How to Start a Home Daycare in Maryland: Family Child Care Registration

If you want to care for children in your own home, Maryland treats that work as family child care. People searching for a maryland home daycare license or a maryland family child care license are usually looking for one process: registration with the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Office of Child Care (OCC). This guide covers the maryland home daycare requirements in the order you are likely to need them, what each document is, and what to confirm before you spend money on equipment or a lease.

This article is informational content, not legal or tax advice. The OCC application checklist discussed here is dated revised 01/2022, so confirm with OCC that it is still the current version before you rely on it.

What Maryland Regulates as Family Child Care

Maryland's child care regulation for home-based providers is found in COMAR 13A.15. In general terms, that regulation defines family child care as the care of a child under 13 in a residence other than the child's own, for pay. Two parts of that definition matter for planning. The care takes place in a residence, which is why zoning and home safety rules apply to your house or apartment. The care is also for pay, so plan on the rules applying from your first paid enrollment.

Use the term registration when you speak with officials. Many people search for a license, but the OCC process described in the checklist is a registration. A general state business license is a separate question, covered later in this guide.

Documents and Materials to Gather

Several items on this list depend on others, so collect them in one folder and track each one. The OCC checklist (revised 01/2022) includes:

• First Aid and CPR certification for the provider
• Pre-service training documents
• Evidence of compliance with local building and zoning codes, usually a use and occupancy (U&O) permit
• A lead-safe certificate, if the home is pre-1978 rental property
• Homeowner liability insurance, if a homeowners association (HOA) or condominium applies to your property
• An Environmental Health Survey
• A Fire Inspection Report
• An Emergency Escape Plan

It also helps to have a simple floor plan that marks every room you will use for care, a written copy of your enrollment and emergency contact policies, and the phone numbers for your county zoning office, local health department and local fire department. These are practical suggestions, not checklist items.

Step-by-Step: Registering Your Home Daycare

Step 1: Confirm Your Plan Fits the Rules

Decide the ages you want to serve, the rooms you will use and the hours you plan to offer. Then compare the number of children you plan to enroll with the maximum that applies. This guide does not give a maximum number of children, because that figure has not been verified for this article. Confirm the current limit with MSDE OCC before you set enrollment numbers, price your care or sign a lease for a larger space. Ask the same office whether the limit changes with the ages of the children you serve.

Step 2: Check Zoning and Get Your U&O Permit

The checklist asks for evidence that your home complies with local building and zoning codes. In most cases that evidence is a use and occupancy (U&O) permit issued by your county or city. Call the zoning or permits office before you apply and ask four questions. Is a home daycare allowed at this address? Does the permit require an inspection? What are the fees and the current processing time? Does the local office need anything from OCC?

If you live in an HOA or condominium, read the governing documents as well. An association can restrict business use of a unit even when the county allows it. Do not rely on what a neighbor was told, because each address and zoning designation can differ.

Step 3: Address Lead-Safe and Insurance Requirements

If you rent the home and it was built before 1978, the checklist calls for a lead-safe certificate. Confirm the construction date from your property records, and ask OCC which office issues the certificate for your jurisdiction. The checklist ties this item to rental property, so owner-occupants should still confirm with OCC whether it applies to them.

If an HOA or condominium governs your property, the checklist calls for homeowner liability insurance. Call your insurance agent and ask, in writing, whether your policy covers child care in your home. Many standard homeowner policies limit or exclude business activity, so a verbal yes is not enough. Ask what coverage you would need to add and what it would cost.

Step 4: Complete First Aid, CPR and Pre-Service Training

Schedule these early, because course dates can fill up. Get certificates that show your name, the course name, and the issue and expiration dates. Keep the originals and make copies for your folder. The checklist names First Aid and CPR and pre-service training documents, but this guide does not state which courses OCC accepts or how many pre-service training hours it requires. Ask OCC for the approved course list and the hour requirement. Then check your certificate dates against your planned submission date so nothing expires mid-process.

Step 5: Schedule the Environmental Health Survey

The Environmental Health Survey is a review of your home's conditions. Contact your local health department to ask how to request it, what it covers, and whether there is a fee and a wait time. Ask which items the survey checks so you can prepare. Schedule it after your rooms are set up and any repairs are finished. A survey of a space that is still under construction may have to be repeated, which costs time.

Step 6: Get the Fire Inspection Report and Write Your Emergency Escape Plan

Contact your local fire department or fire marshal to request a fire inspection. Ask what it checks and whether any changes are required before the report is issued. Before the visit, walk through every room you plan to use and look for blocked exits, missing alarms and cords across walkways.

The Emergency Escape Plan should show how children exit from every room used for care, a meeting place outside the home, how you will account for every child, and how you will contact families and emergency services. Post a copy near the main door and keep another in your folder. Make sure the plan matches the rooms the inspector sees.

Step 7: Submit the OCC Application

Complete the application and attach every checklist item. Read the checklist line by line and check each item against your folder. Send clear, complete copies and keep a copy of everything you submit. Before you send anything, confirm with OCC that the checklist and application form are current, since the version discussed here is dated 01/2022.

Expect OCC to ask about your household and about the background checks that apply. Ask which checks are required and who must complete them. Answer completely and promptly. If OCC asks for more documents, send them quickly and note the date. Also ask OCC for the processing time, how to check status, whether there is an application fee and how it is paid. This guide does not state the fee or the processing time, so both must be confirmed with OCC.

Step 8: Decide How Your Business Will Be Set Up (Optional)

Many home daycare providers operate as sole proprietors and report the income on their personal returns. In Maryland, the state personal income tax is graduated from 2% to 6.5%, plus a county or Baltimore City local income tax of 2.25% to 3.30% for 2026. Forming a limited liability company (LLC) is optional. If you choose one, the Articles of Organization filing fee is $100, filed with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT). The annual report fee is $300 and is due April 15 each year. Search the entity register at dat.maryland.gov before you choose a name. Forming an LLC does not by itself satisfy OCC registration, so ask OCC how a business entity may hold the registration before you file.

Child care is a service, and the trader's license is aimed at businesses that sell goods, so it may not apply to you. Confirm that with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in your county before you assume it does not.

Suggested Order of Work

The order below keeps you from paying for work that a later step could invalidate. Adjust it to your county's process.

1. Confirm enrollment limits, fees and timelines with OCC, and confirm zoning and HOA rules with your local office.
2. Settle insurance and the lead-safe question before you commit to a lease or purchase.
3. Complete First Aid, CPR and pre-service training, and set your certificate dates.
4. Set up the rooms you will use, then schedule the Environmental Health Survey and the fire inspection.
5. Write the Emergency Escape Plan to match the finished rooms, then assemble the full packet and submit the OCC application.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Signing a lease, buying equipment or advertising care before zoning and HOA rules are checked.
• Accepting pay or a deposit for care before your OCC registration is in place. The definition of family child care covers care for pay in a residence, so ask OCC what it allows before you take any money.
• Assuming a homeowner policy covers business use without written confirmation.
• Letting a First Aid, CPR or training certificate expire before you submit.
• Scheduling the Environmental Health Survey or fire inspection before the space is ready.
• Treating a figure from a forum, a social post or an older article as current. Confirm fees, caps and timelines with the agency that sets them.
• Forming an LLC before you know how OCC will register your business.

Tips That Save Time

• Create one folder, paper or digital, with a tracking sheet. List each item, the issuing office, the date you requested it, the date you received it and its expiration date.
• Call each office once and write down the name of the person you spoke with and the answer. Follow up by email so you have a written record.
• Ask OCC for its current checklist even if you already have one, since the version discussed here is dated 01/2022.
• Walk your home the way an inspector would before the survey and the fire visit. Clear walkways, secure cords and check that every exit opens.

Expected Results

A complete, well-organized packet may help your application move through review with fewer follow-up requests, although OCC makes the decision and timing can vary. Registration may help you show parents and local offices that your home has been reviewed against state requirements, but it does not guarantee enrollment or income. Providers who confirm zoning, insurance and the open questions early often find fewer surprises, which can help you set a more realistic opening date.

Items to Confirm With Each Agency

Item	What this guide says	Confirm with
Maximum number of children	Not verified. No figure given.	MSDE Office of Child Care
OCC application fee	Not verified. No figure given.	MSDE Office of Child Care
OCC processing time	Not stated	MSDE Office of Child Care
Accepted First Aid and CPR courses, and pre-service training hours	Not stated	MSDE Office of Child Care
Lead-safe certificate issuer for your jurisdiction	Not stated	MSDE Office of Child Care and your local government
U&O permit fees and timeline	Not stated	Your county or city permits office
Environmental Health Survey fees and wait time	Not stated	Your local health department
Fire inspection fees and scheduling	Not stated	Your local fire department or fire marshal
Whether a trader's license applies to you	Likely not for a service provider, but not confirmed	Clerk of the Circuit Court in your county

Final Notes and Professional Advice

This article is informational only. It is not legal, tax or insurance advice, and Maryland rules and local requirements change. Before you sign a lease, take out a loan or choose a business structure, talk with a Maryland attorney about your structure and zoning questions, a CPA about your taxes, and an insurance agent about coverage for child care in your home. For questions about your registration itself, start with the MSDE Office of Child Care.