Funeral homes, crematoria and cemeteries: how they are built and operated under the regulation

They are three consecutive rules of Chapter 4.3 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, the Health Licence chapter. Rule 4.3.14 covers the construction and operation of funeral homes; 4.3.15, crematory ovens; and 4.3.16, with its six sections, the construction and operation of cemeteries, including lawn crypts, above-ground vaults, staff facilities, expansion and ossuaries. This site already has guides on hiring funeral services as a consumer, on the zoning of crematoria, on the death certificate and on the veterans’ cemetery; this one covers the establishment’s construction and operation standard, which none of them carries.

The rules apply to anyone building or operating a funeral home, a crematory oven or a cemetery in Puerto Rico. Section 4.3.16.5 expressly adds that the same expansion requirements apply to rural municipal cemeteries. And Section 4.3.16.4 says its requirement of staff facilities applies so far as possible to cemeteries of old construction.

• Funeral home: a solid-waste disposal system in accordance with the DRNA and the Department of Health, and check-valves against back-siphonage in all potable water lines, including the drinking fountains and the cafeteria or coffee preparation area.Verified against the official source
• Funeral home: cafeteria and toilets located outside the chapel area, the toilets divided by sex and with doors that open outwards, self-closing and fitted to their frames, discharging to the sanitary sewer or a DRNA-approved system.Verified against the official source
• Funeral home: a Funeral Director or Crematory Director certified by the Department of Health, with no fewer than one technical-vocational course in Mortuary Science or another approved by the DS, evidence of moral qualifications and a Certificate of Criminal Record from the Police Bureau.Verified against the official source
• Crematorium: a Health Recommendation and the DRNA for the oven’s plans, prior to construction; location only in an industrial zone; and a room to hold the bodies before cremation, with a refrigeration system and an electric generator for emergencies.Verified against the official source
• Cemetery: the Department of Health’s recommendation and prior approval of the location, development and construction by OGPe or the Autonomous Municipality.Verified against the official source
• Cemetery: flat or semi-flat, well-ventilated land, with the water table no shallower than 1.20 metres; between 1.20 and 2.40 metres only waterproof reinforced-concrete vaults approved by the Secretary of Health are allowed; graves dug in earth to 2.0 metres only where the water table is deeper than 2.40 metres.Verified against the official source
• Cemetery: fenced along its whole extent by concrete walls or a metal fence no less than five feet high, and separated from adjoining buildings by a local street or strip of no less than thirteen metres.Verified against the official source
• Cemetery: an Administrative Office with a fireproof safe for the plans and the register of the deceased by grave, toilets, a tool room and a changing room with showers for administrative and maintenance staff.Verified against the official source

• The Department of Health’s certification of the Funeral Director or Crematory Director, with evidence of the technical-vocational course in Mortuary Science or another approved by the DS and of their moral qualifications.
• The Certificate of Criminal Record issued by the Police Bureau of the Department of Public Safety for the Funeral or Crematory Director.
• The funeral home’s register, kept for a minimum term of two years and accessible for the Department of Health’s inspection, with the deceased’s name, date of death, whether they were embalmed, the embalmer’s name, and the date and place of burial.
• For an above-ground vault, crypt or mausoleum: the plans and specifications approved by the Department of Health.
• For a cemetery expansion: the expansion plans specifying the land’s location, structure and orientation, showing the location of the nearest bodies of water, wells and springs.

1. 1

   Step 1: The funeral home: water, the cafeteria and the chapels

   Rule 4.3.14 starts with water and waste: the establishment must have a solid-waste disposal system in accordance with what the DRNA and the Department of Health provide, and check-valves against back-siphonage are installed in all potable water lines, including the drinking fountains and the cafeteria or coffee preparation area. It continues with a use rule that surprises anyone who has not read it: eating outside the cafeteria area is prohibited, as are food and cigarette vending machines. And the cafeteria is located outside the chapel area.

2. 2

   Step 2: The funeral home’s toilets

   Toilets for the public must be provided, divided by sex and located outside the chapel area, discharging to the sanitary sewer or a DRNA-approved system. The detail not to overlook is the doors: they must have doors that open outwards to keep flies out, self-closing and fitted to their frames. It is a design requirement, not an operating one: if the door was installed opening inwards, fixing it later means construction work.

3. 3

   Step 3: The Funeral Director and the two-year register

   The Funeral Director or Crematory Director must be a duly qualified professional certified by the Department of Health. For that certification they must show no fewer than one technical-vocational course in Mortuary Science or another approved by the DS, and present evidence of their moral qualifications together with the Certificate of Criminal Record issued by the Police Bureau of the Department of Public Safety. The funeral home also keeps a register for a minimum term of two years, accessible for the Department of Health’s inspection, showing the deceased’s name, date of death, whether they were embalmed, the embalmer’s name, and the date and place of burial.

4. 4

   Step 4: The crematorium: industrial zone, refrigeration and generator

   Rule 4.3.15 is short and has three requirements. First: the plans of every crematory oven must obtain a Health Recommendation and the DRNA, prior to construction. Second: they are located only in an industrial zone. Third: they must have a room to hold the bodies before cremation, with a refrigeration system and an electric generator for emergencies. The third is the one that decides the budget: the oven alone is not enough — a cold room and a generator are needed.

5. 5

   Step 5: The cemetery: the thirteen metres and the water table

   No cemetery may be established unless the Department of Health’s recommendation has been obtained and OGPe or the Autonomous Municipality has previously approved its location, development and construction. On separation: adjoining buildings are not allowed unless they are in an approved subdivision plan with a local street no less than thirteen metres wide separating them; isolated buildings are located at a minimum of thirteen metres from the boundary; and in the rural zone a thirteen-metre strip shown on the plan is dedicated to public use. On the land: it must be flat or semi-flat and well ventilated, with the water table no shallower than one metre twenty. Between 1.20 and 2.40 metres only waterproof reinforced-concrete vaults approved by the Secretary of Health are allowed. Graves dug in earth, to two metres, are allowed only where the water table is deeper than 2.40 metres. The top of concrete vaults must be no less than seventy-five centimetres below the surface. And the cemetery must be fenced along its whole extent by concrete walls or a metal fence no less than five feet high.

6. 6

   Step 6: The measurements of the grave and the paths

   Graves must be eight feet long by three feet wide, and the separation between graves must be no less than seventy-five centimetres on any side. Concrete vaults must be no less than two metres eighty long by four feet wide measured from the outer faces, keeping the interior measurements of eight by three feet. Where a special device is used to lower the casket, the Secretary may allow a path of no less than two metres. And for every five paths there must be another of no less than three metres, for cleaning vehicles to pass.

7. 7

   Step 7: The lawn crypt: drainage, steel and the ceremonial roundabout

   For the lawn crypt the excavated perimeter must be protected by a retaining wall with drains, and there must be no direct contact between the chamber walls and the ground; beneath the units goes a "french drain" row. The vaults must be of highly dense three-thousand-pound-per-square-inch reinforced concrete. If built on site, the structural steel must be at least designation number three, grade sixty, and the wall thickness no less than three and three quarters of an inch; the vaults are joined by welding, steel plates or casting. Prefabricated chambers carry welded wire mesh W 2.9 x W 2.9 - 6X6, with continuous reinforcing steel at the joints and with the bottom slab; the minimum concrete cover over the steel on the outer face is three quarters of an inch and the bottom slab carries a cover of one and a quarter inches. The outer and inner lids carry steel hooks, and special attention is paid to airtightness and stability. Once backfilled and planted, only pedestrian movement and light equipment are allowed: barrows, mowers and manual equipment to move headstones. And there must be a ceremonial roundabout as the place of farewell, because crowding of people over the vaults is not allowed; a sign in prominent lettering in the roundabout says so.

8. 8

   Step 8: Above-ground vaults, facilities and ossuaries

   Above-ground vaults, crypts or mausolea may not be built for burial unless the plans and specifications have been approved by the Department of Health. They must provide a permanent and airtight seal for each cell, so no liquids or bad odours escape, with material acceptable under the codes in force; if built in concrete block or fired clay brick, they are reinforced with steel and concrete columns. The owner must also provide, for administrative and maintenance staff, an Administrative Office with a fireproof safe holding the cemetery’s plans and the register of the deceased by grave — a requirement applying so far as possible to cemeteries of old construction — toilets, a tool room and a changing room with showers. And ossuaries must be crypts or vaults of reinforced concrete or waterproof material, with a compartment between them and walls no less than four inches thick; their minimum dimensions must be fourteen inches wide, fourteen high and twenty-four long, lined inside with cement plaster and duly sealed.

9. 9

   Step 9: The expansion: where the wells and springs are

   Before expanding a cemetery, the Department of Health’s recommendation and OGPe or Municipality permits are needed. The application comes with the expansion plans, specifying the land’s location, structure and orientation, and must show the location of the nearest bodies of water, wells and springs. The same requirements apply to rural municipal cemeteries. This section’s heading is printed "AIMPLIACION" in the official document; we reproduce it as it appears and do not correct the source’s text.

These requirements are checked within the permit process and the Health Licence before OGPe or the Autonomous Municipality with hierarchy, and in the Department of Health’s recommendations and inspections. The crematory oven’s plans also need the DRNA’s intervention before construction, and the funeral home’s waste system follows what the DRNA and the Department of Health provide. The Funeral or Crematory Director’s certification is issued by the Department of Health.

• Buying land for a cemetery without measuring the water table first.
• Digging graves in earth where the water table is between 1.20 and 2.40 metres, instead of using approved waterproof reinforced-concrete vaults.
• Leaving the top of concrete vaults less than seventy-five centimetres below the surface.
• Placing graves with less than seventy-five centimetres of separation between them.
• Planning buildings adjoining the cemetery without the local street or the thirteen-metre strip.
• Fencing the cemetery with a fence less than five feet high.
• Locating a crematorium outside an industrial zone, or building it without the Health Recommendation and the DRNA for the oven’s plans.
• Setting up the crematory oven without the room with refrigeration and a generator to hold the bodies.
• Installing the funeral home’s toilet doors opening inwards.
• Putting the cafeteria or the toilets inside the chapel area.
• Installing food or cigarette vending machines in the funeral home.
• Omitting the check-valves against back-siphonage on any potable water line.
• Operating without a Funeral Director certified by the Department of Health, or without their Certificate of Criminal Record.
• Not keeping the funeral home’s register for the minimum term of two years.
• Building above-ground vaults or mausolea without plans approved by the Department of Health.
• Expanding a cemetery without plans showing the nearest bodies of water, wells and springs.
• Building ossuaries with walls under four inches or dimensions smaller than fourteen by fourteen by twenty-four inches.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Permit Management Office

  ogpe

  ogpe.pr.gov

• Department of Health

  salud

  www.salud.pr.gov