The Florida Senate

470.024  Funeral establishment; licensure.--

(1)  A funeral establishment shall be a place at a specific street address or location consisting of at least 1,250 contiguous interior square feet and must maintain or make arrangements for either suitable capacity for the refrigeration and storage of dead human bodies handled and stored by the establishment or a preparation room equipped with necessary ventilation and drainage and containing necessary instruments for embalming dead human bodies.

(2)  Each licensed funeral establishment may operate a visitation chapel at a separate location within the county in which the funeral establishment is located. A visitation chapel must be a facility of not less than 500 square feet and not more than 700 square feet and may be operated only when a licensed funeral director is present at the facility. A visitation chapel may be used only for visitation of a deceased human body and may not be used for any other activity permitted by this chapter.

(3)  No person may conduct, maintain, manage, or operate a funeral establishment unless an establishment operating license has been issued by the department for that funeral establishment.

(4)  Application for a funeral establishment license shall be made on forms furnished by the department, shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee not to exceed $300 as set by board rule, and shall include the name of the licensed funeral director who is in charge of that establishment.

(5)  A funeral establishment license shall be renewable biennially pursuant to procedures, and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee not to exceed $300, as set by board rule. The board may also establish by rule a delinquency fee not to exceed $50.

(6)  The practice of embalming done at a funeral establishment shall only be practiced by an embalmer licensed under this chapter.

(7)  Each licensed funeral establishment shall have one full-time funeral director in charge and shall have a licensed funeral director reasonably available to the public during normal business hours for that establishment. The full-time funeral director in charge must have an active license and may not be the full-time funeral director in charge of any other funeral establishment or of any other direct disposal establishment.

(8)  The issuance of a license to operate a funeral establishment to a person or entity who is not individually licensed as a funeral director does not entitle the person to practice funeral directing.

(9)  Each funeral establishment located at a specific address shall be deemed to be a separate entity and shall require separate licensing and compliance with the requirements of this chapter. A funeral establishment may not be operated at the same location as any other funeral establishment or direct disposal establishment unless such establishments were licensed as colocated establishments on October 1, 1993.

(10)  Every funeral establishment licensed under this chapter shall at all times be subject to the inspection of all its buildings, grounds, and vehicles used in the conduct of its business, by the department or any of its designated representatives or agents, or local or Department of Health inspectors. The board shall by rule establish requirements for inspection of funeral establishments.

(11)  The board shall set by rule an annual inspection fee not to exceed $100, payable upon application for licensure and upon each renewal of such license.

(12)  A change in ownership of a funeral establishment shall be promptly reported to the department and shall require the relicensure of the funeral establishment, including reinspection and payment of applicable fees.

(13)  Each application for a funeral establishment license shall identify every person with the ability to direct the management or policies of the establishment and must identify every person having more than a 10-percent ownership interest in the establishment or the business or corporation which owns the establishment. The board may deny, suspend, or revoke the license if any person identified in the application has ever been disciplined by a regulatory agency in any jurisdiction for any offense that would constitute a violation of this chapter. The board may deny, suspend, or revoke the license if any person identified in the application has ever been convicted or found guilty of, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, a crime in any jurisdiction that directly relates to the ability to operate a funeral establishment.

(14)  Each funeral establishment must display at the public entrance the name of the establishment and the name of the full-time funeral director in charge. A funeral establishment must transact its business under the name by which it is licensed.

History.--ss. 1, 5, ch. 79-231; s. 338, ch. 81-259; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; s. 1, ch. 89-8; s. 46, ch. 89-162; s. 24, ch. 89-374; s. 21, ch. 91-137; ss. 23, 122, ch. 93-399; s. 72, ch. 94-119; s. 4, ch. 96-355; s. 7, ch. 98-298.