Augusta-Richmond County, GA Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Section 3-3-25(a)(10) pulls licensed group day-care homes and centers into the same special-hazard category as hospitals, nursing homes and assembly buildings, based purely on headcount: 7 to 12 children makes it a group day-care home, more than 12 makes it a group day-care center, using the Georgia Department of Human Resources' own licensing thresholds. Once classified, subsection (e) requires the operator to submit plans and specifications to the bureau of fire prevention before any building permit issues, with a review fee of $150 for facilities up to 10,000 square feet, plus five cents per square foot above that.

Subsection (f) then requires a certificate of occupancy, carrying its own flat $150 fee, before the facility can be occupied; that certificate runs for the life of the building unless it is substantially renovated, suffers a serious fire, or changes its type of use. § 25-2-4 cannot impose staff-to-child ratios, since that is regulated separately by DHS licensing rather than the fire code. If the fire chief disapproves an application or the operator disputes how the code applies, Section 3-3-30 gives 30 days to appeal to the Commission. This fire classification is separate from, and in addition to, the state day-care license itself.