Texas Form 7263 is the Health and Human Services Commission’s drill log for licensed childcare centers, and you fill it out by recording each emergency drill and monthly equipment check in the tables printed on its two pages. Page one holds your facility reference details and your sheltering, severe weather, and lock-down drill entries; page two holds your monthly fire drills and your smoke detector, carbon monoxide alarm, and fire extinguisher inspection dates.1Texas Health and Human Services. Form 7263, Emergency Practices
Page One: Reference Fields and Sheltering/Lock-Down Drills
The top of page one is static information about your facility. Fill it in once and update only when something changes:
- Confirm that each childcare room has battery-powered lighting and note whether the batteries have been checked.
- List where each fire extinguisher is located in the building.
- Write the address or description of your relocation site, where children and staff go after evacuating.
- Record where the first aid kit is kept.
- Note the dates of your fire, health, and gas inspections.
Below the reference block sits the drill table for sheltering, severe weather, and lock-down events. Each row captures one drill, with columns for month, date and time, staff initials, exit time, and drill type. Use the codes printed on the form: “S” for shelter, “SW” for severe weather, and “LD” for lock-down.1Texas Health and Human Services. Form 7263, Emergency Practices
The form defines each drill type so whoever logs it knows what qualifies. A sheltering or severe weather drill moves children and staff to a protected location inside the building, such as during a tornado warning; sheltering also applies when a dangerous person is in the area but not on the premises. A lock-down drill keeps children and staff in place inside the building because a dangerous person is on the premises. A fire drill evacuates everyone to a designated safe area outside the building, with children able to exit safely within three minutes.1Texas Health and Human Services. Form 7263, Emergency Practices
Page Two: Fire Drills and Monthly Equipment Checks
The fire drill table on page two follows the same format: month, date and time, staff initials, and exit time for each monthly drill. Fire drills happen every calendar month, so by December you should have twelve completed rows.
The bottom section is three columns of monthly equipment checks, one row for each month of the year. Enter the date you tested the carbon monoxide alarm, the date you tested the smoke detector, and the date you checked the fire extinguisher. This is where inspectors most often find gaps, because it is easy to run the drills and forget to log the detector tests.1Texas Health and Human Services. Form 7263, Emergency Practices
How Often Each Drill and Check Is Required
The entries you put on Form 7263 have to match the frequencies set by Texas minimum standards. Under 26 TAC §746.5205, your center must practice:
- Fire drills once every month, with children exiting the building safely within three minutes.
- Sheltering or severe weather drills at least four times per calendar year.
- Lock-down drills at least four times per calendar year.
Every drill must be documented with the date, time, and how long the evacuation, sheltering, or lock-down took.2Cornell Law Institute. 26 Texas Administrative Code 746.5205 – Must I Practice My Emergency Preparedness Plans Form 7263’s columns capture each of those data points, so completing a row after each drill meets the documentation standard automatically. The four-per-year drills don’t have to be evenly spaced, but spreading them across quarters makes compliance easier to show. Fire drills, by contrast, must happen every calendar month. Skipping January and doubling up in February does not count.
Logging Smoke Detector and CO Alarm Tests
The equipment-check columns exist because Texas minimum standards require ongoing testing of both systems. Every licensed childcare center must have a working carbon monoxide detection system unless the center is in a school facility that meets Education Code standards.3Cornell Law Institute. 26 Texas Administrative Code 746.5531 – Must My Child-Care Center Have a Carbon Monoxide Detection System
If your center uses battery-operated or plug-in CO detectors, 26 TAC §746.5537 requires you to test every detector monthly, install a new battery in each battery-operated unit at least once a year, and document the test date, battery replacement date, and the name of the employee who did the work. Documentation must stay on-site and available for review during operating hours.4Cornell Law Institute. 26 Texas Administrative Code 746.5537 – How Often Must I Inspect and Service the Carbon Monoxide Detection System Centers running an electronic CO system tied to a monitored alarm or smoke-detection network follow a different track, with testing by the monitoring company or fire marshal at least annually and the inspection report kept on file.
For smoke detectors, the state or local fire marshal must approve any electronic alarm and smoke-detection system. Where a fire marshal inspection is not available, your center needs at least one working smoke detector in each room used by children.5Cornell Law Institute. 26 Texas Administrative Code 746.5313 – Who Must Approve My Child-Care Center Alarm and Smoke-Detection System The date you test each detector goes in the smoke detector column on page two.
Do You Have to Use This Form?
No. The form’s own directions say providers can use their own tracking tool instead, as long as it captures the same information: drill dates, times, exit times, and equipment inspection dates.1Texas Health and Human Services. Form 7263, Emergency Practices Using the HHSC form removes any ambiguity about whether your records meet the standard, and inspectors are already familiar with the layout. Form 7263 is available as a free PDF from the Texas HHS website.6Texas Health and Human Services. Form 7263, Emergency Practices Print a fresh copy at the start of each calendar year, and keep completed forms from prior years on file.
What Inspectors Check
HHSC licensing staff review your drill logs at every inspection. The form’s directions state plainly that “Licensing will review the form at your inspections.”1Texas Health and Human Services. Form 7263, Emergency Practices Inspectors look at whether drills happened at the required frequency, whether fire drill exit times stayed within three minutes, and whether smoke detector and CO alarm tests are current.
Missing or incomplete drill documentation is classified as a medium-weight deficiency under the Texas minimum standards for childcare centers. When an inspector finds a gap, the deficiency is discussed with the person in charge before the inspector leaves, and the center is given a specified period to correct it. If you disagree with a citation, you can request an administrative review.7Texas Health and Human Services. Minimum Standards for Child-Care Centers A single documentation deficiency will not close your center, but repeated failures accumulate and can feed into more serious enforcement.
Designate one staff member to fill out Form 7263 immediately after each drill. Reconstructing dates and exit times from memory at month’s end is how blank cells show up on inspection day. The Staff Initials column exists for that reason: it ties each entry to a specific person who was there.