Regulation .04 Professional Standards for Registered Cemeterians and Permit Holders that Own or Operate Cemeteries.

Maintain cemetery grounds and structures in a reasonable condition;

Keep accurate records of all sales and interments, including a map or plat which identifies the section name, lot number, and site number of each burial space in the cemetery or mausoleum or both;

Establish and maintain a record with the dates, locations, facts, and any permit required under Health-General Article, §4-215(e), Annotated Code of Maryland, relative to the relocation of human remains, including cremated human remains, from an existing burial space to another burial space;

Provide to a consumer, orally and in writing, at the time of entering into a contract for a memorial, a statement of the cemetery's policy on the use of independent monument companies;

Provide to a consumer, within 1 business day, a response to an authorization request for the installation or servicing of a foundation or burial goods;

Provide to a consumer, upon request, within 1 business day, information about the rules and regulations for a section and area of the cemetery, including the specifications, standards, and requirements, and any fees for the installation and type of memorial;

Provide, upon request, to a consumer, within 1 business day, information regarding the exact location of a burial space for the purpose of installing or servicing a memorial;

Have the same specifications, standards, and requirements for the installation of memorials in the registrant's or permit holder's cemetery regardless of who sold the memorial; and

Disclose to a consumer, orally and in writing, at the time of entering into a contract, the number of interments that may be placed in each burial space and their disposition within a burial space.

Disclose to the owner of the burial space, in writing, if damage has occurred to the integrity of a casket, liner, vault, crypt, mausoleum space, or columbarium space within 10 days of discovery of the damage;

If the damage which has occurred to the integrity of a casket, liner, vault, crypt, mausoleum space, or columbarium space, was caused by the actions of the cemetery, offer to repair or to supply to the owner of the burial space a reasonable and comparable alternative burial space, casket, liner, vault, crypt, mausoleum space, or columbarium space; and

Maintain in the cemetery's office, for inspection by consumers, a current and complete listing of the rules and requirements of the cemetery including those related to memorialization, interment, memorial services, burial space embellishments, and hours of operation.

State or imply that the State requires a consumer to come to a cemetery before an interment is performed;

Charge extra fees for the storage of a casket, or the opening and closing of a burial space after hours, due to a delay in burial attributable to a breakdown of equipment or to the registrant's or permit holder's actions;

Charge a fee for disclosing any information which is needed to install or service a memorial;

Establish any policy or rule which unreasonably impedes, prohibits, or restricts anyone from viewing the lowering of a casket or participating in a funeral service at a burial space;

Knowingly or intentionally open a burial space other than that which the lot owner, next-of-kin, family, or their agent or personal representative owns or purchased for right of burial;

Knowingly or intentionally resell a burial space which has already been sold for future use or in which an interment exists;

Charge any fees relating to the installation or servicing of burial goods purchased from a registered cemetarian, registered seller, or permit holder, other than the registered cemeterian or permit holder, unless the fee is reasonable and is based on actual labor and other appropriate costs; and.

Charge a fee for any memorial care other than perpetual memorial care.