New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules
He - Department of Health and Human Services
Subtitle He-C - Commissioner, Department of Health and Human Services
Chapter He-C 4000 - CHILD CARE LICENSING RULES
Part He-C 4002 - NH CHILD CARE PROGRAM LICENSING RULES
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:

(b) Prior to caring for children on any level of a building that does not exit to grade level, programs shall:

(c) Programs shall report any changes to indoor or outdoor child care space, or addition of new space, to the department:

(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:

(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:

(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:

(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.