodating the care of individuals of size.
- Revised dining area requirements to accommodate 100 percent of the resident population and increase minimum square footage and dimensions.
- The 2026 edition also removes a chapter on independent living communities.
The public comment site is accessible here.
For more news on the FGI guidelines, go here.
