Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Inspection
Procedures.
(1) All licensed funeral
establishments, commercial embalming facilities, and crematories shall be
inspected at least once every two years.
(2) All inspections shall be
unannounced.
(3) The inspector
shall review prior inspection reports before inspecting a licensed entity. If
prior reports reveal problems, the inspector shall determine whether the
licensed entity has corrected the previously identified problems or whether a
pattern of violations or new violations exist.
(4) Inspectors shall use reasonable efforts
to conduct inspections between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., but a
licensed entity is required to be open at all times to inspections for
violations of Occupations Code, Chapter 651, and Health and Safety Code,
Chapters 193, 361, 711, and 716.
(5) If a licensed entity is not open for
business during regular business hours and an inspector is unable to contact
any employee or owner to open the licensed entity to conduct the inspection,
the inspector shall notify the licensed entity by mail of the attempted
inspection. If a licensed entity is unavailable for inspection during regular
business hours twice during a six-month period, the Commission may file a
complaint against the licensed entity, making the licensed entity subject to an
administrative penalty or other action.
(b) The Commission may classify a licensed
entity as risk-based for the following reasons:
(1) Previously found violations of
Occupations Code, Chapter 651, and Health and Safety Code, Chapters 193, 361,
711, and 716, following a regular inspection.
(2) Multiple violations of Occupations Code,
Chapter 651, or Rules of the Commission.
(3) Change of ownership.
(4) Newly issued license.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection
(a)(1) of this section, a licensed entity may be inspected annually if the
Commission classifies the entity as risk-based.
(d) The Commission will declassify an
establishment as risk-based if it has two consecutive inspections with no found
violations and/or it has no proven violations within a two-year
period.
(e) If the Commission is in
the process of conducting an investigation of a licensed entity, staff may
inspect the licensed entity for the limited purpose of proving or disproving
the validity of the complaint. The scope of inspections under this paragraph
shall be limited to matters relating to the subject of the complaint.
