§ 488.330 Certification of compliance or noncompliance.
(a) General rules—(1) Responsibility for certification. (i) The State survey agency surveys all facilities for compliance or noncompliance with requirements for long term care facilities. The survey by the State survey agency may be followed by a Federal validation survey.
(A) The State certifies the compliance or noncompliance of non-State operated NFs. Regardless of the State entity doing the certification, it is final, except in the case of a complaint or validation survey conducted by CMS, or CMS review of the State's findings.
(B) CMS certifies the compliance or noncompliance of all State-operated facilities.
(C) The State survey agency certifies the compliance or noncompliance of a non-State operated SNF, subject to the approval of CMS.
(D) The State survey agency certifies compliance or noncompliance for a dually participating SNF/NF. In the case of a disagreement between CMS and the State survey agency, a finding of noncompliance takes precedence over that of compliance.
(ii) In the case of a validation survey, the Secretary's determination as to the facility's noncompliance is binding, and takes precedence over a certification of compliance resulting from the State survey.