The Facility Guidelines Institute has opened the three-month public comment period for the draft 2026 FGI documents for design and construction of hospitals; outpatient facilities; and residential health, care and support facilities. In addition, the 2026 edition of the Guidelines for Design and Construction documents will be renamed the FGI Facility Code.
The public comment period is open to all users of the documents, and all revisions to the documents are available for public review. Only recommendations, comments or opinions to change language that have been approved for addition, revision or deletion by the Health Guidelines Revision Committee will be considered during this phase of the revision cycle. No new proposals for change will be considered at this time. The public comment period will close Sept. 30.
In a significant departure from previous editions, the draft 2026 FGI Facility Code documents will no longer contain advisory guidance. Moving forward, text formerly included in the appendices will appear in a new series of handbooks to be released concurrently with the 2026 FGI Facility Code. The handbooks will feature expanded design guidance, including best practices, checklists and diagrams created in collaboration with subject-matter experts.
The multidisciplinary, 135-member HGRC, the body responsible for updating the content of the FGI Facility Code, has approved revisions in the draft documents to reflect changes in the health and residential care industries and provide clarifications that can ease adoption and compliance.
Once the public comment period closes, opinions and comments received from the public will be reviewed and voted on by the HGRC. Revisions approved by the HGRC will appear in the 2026 FGI Facility Code, scheduled for release in early 2026. The complete drafts can be found here.
