Two care homes can hold the same license type, the same capacity, and sit on the same street — and still be allowed to care for very different residents. The difference is in the fine print: the waivers and approvals attached to the operation.
If you own or are buying a licensed care home, this layer of the licensing file deserves as much attention as the license itself.
The license isn’t the whole story
A base RCFE or ARF license sets the floor: who may be admitted, how many residents, what level of care the home is expected to deliver. On top of that floor, the Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing Division (DSS/CCLD) can grant specific approvals and waivers that expand what a particular home — under a particular licensee — may do.
The ones buyers ask about most often:
- Non-ambulatory approval — permission to care for residents who cannot leave the building on their own in an emergency. It depends on fire clearance and the layout of the home itself, and it widens the population a home can serve.
- Hospice care waiver — allows a resident receiving hospice services to remain in the home at end of life rather than transferring out.
- Bedridden resident approval — tied to specific fire-safety requirements, it lets the home retain residents whose condition keeps them in bed.
A home that holds these can admit and retain residents a plain-vanilla license cannot — which, in practice, means a stronger and steadier census.
What follows the home — and what doesn’t
Here is the part that surprises many owners: waivers and approvals are granted to the licensee, not to the house. When a care home changes hands, the new operator applies for their own license — and requests their own waivers and approvals as part of that application. Nothing transfers automatically.
But the home itself still carries most of the value. The physical work that made those approvals possible — the fire clearance level, sprinklers, widened doorways, ramps, the bedroom configuration — stays with the building. A new licensee applying in a home that already meets the physical requirements is in a very different position than one starting from scratch.
What this means in a sale
For sellers: document your approvals. A clean file showing what the home has been cleared for, and the physical improvements behind each clearance, is one of the most persuasive pages in your package.
For buyers: ask early. Confirm which approvals the current operation holds, which ones depend on the building versus the licensee, and what you would need to request in your own application.
This is general information, not legal advice — DSS/CCLD is the authority on waivers and approvals, and requirements depend on each home’s specifics.
If you’re weighing what your home’s licensing file means for its value, start with a free, confidential valuation — or talk to an agent who works on these transactions every day.