Sanitary Licence: issued first, inspected afterwards

It is Chapter 4.3 of Joint Regulation No. 9473. Its purpose, the text says, is to establish the provisions for evaluating, reviewing and granting Sanitary Licences, and it includes design criteria for construction projects, new or existing, and the requirements for operating businesses to be inspected as part of complying with the licence. It is an enormous chapter: besides the licence itself, it contains a sanitary code by establishment type. This guide covers the licence and the sanitary duties over buildings, premises and surroundings; we name the rest so you know where to look, but we do not transcribe it.

It is needed by any natural person, company or partnership or any other entity, owner or operator, whose business or establishment requires a sanitary licence given the proposed use. Besides the general requirements of Rule 2.1.9 on filing service applications, the applicant is bound to comply with all the Joint Regulation’s provisions, the Puerto Rico Construction Code in force and any other formal document or applicable regulation according to the proposed operation. Animal shelters have their own rule: whoever operates, owns, administers or leases one must obtain, before operating, a Sanitary Licence issued by OGPe.

• Filing the application through the SUI within the Permiso Único process, under Rule 3.7.1 of the Regulation.Verified against the official source
• Meeting the general requirements of Rule 2.1.9 on filing service applications.Verified against the official source
• That the applicant certifies the establishment conforms or will conform to the requirements of the Regulation, the Puerto Rico Construction Code or the standards in force.Verified against the official source
• Submitting to the establishment’s inspection, which takes place after the Sanitary Licence is issued.Verified against the official source
• For animal shelters: obtaining the Sanitary Licence issued by OGPe before operating, and a Health Recommendation before the construction permit.Verified against the official source

• For water bottling plants and ice manufacturing plants: the location and origin of the water supply source.
• For those plants: certification of the water’s physical, chemical, microbiological and radiological properties, issued by a certified laboratory as the regulation defines it.
• For bottling plants located outside Puerto Rico: certification from the competent regulator of that jurisdiction, or from an independent inspection agency approved or recognised by the Secretary of Health, that the plant meets the applicable requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations.
• To request variances and exceptions to the chapter: the request must be filed in writing.

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   Step 1: Who issues it and where it goes

   Ley 161-2009 empowered OGPe, through its Assistant Secretary, hierarchy I-III municipalities and Authorised Professionals, as applicable, to issue the Sanitary Licence relating directly or indirectly to land development and use and to the operation of businesses in Puerto Rico. Every application is filed through the SUI within the Permiso Único process, under Rule 3.7.1. And the regulation leaves a later door open: OGPe or the Health Department will review and may set any applicable requirement under their own regulations after carrying out the inspections, and under the collaborative agreements between the two.

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   Step 2: The licence first, the inspection after

   This is the point that confuses most. The applicant certifies that the establishment the Sanitary Licence is sought for conforms or will conform to the requirements set in the regulation, the Puerto Rico Construction Code or the standards in force. On the strength of that certification the licence may be issued before the required inspections take place. And afterwards an inspection of the establishment is carried out, after the Sanitary Licence is issued, to check, document and confirm the adequacy of the physical and sanitary conditions required. Holding the licence does not mean you have been inspected.

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   Step 3: Who answers for the inspection report

   Authorised Professionals and Authorised Inspectors are responsible for the content and the regulatory and legal compliance of the inspection reports they prepare and submit as part of the evaluation. The report becomes part of the Permiso Único case file. And where a PA or IA makes it, it must contain this paragraph: "Yo [NOMBRE y APELLIDOS], [PA/IA], CERTIFICO que el establecimiento objeto de la presente Licencia Sanitaria reúne los requisitos reglamentarios aplicables de seguridad, rotulación, equipo, diseño y estructurales." It is a personal certification, with a name and surname on it.

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   Step 4: If you bottle water or make ice

   For those two cases the regulation adds specific information to the application, as applicable. The location and origin of the water supply source. Certification of the water’s physical, chemical, microbiological and radiological properties, issued by a certified laboratory as the regulation defines it. And, for water bottling plants located outside Puerto Rico, a certification from the competent regulator in the jurisdiction where the plant sits, or from an independent inspection agency approved or recognised by the Secretary of Health, that the plant meets the applicable requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations for the supply source, facilities, bottling method, water quality standards, quality control and labelling. And any other information deemed pertinent.

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   Step 5: Variances and exceptions, in writing

   OGPe’s Assistant Secretary may grant variances and exceptions to the chapter’s provisions, provided the grant conforms to the laws whose implementation was delegated to OGPe, and provided that, after evaluating the situation, it is determined the grant poses no potential or imminent public health risk. Requests for variances and exceptions must be filed in writing. Two limits, then: the delegated law and the public health risk.

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   Step 6: What the Health Department can do afterwards

   The Health Department has the power to audit at any time, carry out periodic inspections, fine and order the stoppage or closure of a business or establishment under the General Environmental Health Regulation and any other applicable Health law or regulation. And the regulation shuts the door on the idea of paper as a shield: holding a Sanitary Licence or a Permiso Único does not exempt anyone from this regulation, the Puerto Rico Construction Code, the General Environmental Health Regulation or any other rule, law or standard in force.

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   Step 7: The duties of owners and tenants

   The chapter carries a rule that speaks not of businesses but of buildings: residential buildings, buildings, premises and their dependencies are subject to sanitary inspection, and their owners, usufructuaries, administrators or tenants have the duty to carry out the works, repairs or sanitary improvements required in each case. Whoever it is — owner, usufructuary, lessee, administrator or tenant, as the case may be — must keep every department, dependency and plumbing installation strictly clean and in good sanitary condition, ensuring rubbish and domestic waste do not accumulate; do the same on roofs, yards and surroundings; prevent water from stagnating in the yard or accumulating in containers or objects that could become mosquito breeding grounds; and not allow fruit, vegetables, used containers or substances harmful to health, or serving as food or shelter for rodents and insects, to be thrown there. Yards and surroundings must be kept free of animal faecal waste, weeds, debris or any other refuse. And every construction, extension or remodelling project must obtain a Health Department Recommendation under Volume IX.

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   Step 8: Sewerage, wells and toilets

   In towns with sanitary sewerage, residential, commercial or industrial buildings, structures or premises must connect directly to the system. Where there is none, connection to an individual wastewater disposal system built under the Private Wastewater Disposal Systems Code adopted in the Puerto Rico Construction Code may be permitted; and all the building’s discharges must be connected, including sinks, showers and laundry tubs. In both cases the sanitary installations must conform to the Puerto Rico Plumbing Code. The owner or representative of any building, structure or premises, urban or rural, must have septic and leaching wells emptied before they overflow, and correct deficiencies or other defects that could cause seepage of sewage or annoying emanations. And on the commercial side: buildings, structures, establishments and premises devoted to commercial activity must be provided with sanitary facilities separate for women and men, conveniently located, available to customers and employees and in sufficient numbers; although OGPe’s Assistant Secretary may waive that provision for commercial premises devoted to operations unrelated to food, or with food not prepared on the premises, provided the waiver poses no public health risk or violation of the Construction Code, and also for premises with communal, accessible sanitary services.

9. 9

   Step 9: Rubbish, hazardous waste and animals in the yard

   Rubbish and other domestic waste must be placed in resistant, impermeable metal or plastic receptacles with handles and well-fitting lids, with no cracks or holes; and all domestic or commercial waste must be placed in plastic bags which in turn go in those receptacles. Commercial premises must install a tap in the area where the receptacles sit, for washing and cleaning them. Establishments generating hazardous waste — toxic or biomedical — comply with the DRNA’s hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste regulations. And on animals: no animals of any kind may be kept, except domestic animals or pets, nor bred for any purpose, in yards, surroundings or other dependencies of dwelling houses or buildings in urbanised areas and residential districts. The Health Department may determine whether keeping such pets constitutes a public health problem, considering available space and existing sanitary conditions, and may require the necessary corrective action, including removal of the animals; and although the definition of pets includes the equine species, in residential and urban areas the criterion of available space and upkeep prevails. In public housing or multi-storey residential structures, keeping pets is regulated by the internal administration or the condominium board.

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    Step 10: Dwelling above, shop below: sealed off

    It is a short rule that decides remodellings: buildings with one floor destined for dwelling and another for commerce must be completely sealed off from each other. There can be no interior door between the business and the dwelling. And gardens, parks and vacant lots must be kept clean, free of weeds, debris or any other refuse, and must not be used to dump rubbish or graze animals.

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    Step 11: Animal shelters

    They have their own rule within the chapter. To build, modify or remodel an animal shelter, a project plan must be filed beforehand to obtain a Health Recommendation, prior to the construction permit from OGPe or the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality; that recommendation is submitted through the SUI under Volume IX and must comply with the Construction Code in force. Shelters must have capacity for the number of animals present at any given time, and be equipped with confinement areas or cages spacious enough for larger species. Any shelter taking in an animal suspected of rabies, or that has bitten another animal or person, must have a confinement area where it can be observed for ten days — or longer if necessary — separate from the rest of the population. And anyone who operates, owns, administers, leases or in any way exercises control over a shelter must obtain, before operating, a Sanitary Licence issued by OGPe, renewed under this regulation and complying with the General Environmental Health Regulation. Shelters must be kept in acceptable sanitary conditions at all times.

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    Step 12: What else this chapter contains and is not here

    We say this so you know where to look. Besides the licence, Chapter 4.3 contains a sanitary code by establishment type: design, construction, use and operation provisions for establishments where food is prepared and served — with the Food Code adopted as a reference guide, water supply, plumbing, sewage, rubbish and physical installations; for establishments where food is manufactured; food for human consumption, including the ice-cream industry and frozen desserts, labelling, sampling, nutritional qualities and good manufacturing practices; water bottling plants; ice manufacturing plants; public swimming pools, spas and jacuzzis; exterminator premises and commercial poisons; beauty salons, barbershops, tattoo studios and the like; funeral homes; crematoria; and cemeteries. They are technical and engineering specifications, and we do not transcribe them: we tell you they exist and which rules hold them.

Through the Unified Information System (SUI), within the Permiso Único process, before OGPe — through its Assistant Secretary — a hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality or an Authorised Professional, as applicable. Variance and exception requests are filed in writing before OGPe’s Assistant Secretary. Later oversight, periodic inspections, fines and stoppage or closure orders belong to the Health Department under the General Environmental Health Regulation. Health Recommendations for construction, extension or remodelling projects are processed under Volume IX of the regulation itself.

• Believing the licence is issued after the inspection, when the regulation allows the opposite.
• Treating the licence as a shield against Health Department inspections and fines.
• Signing or accepting a compliance certification without checking the establishment.
• Asking for a variance verbally: requests must be filed in writing.
• Bottling water or making ice without the laboratory certification of the water’s properties.
• Letting a septic well fill until it overflows instead of emptying it first.
• Opening a door between the dwelling and the shop in the same building, which must be sealed off.
• Breeding animals other than pets in the yard of a house in a residential district.
• Assuming the tenant is not answerable: the duty falls on lessees and administrators too.

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