Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) has announced the opening of 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. Additionally, FGI announces that the 2026 edition of the Guidelines for Design and Construction documents will be renamed the FGI Facility Code.

In a significant departure from previous editions, the draft 2026 FGI Facility Code documents will no longer contain advisory guidance. Moving forward, text that formerly was included in the appendices will appear in a new series of handbooks that will be released concurrently with the 2026 FGI Facility Code. The handbooks will feature expanded guidance, including best practices, checklists, and diagrams created in collaboration with subject-matter experts.

“There continues to be confusion between the mandatory requirements and advisory language in the current editions of the documents,” says FGI CEO Heather Livingston. “Separating the two types of content brings a clear distinction to users. The clear separation of code requirement from guidance, coupled with expanded information in the handbooks, will strengthen understanding and application of the requirements in the FGI documents.”

The FGI Facility Code public comment site is accessible at https://www.fgiguidelines.net. The public comment period is open to all users of the FGI Facility Code documents, and all revisions to the documents are available for public review. Only recommendations, comments, or opinions to change language that has been approved for addition, revision, or deletion will be considered during this phase of the revision cycle; new proposals for changes will not be considered. The public comment period closes on September 30, 2024.

See the full press release and details.