Under House Enrolled Act 1457, which was enacted during the 2025 legislative session, the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) will be required to use the most recently published version of the FGI Guidelines following a specific notice process. The legislation outlines how IDOH shall provide notice that the agency is adopting new FGI Guidelines and when IDOH shall begin using the new FGI Guidelines for enforcement purposes.

More specifically under the bill, not later than 90 days from the publication of new FGI Guidelines, IDOH shall post a notice of the publication on its website stating IDOH’s intent to adopt the new version. As part of the notice, IDOH shall also set forth a date that is not earlier than 270 days and not later than 360 days – between nine and twelve months – from the posting of the notice in which IDOH may take action using the new version of the publication.

IDOH has informed IHA that it plans to issue notice of its intent to adopt the 2026 FGI Guidelines when the 2026 FGI Guidelines are published in late 2025 or early 2026. IDOH is currently using the 2018 FGI Guidelines, and if IDOH utilized the notice process outlined in the new law to move to the 2022 FGI Guidelines, the 2026 FGI Guidelines will likely be published before the 2022 FGI Guidelines could officially be enforced. As such, IDOH will wait for the 2026 FGI Guidelines to be published and will begin the notice process from there.

IHA will keep members updated when the 2026 FGI Guidelines are released, when IDOH’s notice is issued, and when the 2026 FGI Guidelines will be enforced.

Finally, as a reminder, beginning July 1, 2025, IDOH will assess ten cents ($0.10) per square foot for each project subject to a plan review. These fees will be deposited into the Health Care Engineering Fund for the purpose of providing funds for plan reviews. IDOH has also begun the use of external entities to assist with plan reviews and will continue to do so going forward.