Senior Living Construction Compliance: Drawing Review Beyond ADA

The Regulatory Layer Cake

Senior living projects—independent living (IL), assisted living (AL), memory care (MC), skilled nursing (SNF), and continuing care retirement communities (CCRC)—are regulated at three levels simultaneously. IBC and ADA apply to everyone. FGI Residential Health, Care, and Support Facilities guidelines apply to AL, MC, and SNF. State licensure rules apply in parallel and sometimes conflict with FGI.

The first drawing review question is always: what's the occupancy classification, what FGI type applies, and which state licensure rule governs? If the answer isn't on the cover sheet, nothing that follows can be properly reviewed. Occupancy groups I-1, I-2, and R-4 are all used for senior living; each has different fire, egress, and sprinkler implications under the IBC occupancy classification.

Unit Planning: What FGI Adds to ADA

FGI resident unit requirements exceed ADA minimums. Examples from the 2022 FGI Residential:

• Clear floor area: 80 sf minimum clear floor area in bedroom excluding fixed cabinetry and bathroom—more than typical multifamily minimums
• Clearances around beds: 3'-0" minimum on one long side of the bed, 4'-0" at foot—specific clearances not required by ADA
• Bathroom design: Door swing must allow rescue (reverse swing or sliding) in memory care; grab bars per ADA plus additional swing-away bars in some states
• Emergency call: Nurse call in every unit, bathroom, and common area per UL 1069. Drawings must show call stations and annunciator locations
• Door hardware: Lever handles per ADA, but AL units may require delayed egress or access control in MC with specific fire alarm interface

Every clearance and requirement must be visible on the unit plan. Our ADA accessibility guide covers the baseline.

Memory Care: Containment and Egress Paradox

Memory care neighborhoods must prevent resident elopement while maintaining code-compliant egress. The solution is delayed egress, access control, and secured courtyards—but the drawings have to show every piece of the interface correctly:

• Delayed egress hardware (15-second or 30-second) on doors to non-MC areas, with fire alarm override showing on door schedule and fire alarm drawings
• Card access readers coordinated with low-voltage drawings
• Secured exterior courtyards with no dropped-curb or gate access, shown on site plan and life safety plan
• Window restrictors on operable windows (typically 4" max opening), noted on window schedule
• Visual wayfinding vs. camouflage—doors to staff areas typically camouflaged, residential doors highlighted, per the interior design schedule

Cross-reference the egress design with the access control shown on electrical and IT drawings.

Dining, Commercial Kitchens, and Medication Rooms

Senior living is hospitality plus healthcare. Commercial kitchens need grease duct, Type I hoods, and Ansul fire suppression—but unlike a restaurant, they serve three meals a day, 365 days, to a captive population. Drawing review focus:

• Grease duct routing to roof with clean-out access at every change in direction
• Makeup air coordination with the rest of the building's HVAC
• Medication rooms: locked access, refrigerator with temp monitoring, eyewash, and work surface at ADA height
• Dining rooms: fire separation between kitchen and dining per IBC/FGI, plus acoustic separation

How Helonic Helps

Helonic reads senior living drawing sets for FGI clearance compliance, nurse call coverage, delayed egress coordination between door schedules and fire alarm drawings, and memory care containment continuity. For CCRC projects with mixed IL/AL/MC/SNF, the AI flags where one portion of the building crosses into a different FGI chapter and a new set of requirements kicks in.