Dental practice compliance
CQC Regulation 15: a practical premises and equipment checklist
Regulation 15 (Premises and Equipment) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 sets the standard your practice's premises and equipment are assessed against for CQC registration. It applies across all regulated activities, not just dental — here's what it actually asks for, and how that maps onto a dental fit-out.
What Regulation 15 requires
In summary, premises and equipment used for a regulated activity must be clean, secure, suitable for their purpose, properly used, properly maintained, and appropriately located. Where equipment is used, it must additionally be suitable for its purpose, decontaminated where appropriate, and properly maintained. Six requirements for premises, three for equipment — all of them things a fit-out either gets right from the design stage, or has to be corrected later.
Clean
Hygiene standards appropriate for infection prevention and control, and for carrying on the regulated activity — the basis for the dirty-to-clean decontamination workflow and non-porous, seamless surfaces throughout the surgery.
Secure
The premises need to be secure for the activity carried on — controlled access to clinical areas, and secure storage where controlled drugs or patient records are kept.
Suitable for the purpose
Rooms need to be fit for what they're actually used for — a decontamination room needs the correct dirty-to-clean workflow (HTM 01-05), an X-ray room needs lead lining sized and positioned to your Radiation Protection Adviser's report, not a generic spec.
Properly used
Equipment and rooms used as intended, by trained staff, following the workflow they were designed around — a compliance point that sits with the practice's procedures as much as the building itself.
Properly maintained
Ongoing maintenance and testing of equipment and premises — not just a one-off build standard at handover, but something the practice needs to be able to evidence on an ongoing basis.
Appropriately located
Drainage runs, floor loading and ceiling height need to support what's being installed — issues that can rule out a site after you've already committed to it if they're not checked first.
What this means for equipment specifically
Regulation 15(3) adds equipment-specific requirements, directly relevant to a decontamination room's ultrasonic bath, washer-disinfector and autoclave:
Suitable for its purpose
Ultrasonic baths, washer-disinfectors and autoclaves specified and installed correctly for the decontamination workflow they sit within.
Decontaminated where appropriate
Equipment used in the dirty-to-clean workflow needs to support the disinfection/sterilisation sequence, not work against it — the reason the dirty and clean sides need a clear physical barrier.
Properly maintained
Validated, serviced equipment — washer-disinfectors and autoclaves are typically on a periodic testing and validation schedule, which is a fit-out design input, not an afterthought (drainage, power and space need to be right from the start).
Where a fit-out project should start
A feasibility survey — checking drainage runs, structure, floor loading and access against what the fit-out will need — should happen before you sign a lease or commit spend. CQC registration can take 16 or more weeks, and a building constraint discovered after you've committed to a site is far more expensive to fix than one caught at feasibility stage.
How Maycor approaches this
The decontamination room, X-ray room and surgery fit-out are designed around Regulation 15's premises and equipment requirements from the first site visit — X-ray lead lining signed off against your Radiation Protection Adviser's report, decontamination workflow agreed with your decontamination lead, drainage and floor loading checked before you commit to a site. One team runs strip-out through to finishing, so the building doesn't become the thing holding up your registration.
Frequently asked questions
What is CQC Regulation 15?
Regulation 15 (Premises and Equipment) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires that premises and equipment used for a regulated activity are clean, secure, suitable for their purpose, properly used, properly maintained, and appropriately located. It applies to all CQC-regulated activities, not only dental practices, but it's the regulation your premises are assessed against as part of registration.
Does a fit-out or refurbishment guarantee CQC registration?
No — a compliant building is one input into registration, not the whole process. Registration also covers staffing, governance, infection control procedures and more. What a well-designed fit-out does is remove the premises and equipment risk, so a building issue doesn't hold up registration or an inspection later.
How long does CQC registration take, and when should the fit-out start?
CQC registration can take 16 or more weeks. A feasibility survey — checking drainage, structure, floor loading and access against what the fit-out will need — should happen before you sign a lease or commit spend, so a building constraint doesn't rule out a site after you've already committed to it.
Who signs off the X-ray room and decontamination room design?
X-ray lead lining is signed off against your Radiation Protection Adviser's (RPA) report under IRR17/IRMER — the exact lead thickness and coverage is set per room, not a fixed spec. The decontamination room's workflow is agreed with your appointed decontamination lead. Both should be coordinated during design, before the build starts.
This is practical guidance for planning a fit-out, not legal or regulatory advice — always check current requirements against CQC's own guidance for your specific registration.
Check your site against Regulation 15 and HTM 01-05 before you commit to it.
Book a Feasibility Survey