The short answer: Every licensed Florida assisted living facility must keep an alternate power source — in practice, a generator — on site that can hold ambient air temperature at or below 81 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 96 hours after primary power is lost, under Florida Administrative Code Rule 59A-36.025. That plan is approved by your county emergency management agency, not by AHCA, and the facility must be able to produce its approved copy on request. Ask to see it before storm season — not during a warning.
Most hurricane checklists tell families to "ask if they have a generator." That question is nearly useless, because almost every facility will say yes. The useful questions are about capacity, square footage, fuel, approval letters, and who calls you at 2 a.m. Below is a script you can read straight off your phone.
Are Florida assisted living facilities required by law to have a generator?
Yes — since 2018, and the rule has been renumbered since, which is why older articles cite the wrong code. Rule 59A-36.025, F.A.C., requires each assisted living facility to prepare a detailed emergency environmental control plan as a supplement to its Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, addressing loss of primary electrical power (AHCA rule text).
The history matters when you're reading older guidance:
| Citation | Status | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency Rule 58AER17-1, F.A.C. | Expired | Issued after Hurricane Irma; plans approved under it required resubmission only if changes were made (Miami-Dade OEM) |
| Rule 58A-5.036, F.A.C. | Transferred | First permanent rule, effective 3-26-18 (rule history) |
| Rule 59A-36.025, F.A.C. | Current | Transferred to AHCA's Chapter 59A-36 on 7-1-19; last amended 11-23-23 |
If a facility's marketing packet or a directory blog still cites 58AER17-1 or 58A-5.036, that's a sign the material hasn't been updated in years. Ask for the current document.
How long does the generator have to run, and how cool does it have to keep things?
The standard is 81°F for 96 hours — four full days. The rule requires acquisition of a sufficient alternate power source such as a generator, maintained at the assisted living facility, to ensure ambient air temperatures are maintained at or below 81 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of 96 hours in the event of loss of primary electrical power (Miami-Dade County Office of Emergency Management).
That's a checkable performance standard, not a vague promise. Two follow-ups separate a strong answer from a weak one:
- Fuel on hand. The rule sets a floor for everyday storage — 48 hours of fuel on site for a facility licensed for 16 beds or fewer, 72 hours for a facility licensed for 17 or more beds — and requires a facility in a declared state of emergency area that may lose primary power to secure a full 96 hours of fuel, using portable fuel containers for the balance if needed (AHCA rule text). Ask how many hours of fuel are stored on site today and who the fuel vendor is.
- Last load test. Ask when the generator was last run under load, not just started.
Does the generator cool my parent's whole apartment or just a common area?
Usually just a designated cooling space — and this surprises most families. The required 81°F must be maintained in an area or areas of sufficient size determined by the assisted living facility, not necessarily throughout the entire building (Miami-Dade OEM). The rule puts a floor under "sufficient size": for planning purposes, no less than 20 net square feet per resident, and the facility may calculate using 80 percent of its licensed bed capacity (AHCA rule text).
So ask, specifically: Which rooms are the designated cooling area? How many square feet? How many residents does it hold, and where will my mother sleep for four nights? Do the arithmetic with them — a facility licensed for 120 beds is planning for 96 residents at 20 net square feet each, or roughly 1,920 square feet, and a single dining room may not get there. A facility that meets the minimum is a very different experience than one that powers every resident room.
Also ask whether the generator covers elevators, oxygen concentrators, call lights, and hallway lighting — none of that is guaranteed by the 81°F standard alone. The rule's policies-and-procedures section does separately require the plan to address refrigeration for medicines that need it and staff wellness checks for signs of dehydration and heat injury (AHCA rule text).
Who approves the plan, and how do I get a copy of it?
Your county emergency management agency approves it — which makes the approval a local public record you can request. Emergency environmental control plans are submitted to and approved by the county local emergency management agency; each new assisted living facility must submit its plan before obtaining a license, and existing facilities must amend and resubmit after additions, modifications, alterations, refurbishment, renovations, or reconstruction affecting compliance (Miami-Dade OEM).
You have a second, faster route: the facility itself. Each assisted living facility must keep a copy of its approved plan "readily available" at the licensee's physical address for review by a legally authorized entity — meaning the ability to immediately produce the plan in paper or electronic format upon request (AHCA rule text). A third route: the facility must submit proof of county approval to AHCA within 30 days, along with a consumer-friendly summary of the plan that AHCA posts on its website (AHCA rule text).
And there are two plans, not one. Emergency preparedness for Florida ALFs sits in two separate rules within Chapter 59A-36, F.A.C.: Rule 59A-36.019 (Emergency Management — the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, which contains evacuation) and Rule 59A-36.025 (emergency environmental control and generator requirements). Ask for both by number.
What if the facility's plan is to evacuate?
A facility whose comprehensive emergency management plan is to evacuate still has to comply with the generator rule. What changes is portability: a facility located in an evacuation zone must maintain an alternate power source and fuel at all times when it is occupied, but is permitted to use mobile generator(s) to enable portability if evacuation is necessary (AHCA rule text, Brevard County Emergency Management).
Evacuating facilities are common in coastal Florida. According to AssistedLivingFacility.com directory data, we track 1,000 licensed, active assisted living facilities across 46 Florida counties with a combined licensed capacity of 36,545 beds — and the heaviest concentrations sit in coastal, evacuation-prone counties: Miami-Dade with 268 facilities, Hillsborough with 98, Broward with 86, Palm Beach with 60, and Brevard with 54.
For an evacuating facility, ask:
- What is the named receiving site, and what is its address? ("A sister community inland" is not an answer.)
- Is there a signed transportation agreement, and is the transport wheelchair-accessible?
- How do medications, oxygen, and medical records travel with residents?
- What is the decision trigger — evacuation zone order, wind speed, county directive?
- Can I pick up my parent myself, and what's the sign-out process?
The question script to read at your next tour
| Ask this | What a strong answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| "May I see your plan under Rule 59A-36.025?" | Produced same day, paper or PDF, with the county approval letter attached |
| "Where is the designated cooling area and how large is it?" | Specific rooms, square footage, resident headcount |
| "How many hours of fuel are on site right now?" | A number, plus a named refueling vendor |
| "Is your CEMP under 59A-36.019 shelter-in-place or evacuate?" | A clear answer and the named receiving facility if evacuating |
| "When did you last submit or amend the plan to the county?" | A date; amendments after any renovation |
| "How will you contact me if cell service fails?" | Landline, satellite phone, staff runner, posted hotline, social media page |
How will the facility contact me during a hurricane?
Start with the notification right the law already gives you. Within five business days, an assisted living facility must notify each resident and the resident's legal representative in writing — unless permission for electronic communication has been granted — upon initial submission of its plan to the county local emergency management agency, and again upon final implementation of the plan; routine annual submissions and approvals don't trigger notice unless a significant modification as defined in Rule 59A-36.019, F.A.C., has been made (AHCA rule text).
Use that as the opening: Am I listed as the legal representative for written notice? Confirm the address and email on file today. Then push for the storm-week specifics — a designated family hotline number, a staff member assigned to family calls, a Facebook or website update schedule, and a backup out-of-state contact number in case local lines fail.
What happens if a facility doesn't comply?
The penalties reach the license itself. The rule's rulemaking authority is s. 429.41, F.S., and it implements ss. 429.19 and 429.41, F.S.; AHCA may seek any remedy authorized by Chapter 429, Part I, or Chapter 408, Part II, Florida Statutes for noncompliance, including license suspension, license revocation, and administrative fines (Brevard County Emergency Management). The governing statute is Chapter 429, Part I, Florida Statutes.
If a facility won't produce its plan, that refusal is itself information. Call your county emergency management office and AHCA's complaint line, and keep looking. You can compare licensed communities by county and city across the state in our Florida directory, including high-density markets like Tampa.
If your parent has medical needs that make heat or evacuation especially risky — heart failure, COPD, dementia, dialysis — talk to their physician about what the plan should include and whether they should be registered for your county's special needs shelter program before hurricane season begins on June 1.