(a) Inspection Procedures.
  (1) All licensed funeral establishments, commercial embalming facilities, and crematories shall be inspected at least once every two years.
  (2) All inspections shall be unannounced.
  (3) The inspector shall review prior inspection reports before inspecting a licensed entity. If prior reports reveal problems, the inspector shall determine whether the licensed entity has corrected the previously identified problems or whether a pattern of violations or new violations exist.
  (4) Inspectors shall use reasonable efforts to conduct inspections between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., but a licensed entity is required to be open at all times to inspections for violations of Occupations Code, Chapter 651, and Health and Safety Code, Chapters 193, 361, 711, and 716.
  (5) If a licensed entity is not open for business during regular business hours and an inspector is unable to contact any employee or owner to open the licensed entity to conduct the inspection, the inspector shall notify the licensed entity by mail of the attempted inspection. If a licensed entity is unavailable for inspection during regular business hours twice during a six-month period, the Commission may file a complaint against the licensed entity, making the licensed entity subject to an administrative penalty or other action.
(b) The Commission may classify a licensed entity as risk-based for the following reasons:
  (1) Previously found violations of Occupations Code, Chapter 651, and Health and Safety Code, Chapters 193, 361, 711, and 716, following a regular inspection.
  (2) Multiple violations of Occupations Code, Chapter 651, or Rules of the Commission.
  (3) Change of ownership.
  (4) Newly issued license.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(1) of this section, a licensed entity may be inspected annually if the Commission classifies the entity as risk-based.
(d) The Commission will declassify an establishment as risk-based if it has two consecutive inspections with no found violations and/or it has no proven violations within a two-year period.
(e) If the Commission is in the process of conducting an investigation of a licensed entity, staff may inspect the licensed entity for the limited purpose of proving or disproving the validity of the complaint. The scope of inspections under this paragraph shall be limited to matters relating to the subject of the complaint.

Source Note: The provisions of this §203.44 adopted to be effective October 18, 2015, 40 TexReg 7070; amended to be effective October 5, 2017, 42 TexReg 5245; amended to be effective October 3, 2019, 44 TexReg 5625