Hoover, AL Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Hoover's Code of Ordinances draws a hard line between three kinds of home-based child care and requires each to clear a distinct compliance track before the revenue department will issue a business license, per Sec. 8-461. A day care home serves no more than five children and must be licensed by the Alabama Department of Human Resources. A group care home takes seven to twelve children with at least two adults supervising, also DHR-licensed. A night care facility home is any DHR-licensed dwelling that takes children after 7:00 p.m. All three are treated as day care centers for the purposes of this chapter under Sec. 8-460.

The compliance path splits on when the operation started. An existing home day care center, one that already held a DHR license and had been approved by the State of Alabama Fire Marshal's office before the city adopted Ordinance No. 18-2360 on March 5, 2018, must document that it followed the Fire Marshal's 'Existing Home Daycare' procedure and submit proof to the city. A new home day care center, meaning any applicant filing after that adoption date, instead has to meet the International Building Code and International Fire Code editions the city currently has adopted, in addition to the DHR license. Either way, the applicant hands the city's revenue department documented proof of compliance before a business license is issued; no proof, no license.

Separately, the zoning ordinance treats a day care home, group care home or night care facility home in a residential district as a conditional use requiring Planning and Zoning Commission approval, with its own dwelling, signage and driveway-loading conditions under Zoning Ordinance § 2.04.02, so an operator clears both the zoning conditional-use track and the Sec. 8-461 licensing compliance track before opening.