Healthcare Exterior Inspection Checklist
A printable route ordered by consequence — emergency access first, then patient arrival, then accessible routes, then everything else.
On This Page
- How to Use This Checklist
- Inspection Checklist
- Routing Findings
- Frequency
- What This Checklist Does Not Cover
This checklist is ordered by consequence rather than by geography. Emergency access comes first because it is the one area that can never be obstructed; patient arrival and accessible routes follow because they carry the highest usability consequence.
Single-building facilities skip the campus section. Facilities without an emergency department skip section 1.
How to Use This Checklist
- Arrange access with facilities first, and confirm whether any area requires escort or induction.
- Walk patient routes as a patient would — from accessible parking, at slow pace, looking for what would obstruct someone using a wheelchair or walker.
- Check evenness deliberately. Vertical displacement is the condition most missed by a walking inspector and most consequential for wheeled mobility.
- Inspect after rain separately for ponding on accessible routes and at drop-offs.
- Record and route rather than assess. Anything raising a compliance, clinical, or structural question goes to the appropriate qualified function.
Print this page directly from your browser. Navigation, sidebar, and calls to action are removed in print, leaving the checklist and a notes column.
Inspection Checklist
1. Emergency Vehicle Access — Inspect First, Daily
- Approach route clear and unobstructed
- Bay and apron surface — evenness at patient transfer points
- Standing water anywhere in the bay or approach
- Rutting or depression at fixed vehicle stopping positions
- Turning and manoeuvring space clear
- Drainage inlets clear, including under any canopy
- Canopy underside and structure condition
- No-park and route markings legible
- Lighting operational — check after dark
- Pedestrian route across the area clear and defined
- Nothing staged, stored, or parked in the area
2. Patient Arrival and Drop-Off
- Surface evenness where people step out of vehicles
- Standing water at the drop-off
- Path from vehicle to door clear, and wide enough for a chair plus companion
- Kerb transitions intact and free of damage
- Canopy underside, fixtures, and structure
- Traction under canopy — check by feel, not only by sight
- Glazing, door hardware, and automatic door operation
- Thresholds and mat wells; mats lying flat and not saturated
- Wayfinding from the drop-off legible and unobstructed
- Seating or waiting areas at the entrance
- Discharge or patient collection area — same standard as arrival
3. Accessible Routes
- Vertical displacement at joints and transitions — check deliberately
- Surface settlement creating unintended cross-slope
- Grates and covers flush, secure, and not creating wheel traps
- Effective width clear — including overhanging growth at head height
- Vegetation encroachment narrowing the route
- Ponding — inspect after rain
- Organic growth reducing traction, particularly on shaded sections
- Debris, organic drop, or loose material on the route
- Detectable warning surfaces intact and undamaged
- Temporary obstructions present — record and route
- Route continuity from every accessible parking space to every entrance
- Anything raising a compliance question — record and refer, do not assess
4. Patient and Visitor Circulation
- Primary walkway condition and evenness
- Inter-building routes used for patient transport — treat as accessible routes
- Covered walkway sections — traction, drainage, canopy underside
- Shaded sections — organic growth and slip conditions that may not look dirty
- Steps, ramps, nosings, and handrails
- Seating, shelters, and rest points along longer routes
- Courtyards and outdoor patient or visitor areas
- Wayfinding signage legible, clean, unobstructed, and illuminated
- Points where people visibly hesitate — record as a wayfinding observation
5. Parking
- Accessible spaces, access aisles, and markings
- Route from accessible parking to each entrance — inspect as an accessible route
- Surface condition in patient and visitor parking
- Drop-and-collect areas and short-stay spaces
- Staff parking and shift-change routes
- Catch basins and inlets clear; ponding after rain
- Structure entry levels, ramps, and stair cores where applicable
- Lighting including remote areas — check after dark
- Signage and wayfinding from parking to buildings
6. Campus Circulation — Multi-Building Sites
- Campus roads and internal circulation surface condition
- Shared walkways between buildings — confirm ownership is assigned
- Building identification signage legible from approach routes
- Crossing points between vehicle and pedestrian routes
- Shuttle or transport stops where present
- Lighting continuity across the campus, particularly on staff routes
- Boundary and perimeter condition
7. Service, Waste and Back-of-House
- Service road and dock condition
- Waste and recycling area condition — coordinate with facility waste functions
- Any area the facility identifies as requiring specific handling — record and route only
- Loading and delivery route condition
- Service areas visible from patient or visitor routes
- Pest indicators at waste areas — route to the appropriate function
- Drainage destination recorded per area
8. Buildings and Lighting
- Patient-facing elevations — condition and growth
- Wall bases, splash-back, and landscaping contact
- Roofline, gutters, and downspout discharge points
- Air intakes and vents — record location only; do not work near without facility direction
- Signage and illuminated elements
- Emergency access lighting — after dark
- Patient route and entrance lighting — after dark, continuous with no dark gaps
- Staff route and parking lighting — after dark
- Stair and ramp lighting at every tread and landing
Routing Findings
| Finding | Route to | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Anything obstructing emergency access | Facilities and emergency operations | Immediate |
| Accessible route obstruction | Facilities; whoever placed it | Immediate |
| Surface unevenness on a patient route | Facilities maintenance | Prioritized above appearance work |
| Slip condition | Same-shift control, then treatment | Immediate |
| Standing water on an accessible route | Drainage assessment | Before next rainfall |
| Wayfinding hesitation point | Facilities or whoever owns signage | Log and report |
| Compliance or accessibility question | Qualified accessibility professional | Refer; do not assess |
| Anything near air intakes or clinical areas | Facility infection prevention | Before any work |
| General soiling, growth, staining | Scheduled cleaning | Next cycle |
Frequency
- Section 1 — daily visual.
- Section 2 — daily visual, weekly documented.
- Section 3 — weekly documented; plus after rain for ponding.
- Sections 4 and 5 — weekly visual, monthly documented.
- Sections 6 and 7 — monthly documented.
- Section 8 lighting — quarterly after dark, and before the short days.
- Full checklist — quarterly as a complete record.
What This Checklist Does Not Cover
This is a visual exterior maintenance inspection. It is not an accessibility compliance survey, an infection control assessment, a life safety inspection, a regulatory or accreditation audit, or a structural evaluation. Accessibility conformance requires assessment by a qualified professional, and anything touching clinical areas, air intakes, or patient care environments is a matter for the facility's own infection prevention and safety functions. This checklist records conditions and routes them; it does not assess any of the above.
Part of the Healthcare & Medical Facilities Authority Center
This resource is part of the Power Wash NorCal Healthcare & Medical Facility Exterior Maintenance center — the complete reference for healthcare exterior condition.
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How often should healthcare exteriors be inspected?
Emergency access daily by sight; patient arrival and drop-off daily by sight and weekly documented; accessible routes weekly documented plus after rain for ponding; circulation and parking weekly by sight and monthly documented; campus and service areas monthly; lighting quarterly after dark. The full checklist quarterly as a complete record.
What condition is most often missed on healthcare exterior inspections?
Vertical displacement at joints on accessible routes. A walking inspector steps over it without registering, but it stops a wheelchair castor and can catch a walker. Checking evenness deliberately rather than incidentally is the single most useful adjustment to a healthcare inspection walk.
Does this checklist assess accessibility compliance?
No. It records maintenance conditions on accessible routes and routes findings. Whether a route meets applicable standards is a determination for a qualified accessibility professional, and anything raising a compliance question should be referred rather than assessed on a maintenance walk.
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