(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or rule to the contrary, the board is authorized to conduct inspections and investigate complaints to enforce this chapter.
Funeral establishment: means any business, whether a proprietorship, partnership, firm, association or corporation, engaged in arranging, directing or supervising funerals for profit or other benefit, the preparing of dead human bodies for burial, the disposition of dead human bodies, the provision or maintenance of place for the preparation for disposition, or for the care or disposition of human bodies. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
Licensee: means an embalmer or funeral director who holds a license issued by the board. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) The board, utilizing an authorized representative licensed as a funeral director and embalmer, shall:
(1) Inspect a funeral establishment making application to the board for initial licensure, change of ownership, or change of location, prior to approving the application; provided, if the establishment to be inspected is a crematory facility, the authorized representative shall also be certified as a crematory operator; and(2) Conduct an unannounced inspection of every funeral establishment each year. The following provisions apply to inspections required by this subdivision (b)(2):
(A) Inspections shall be conducted on weekdays between the hours of eight o’clock a.m. (8:00 a.m.) and four-thirty p.m. (4:30 p.m.);(B) Inspections shall be limited in scope to items in an inspection checklist that shall be published on the board’s website; provided, that violations of other items that are plainly visible may be documented; and(C) If a funeral establishment is unable to participate due to factors not reasonably within its control, the authorized representative may defer the inspection, or a portion thereof, and the funeral establishment shall not incur a reinspection fee.(c) During the course of inspections, reasonable care shall be used to avoid disruption to invitees being served by the funeral establishment.(d) A licensee shall not unreasonably fail to cooperate with an authorized representative acting in accordance with this chapter.
