Contact Information
Section Chief: Bill Warren
701 Barbour Drive
Raleigh, NC 27603
Mailing Address: 2705 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-2705
Phone: (919) 855-3893
Fax Number: 919-733-6592
General Information
The Construction Section has a total staff of 37 employees including Architects (8), Building System Engineers (20), and Engineering Specialists (4) who are supported by four secretaries and one plan management technician. The section is involved in three major program areas. The first of these programs is State Licensure. Under this program, architects and engineers, funded by state appropriations, review plans and specifications, both for new and existing buildings, for facilities wishing to be licensed by the division. These professionals review approximately 1000 sets of plans and conduct over 400 field inspections yearly, many times as a two-person team. Their purpose is to insure compliance with State Licensure regulations for physical plant and life safety standards for facilities licensed by the Division. Areas of involvement include building construction/renovation, and maintenance, building systems operation and maintenance, and fire safety issues. The staff also makes, when time permits, on-site inspections of new facilities and renovations or additions to existing facilities to determine compliance with approved plans and specifications. When construction is completed and approved, the section recommends licensure to the appropriate licensure section, who at that time assesses the program aspects of licensure that relate to delivery of patient or resident services in order to issue a new or revised license to the applicant. For construction questions related to State Licensure for all programs except Mental Health, please contact Steven Lewis at 919-855-3907 or Steven.Lewis@ncmail.net.
Recently, a separate unit within the State Licensure program has been established in the Construction Section to conduct plan reviews and on-site inspections of new and existing Mental Health Facilities. Fran Pedrigi, Architectural Supervisor has been assigned to manage this unit. She can be contacted at 919-855-3893 or Fran.Pedrigi@ncmail.net for construction or life safety questions related to mental health facilities.
After a facility is licensed to operate, as time permits, construction inspections of some types of facilities are made to verify continued compliance with construction and life safety standards. Hospitals generally are scheduled for inspection every three years in conjunction with their Joint Commission Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) survey. Adult care homes (seven or more residents) are generally scheduled for bi-annual inspections for compliance with construction and life safety standards. Other inspections are made when indicated by complaints, requests by other agencies, and/or a facility's request.
The Construction Section works closely with the appropriate licensure section to ensure that licensure questions and regulations that relate to construction are consistently applied and that new construction and/or renovation projects are approved for construction before the licensure section's survey. Complaints of a construction, life safety, or physical environment nature are usually referred to the Construction Section for investigation and action by the Complaint Investigation Branch (CIB) of the Licensure and Certification Section or the Adult Care Home Licensure Section. Proposed jail construction or renovation is reviewed by the Construction Section for compliance with jail standards in cooperation with the Jails and Detention Section. The Construction Section also provides professional staff support to rulemaking bodies that adopt regulations for all Division programs that have construction standards included in licensure requirements.
The second major program that the Construction Section is involved with is the Title 18/19 reimbursement program (Medicare/Medicaid). Under this Federal program, there are several licensure programs that may qualify for reimbursement. As a part of this determination, the Construction Section has seven engineers, funded by Federal funds, that survey nursing homes, inpatient hospices, ambulatory surgery facilities, non-JCAHO accredited hospitals, and Construction Section intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded (ICF's/MR) wishing to qualify for Medicare/Medicaid certification. The inspections are done initially and thereafter annually (unannounced) for life safety compliance. Some "look behind" surveys are also conducted on JCAHO accredited hospitals at the request of the federal government. The Construction Section's "federal" staff conducts more than 1700 field inspections each year.
Under this program, the Construction Section works closely with the Licensure and Certification Section which routinely schedules annual inspections and recommends initial or continued certification of qualifying facilities for Medicare/Medicaid to the federal government. The Construction Section also works closely with the Licensure and Certification Section to ensure that life safety surveys are conducted in the proper time frame and that federal paperwork requirements are completed in an accurate and timely manner. The Chief of the Construction Section acts as the "Fire Authority" for Title 19 (Medicaid) programs in North Carolina. For construction and Life Safety questions related to the Medicare/Medicaid programs, please contact Steven Lewis at 919-855-3907 or Steven.Lewis@ncmail.net.
The third major program the Construction Section is involved in is the Health Care Facilities Finance Act. This program provides capital improvement funds for non-profit health care facilities through the issuance of tax free revenue bonds by the North Carolina Medical Care Commission in the name of the facility. The Construction Section provides both administrative and technical support to the Commission. Administratively, applications for financial assistance are reviewed in conjunction with the Division office for completeness, reasonable cost, need, and conformance with Commission policy. Recommendation for Commission action is then made at their quarterly meetings. Once a project is approved by the Commission, a Construction Section staff architect and engineer are assigned to the project. The assigned team, in addition to reviewing plans and specifications, monitors estimated costs, bidding procedures, payment requests, makes payment and regulatory inspections, and generally acts in the owner's and Commission's best interest to insure the continued acceptance of the program's outstanding reputation for excellence in the investment and health care markets as well as compliance with regulatory requirements. For construction and procedure related questions, please contact Bill Warren at 919-855-3893 or Bill.Warren@ncmail.net.
In addition to the three major program areas, the Construction Section regularly consults with and advises the North Carolina Department of Insurance Engineering Division on amendments and interpretations of the North Carolina State Building Code. In cooperation with the North Carolina Building Code Council and in cooperation with the public, the Construction Section regularly promotes improved building code amendments to provide for economically feasible construction options for the continued safety of individuals housed in facilities licensed by the Division. Working closely with local Building Inspectors and Fire Marshals, the Construction Section promotes uniformity of code and regulation enforcement throughout the state in those facilities subject to licensure by the Division. Uniformity of application of codes and regulations is further enhanced by seminars held by the Construction Section to educate owners, architects, engineers, code officials, and other interested parties about requirements for construction and operation of facilities licensed by the Division. These various groups are encouraged to work together to provide safe and affordable buildings for use by those individuals needing health or personal care.
The Construction Section provides The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) with consultation regarding proposed construction or renovation projects to be undertaken by DHHS institutions and provides space planning and support services to the Department and Division on an as-requested basis.
The Construction Section also works closely with the Certificate of Need Section (CON) to verify that facilities are built in compliance with any CON stipulations that relate to construction such as number of beds built, space limitations, site location, or special construction restrictions imposed by a Certificate of Need.