(a) An applicant for an assisted living facility license must submit an application to the department on a form prescribed by the department.
(b) Each application must be accompanied by a nonrefundable license fee in an amount set by the executive commissioner by rule.

(b-1) If the department conducts more than two life safety code inspections at the applicant’s facility, the department may collect a fee in addition to the fee under Subsection (b) for the application for the license.
(c) The department may provide technical assistance to an applicant by making brief inspections of the assisted living facility proposed to be licensed and making recommendations concerning actions necessary to meet standards for assisted living facilities.
(d) An assisted living facility license applicant in good standing may request an initial license that does not require an on-site health inspection. The department may not require the applicant to admit a resident to the facility before the department issues the license. The department shall require the license applicant to submit for approval policies and procedures, verification of employee background checks, and employee credentials.
(e) The department shall conduct a survey of a facility issued an initial license under Subsection (d) not later than the 90th day after the date on which the department issues the license to the facility. Until the department conducts the survey, the facility shall disclose to all residents and prospective residents that the department has not yet conducted the survey required by this subsection.
(f) For purposes of this section, a license applicant is in “good standing” if:
(1) the license applicant, or the controlling person of the license applicant if the license applicant is a newly formed business entity, has operated or been the controlling person of an assisted living facility in this state for six consecutive years; and
(2) each assisted living facility operated by the license applicant, or operated or controlled by a controlling person of the license applicant if the license applicant is a newly formed business entity:
(A) has not had a violation that resulted in actual harm to a resident or that posed an immediate threat of harm causing, or likely to cause, serious injury, impairment, or death of a resident; and
(B) in the six years preceding the date on which the license applicant submits the application, has not had a sanction imposed by the department against the facility, including:
(i) the imposition of a civil or administrative penalty or an injunction;
(ii) the denial, suspension, or revocation of a license; or
(iii) an emergency closure.