Section He-C 4002.22 - Approval of Child Care Space and License Capacity: Indoors and Outdoors(a) Prior to use for child care, all indoor and outdoor child care space shall be:(1) Inspected and approved by the local fire inspector, in accordance with RSA 170-E:6 and He-C 4002.02(d)(3);(2) Inspected and approved by the local health officer, in accordance with RSA 170-E:6 and He-C 4002.02(d)(2); and(3) Inspected by the department in accordance with RSA 170-E:8, III, and RSA 170-E:9, II; and these rules.(b) Prior to caring for children on any level of a building that does not exit to grade level, programs shall: (1) Obtain written approval from the local fire authority, which specifically grants approval for children to be cared for on any level that does not exit to grade level, including any restrictions on the number of children; and(2) Submit the approval in (1) above to the department.(c) Programs shall report any changes to indoor or outdoor child care space, or addition of new space, to the department:(1) Prior to the change; or(2) Within 24 hours of the change if, due to an emergency, approved child care space cannot be used due to reasons including, but not limited to, damages which make an area unsafe for children; and(3) When programs discontinue using space as specified in He-C 4002.02(q).(d) The licensee shall provide and maintain at least one toilet and one handwashing sink for every 20 children of their licensed capacity.(e) There shall be a minimum of 40 square feet of floor space per child, measured wall-to-wall, inside the rooms used by children.(f) The department shall determine the license capacity by adding the number of children each room can accommodate based on 40 square feet per child, exclusive of common space, and in accordance with local fire, health and zoning approvals.(g) The department shall not consider common space, hallways, lockers, bathrooms, cooking areas of the kitchen, closets, or offices as child care space when determining license capacity.(h) There shall be a minimum of 35 square feet of floor space per child for programs licensed before November 23, 2008.(i) Programs referenced in (h) above shall be required to comply with the requirements in (e) above when: (1) The licensee or permittee lets the license lapse due to late submission of renewal application materials; or (2) The program relocates to new space or does major renovations to their current child care space, such as adding or removing walls or otherwise changing, reducing, or expanding space.(j) The program must have activity space of its own, apart from other groups that may be using the facility, during the time that it operates.(k) Programs which are located in the same building with other licensed entities or programs for children that are license exempt, pursuant to RSA 170-E:3, shall: (1) Not be responsible for or supervise any children not enrolled in the licensed program;(2) Not allow children from the license exempt program to mix with children enrolled in the licensed program; and(3) Not allow children from the license exempt program to share space that is being used by children enrolled in the licensed program.(l) Programs shall not overcrowd child care space with adult-sized furniture or other items for use only by adults or stored items.(m) For programs licensed before November 23, 2008 whose capacities included the use of common space as described in rules previous to that date shall be allowed to have no more than up to 2 children over the classroom capacity, regularly assigned to each classroom, provided the common space was approved by and is on file with the department.(n) For programs licensed before May 30, 1998 whose capacities included the use of common space as described in rules previous to that date shall be allowed to have no more than up to 4 children over the classroom capacity, regularly assigned to each classroom, provided the common space was approved by and is on file with the department.(o) Programs shall be equipped with an outside play area, which directly adjoins the indoor space of the facility and contains a minimum of 50 square feet of outdoor play area for each child based upon the program's license capacity.(p) The only exceptions to (o) above are as follows: (1) Programs may utilize department approved outdoor play space which is located within ? of a mile from the program, provided the program submits a written plan to the department showing that children can safely travel to and from the play area and the program;(2) Programs may operate with 50 square feet of outdoor play area per child for 1/3 of the program's license capacity, provided that no more than 1/3 of the license capacity is in the play area at one time; and(3) Programs that operate 5 or fewer hours per day provided the curriculum includes at least 20 minutes of gross motor activities.(q) For programs operating exclusively outdoors, the department shall determine the license capacity based on the area of outdoor space and the proposed staffing patterns as specified in these rules.N.H. Admin. Code § He-C 4002.22
#4871, eff 7-24-90; ss by #5203, eff 8-16-91; ss by #6558, INTERIM, eff 8-16-97, EXPIRED: 12-14-97
New. #6719, eff 3-25-98; ss by #7294, eff 5-26-00; ss by #9160, INTERIM, eff 5-26-08, EXPIRES: 11-22-08; ss by #9310, eff 11-23-08 (from He-C 4002.24 )
Amended by Volume XXXVI Number 49, Filed December 8, 2016, Proposed by #12046, Effective 11/19/2016, Expires 5/18/2017.Ss by #12174, EMERGENCY RULE, eff 5-17-17, EXPIRES: 11-13-17;Amended by Volume XXXVII Number 50, Filed December 14, 2017, Proposed by #12415, Effective 11/6/2017, Expires 11/6/2027.Amended by Volume XLII Number 19, Filed May 12, 2022, Proposed by #13373, Effective 4/22/2022, Expires 4/22/2032