Where are you starting?
Virginia · Office, records and premises · 12VAC5-381
The rules in force do not say where a Virginia home care organization’s office has to be, and they do not mention home offices. What they do ask for is posted business hours, a posted license, records kept safe and an office ready for unannounced inspections. Here is each rule, plus branch offices, drop sites, moving, and the 2022 draft that would have required commercial zoning.
Quick answer
As far as the state rules in force go, yes. Virginia’s home care organization regulation, 12VAC5-381, does not say where your office must be. Neither it nor the licensing statute says whether the office can be in a home, and neither mentions zoning. It does require you to comply with "Other applicable federal, state or local laws and regulations;" 12VAC5-381-150 B 2, so local zoning decides whether a home office is allowed at your address.
Wherever the office is, you need regular posted business hours and to be fully operational during them, the license posted for public inspection, records kept confidential and safe, and someone able to receive an unannounced OLC inspection.
Worth knowing: a 2022 draft rewrite would have required offices, branch offices and drop sites to be in buildings zoned for business or commercial use. That proposed stage was withdrawn on April 7, 2022 and is not in force. A later version has not been published.
None of these rules mention where the office is. They describe how it must work, and they apply the same to a rented suite and a spare bedroom.
Set regular business hours, post them, and be fully operational during them. Outside those hours you still provide or arrange services on call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"The organization shall have regular posted business hours and be fully operational during such business hours."
12VAC5-381-150 IYour current license from VDH is posted where the public can inspect it.
"The current license from the department shall be posted for public inspection."
12VAC5-381-150 FThe administrator or a designee is available at all times during operating hours and for emergencies. The rule defines "available" as readily available on the premises or by telecommunications.
"The administrator or his designee shall be available at all times during operating hours and for emergency situations."
12VAC5-381-170 D; -10The OLC inspects without notice, as often as it needs and at least every two years. You make any necessary records available and let the inspector interview your staff and contractors.
"The home care organization shall make available to the OLC's representative any necessary records and shall allow access to interview the agents, employees, contractors, and any person under the organization's control, direction or supervision."
12VAC5-381-80 A-BInspectors may also visit clients at home during any inspection, and you arrange those visits. What happens during a Virginia OLC inspection →
These steps turn the rules above into a home office setup. The first and last are our suggestions for the parts the state rules leave open. Tick steps off as you go; progress is saved in this browser only.
The state rules say nothing about running a home care organization from a residence, but they do require you to comply with applicable local laws. Ask your city or county planning or zoning office whether a home-based business office is allowed at your address, and check your lease or homeowners association rules.
Decide your regular business hours, post them, and plan to be fully operational during them. Write them into your after-hours and on-call policy too.
Clients need services provided or arranged on call around the clock, and a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse must be available during all hours that personal care is being provided.
Put the current license where visitors can see it, for example by the entrance to your office space.
Client records are confidential and safeguarded against loss or unauthorized use. Criminal record reports go in locked files only the administrator or a designee can open. In a family home, that means a lockable cabinet or room, and passwords on electronic records.
Inspections are unannounced. Decide who receives the inspector when you are out on visits, how they reach you, and where the records they ask for are kept.
The OLC’s Home Care Organization supervisor is on (804) 367-2104 or (804) 367-4879. It is worth confirming your office setup before you sign a lease or apply.
The regulation does not say records must be kept at your office, but it does say how they are protected and that inspectors can see them. A client record can be "whether hard copy or electronic". 12VAC5-381-10
| Record | What the rule asks | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Client records | Confidential, safeguarded against loss or unauthorized use, kept on paper or electronically. Provide for safe storage of the original and legible reproductions. | 12VAC5-381-280 B-D |
| How long | Client records at least five years after discharge or last contact (minors: five years after they turn 18). Personnel records three years after employment ends. | 12VAC5-381-280 I; -200 Q |
| Personnel files | An organized system that manages and protects the confidentiality of personnel files and records. | 12VAC5-381-200 N |
| Criminal record reports | Confidential, in locked files that only the administrator or a designee can access. | 12VAC5-381-110 J |
| Records at a drop site | Safeguarded, seen only by authorized personnel, and readily available to inspection staff. | 12VAC5-381-270 B |
| For the OLC | Any necessary records made available to the OLC representative during an inspection. | 12VAC5-381-80 B |
| If you close | Tell clients and the OLC where all home care records will be kept, and return the license within five working days. | 12VAC5-381-140 C |
In the CareRulebook manual these are Policy 10.1 Client records: content and handling, Policy 10.2 Records retention and Policy 3.2 Personnel records.
Virginia’s rules recognize three kinds of location beyond your main office. Only one of them can work as a second office under your license.
Under your license
A branch office is a geographically separate office that performs all or part of the organization’s primary functions on a smaller scale. It serves part of your total geographic area under your supervision and administrative control, and its address goes on your license. No separate license is needed.
For staff convenience
A drop site is a place staff use for daily tasks such as getting supplies, using fax and copy machines, charting notes and storing client records. It may also be called a charting station, workstation or convenience site. It cannot have staff assigned, accept referrals or be advertised, and it can be inspected at any time.
Needs its own license
The rule is direct: "Operation of a drop site as a business office shall constitute a separate organization and shall require licensure."
Your service area is defined as "a clearly delineated geographic area in which the organization arranges for the provision of home care services, personal care services, or pharmaceutical services to be available and readily accessible to persons." 12VAC5-381-10 The current rules do not tie the office to a particular distance from clients. A change to the service area is one of the changes you tell the OLC about 30 days in advance.
If you will use drop sites, Policy 5.7 Drop sites in the CareRulebook manual covers the three limits and the records rules.
A license cannot be transferred or assigned, and some changes need it reissued. Give notice early: the rules count in advance, not after the move. 12VAC5-381-20 E
A change of address needs a reissued license and the OLC’s $250 reissue fee (a state fee). Give written notice 30 working days in advance, to the attention of the director of the OLC.
12VAC5-381-60 B; -70 CTell the OLC 30 days in advance. The same notice applies to changes in ownership, services, operator, administrator, name and closure.
12VAC5-381-150 ENotify the OLC before the name changes. A new name also needs a reissued license.
12VAC5-381-20 D; -60 BSend VDH the branch address. For a branch that meets the statute’s criteria, VDH issues an updated license with the branch address within 10 business days.
Va. Code § 32.1-162.9 CVDH sends home care organizations to the VDH OLC Portal to report changes to their licensing record, such as a change of name or location. Since May 22, 2025, a request for a license change goes on the relevant application.
VDH Applications & Forms; 12VAC5-381-70The OLC evaluates the planned change, may inspect while it does, and tells you in writing whether a new application is needed.
12VAC5-381-60 C-DThe Virginia license application guide walks through the portal, and the cost and timeline page lists every OLC fee.
Draft · withdrawn in 2022 · not in force
VDH’s rewrite of 12VAC5-381 included a new section on office location. In the March 2022 draft: "The location of the parent HCO's office and of any branch office or drop site of an HCO shall be located: 1. In a building that is zoned for business or commercial use or if in a mixed use zoned building, in a unit zoned for business or commercial use; and 2. In the total geographic area it serves." Organizations would also have had to submit proof of occupancy such as a lease, rental agreement or deed, for each location. Draft 12VAC5-381-35 B
VDH said the intent was to "clarify that HCO offices, branch offices, and drop sites cannot be in residential spaces", and gave its reason: "allowing HCOs to conduct their businesses out of residential spaces places the agency's inspectors in potentially dangerous circumstances and is inconsistent with the other licensure programs administered by the agency". Organizations already licensed would have had one year to comply. Stage 9512 background document
Where it stands: Town Hall shows that proposed stage was "Stage withdrawn on 04/07/2022 before DPB completed its review." Town Hall, stage 9512 A later proposed stage is listed as "Returned to agency requesting additional information." Town Hall, action 5352 Its text is not public, so we do not know whether the zoning section is still in it. Nothing has been published for comment.
What this means for you: a home office is not against the rules today, but this is a sign of how VDH has thought about home offices. If you choose one, check local zoning, and keep the setup simple to move if the rules change.
We read every section of 12VAC5-381 and the home care organization statute (Va. Code §§ 32.1-162.7 to 32.1-162.15). They do not address:
For zoning, business licenses and permits, ask your city or county. For anything about how the OLC applies 12VAC5-381 to your setup, call the OLC’s Home Care Organization supervisor on (804) 367-2104 or (804) 367-4879. VDH OLC, Contact Us
No. Not under the rules in force. 12VAC5-381 does not say where your office must be. A 2022 draft rewrite would have required offices in buildings zoned for business or commercial use, but that proposed stage was withdrawn before review finished, and no new text has been published. Local zoning still applies, because the regulation requires you to follow applicable local laws.
"Stage withdrawn on 04/07/2022 before DPB completed its review."
No. Not as a business office. A drop site is for staff convenience: it cannot have staff assigned, accept referrals or be advertised. Operating one as a business office makes it a separate organization that needs its own license. A branch office, which runs under your license with its address on it, is the route for a second working office.
"Operation of a drop site as a business office shall constitute a separate organization and shall require licensure."
No. Branch offices operate under the main license. Send OLC the branch address and it issues an updated license within 10 business days. A drop site used as a business office is different: it counts as a separate organization and needs its own license.
"Branch offices shall be operated under the initial license issued to the home care organization and shall not be required to obtain an additional license."
No. The regulation says an OLC representative makes periodic unannounced on-site inspections, as necessary and at least every two years. The administrator or a designee must be available at all times during operating hours, so plan who receives the inspector.
"An OLC representative shall make periodic unannounced on-site inspections of each home care organization as necessary but not less often than biennially."
The state rules in force do not stop you. 12VAC5-381 does not say where your office must be, does not address home offices and does not mention zoning. It does require posted business hours, a posted license, safeguarded records and access for unannounced OLC inspections, and it requires you to follow applicable local laws, so check your local zoning first. A 2022 draft rewrite would have required offices in buildings zoned for business or commercial use, but it was withdrawn and is not in force.
Not under the current regulation. The commercial zoning requirement appeared only in a 2022 draft of the rewrite of 12VAC5-381, and Town Hall shows that proposed stage was withdrawn on April 7, 2022. A later proposed stage has been returned to VDH and its text is not public, so we cannot say whether the idea will come back. Before signing a long lease, it is reasonable to ask the OLC.
The rules do not say it cannot. Whatever address you use, an address change later needs a reissued license with a $250 state reissue fee and 30 working days’ written notice to the OLC. Choose an address you expect to keep.
The rule does not set specific hours. You keep regular posted business hours, are fully operational during them, and provide or arrange services on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The administrator or a designee is available during operating hours, on the premises or by phone or other telecommunications.
The definition of a client record covers hard copy or electronic records. Whatever you use, records must be confidential, safeguarded against loss or unauthorized use, and readily available to an OLC inspector. The regulation does not name specific systems or security standards.
A branch office is a separate office doing all or part of your main functions on a smaller scale, under your supervision and administrative control, with its address on your license. A drop site is only a convenience spot for staff: it cannot have staff assigned, accept referrals or be advertised. Running a drop site as a business office makes it a separate organization that needs its own license.
The state home care rules do not cover this. 12VAC5-381 only says you must follow applicable local laws. Ask your city or county, because the answer depends on where you are.
VDH has two amendments to 12VAC5-381 in progress, and an earlier draft would have required commercial zoning. Leave your email and we will tell you if a new draft is published and what it means for your office.
No spam. Only emails about Virginia home care rule changes. How we use your email.
Virginia
How to start a home care agency in Virginia
The HCO license, RN supervision every 90 days and the policy topics.
Virginia
Virginia home care rule changes
The rewrite of 12VAC5-381 and the remote supervision proposal: where each stands.
Virginia
The Virginia license application
The OLC Portal, what to have ready, renewal and changes.
Virginia
Virginia home care inspections
What the OLC checks, client home visits and plans of correction.
Virginia
Virginia license cost and timeline
The OLC’s $1,500 three-year fee, reissue fees and every deadline.
Virginia
Virginia home care policies and procedures
Every rule that asks for a written policy, mapped to the policy that meets it.
Texas
Can you run a Texas home care agency from home?
How Texas compares: HHSC allows a home address, with four conditions.