The Facility Guidelines Institute opened a three-month public comment period for the draft of the 2026 edition of its Guidelines for Design and Construction for healthcare facilities, including hospitals and outpatient settings.

The public comment period is open until Sept. 30 to all users of the documents. The Health Guidelines Revision Committee will review all comments before the release of the 2026 edition, which will be renamed the FGI Facility Code.

Also new in 2026, the documents will no longer contain advisory guidance, such as appendix text. Instead, language that formerly was included in the appendices will appear in a new series of handbooks—featuring expanded design guidance, including best practices, checklists, and diagrams created in collaboration with subject-matter experts—that will be released concurrently with the 2026 FGI Facility Code.

Some of the changes proposed for the 2026 code for hospitals and outpatient facilities include:

  • Requirements for determining the number and types of clinical spaces, such as exam, procedure, operating, and imaging rooms.
  • New requirements to minimize water age.
  • Elimination of requirements for low-level, diagnostic-only mobile units and distinguishing site requirements from mobile unit requirements.
  • New requirements for emergency entrance signage and site directional signage to the emergency department (ED).
  • Additional requirements for surfaces and casework.

The public comment site is accessible here.