Developments in the SNF seal of approval

Renewed SNF standard: version 11.1

Effective July 1, 2024, a new version of the SNF Standard (Version 11.1) has been published. This update includes some clarifications, textual improvements and updated rules around emergency inspections. Below you can read about the most important changes and tightenings.

Changes to the standard

Sanitary

• Toilets: When multiple toilets in a room are not separately lockable, they are considered one toilet.
• Showers: When multiple showers and/or bathtubs in a room are not separately lockable, they count as one shower. Separately lockable shower stalls with dressing areas are each counted separately.

Electrical

• On inspection of pre-1975 homes, a minor deficiency is noted if no ground fault circuit interrupter is present.

Gas

• Boilers, stoves and geysers may only be installed and serviced by CO-certified companies with skilled fitters.

Administrative

• Major deficiency: In the event of a major deficiency, an additional administrative inspection is performed after 3 months. If no major deficiencies are found at this inspection, the next periodic inspection follows before the annual deadline. If major deficiencies are found, the company's registration is cancelled.
• The annual administrative inspection is never skipped, regardless of additional inspections.

Headroom

• The minimum standing height is clarified: 2.10 meters. In each room, from the entrance door, there must be a strip at least 50 cm wide and 2.10 meters high across the full length or width.

Additional information administrative inspection

Effective Jan. 1, 2024, the work flow for negative administrative inspections has been modified:

• A negative six-month inspection will be followed by a remedial review after 3 weeks and an additional inspection after 3 months.
• The administrative inspection looks at the completeness of Informis, including start and end dates. It is crucial that Informis is always fully up-to-date.
• A frequently cited reason for not entering a new site in Informis is problems with adding a site as an AB (other stakeholder). If an EV (first responsible party) is not yet known, the location can only be entered as an EV. EV ownership can then be transferred, as described in the manual on the SNF website.
• The standard now also includes an appendix on residential forms, which provides clarity on which residential form belongs to which location. For example, a hotel/guesthouse is a temporary location without cooking facilities. If in doubt about the housing form, you can always contact an inspector.

Additional information location inspections

As of January 1, 2024, the following additional requirements apply:

• Foreign addresses must be inspected.
• Bunk beds are no longer allowed.
• Bedrooms must have walls and be lockable with a door.
• All shower rooms, bathrooms and toilets must be lockable.

Informis

It is very important that Informis is always up to date. Pay attention to:

• Correct AB/EV shelf
• Correct start/end date