Behavioral Health Design Guide Update

A new edition—7.3—was issued in January 2018.

The Design Guide for the Built Environment of Behavioral Health Facilities is published by its authors Jim Hunt and Dave Sine. Please visit the Behavioral Health Facility Consulting website to access the current edition of the document.

The Design Guide was developed to address the built environment of a general adult inpatient behavioral health care unit. The information provided is not intended to replace regulatory requirements, but rather to augment them and to represent what are, in the opinion of the authors, best current practices. The Design Guide does not represent minimum acceptable conditions and should not be interpreted as establishing a legal “standard of care” that facilities are required to follow.

The Design Guide offers information on specific products reviewed by the authors. This information is provided to illustrate one or more specific items deemed appropriate for use in a behavioral health facility. After careful comparison, readers may choose to substitute comparable products by other manufacturers that meet the same design criteria.