For Housing

Lead-Based Paint Projects

If you are in the remodeling business, you are well aware of the pitfalls that stem from the current down economy.  With everyone holding tight to their purse strings, and banks virtually shutting down loans for home mortgages and home improvements, available projects have dwindled considerably in this category.

As if this was not bad enough, on April 10, 2010 the EPA’s new Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rulings go into effect.   This new ruling institutes not only defined work procedures for lead paint removal, but also certifications that will definitely increase up-front costs.  This will have a huge impact on the remodeling contractor.

In short, according to the EPA, the way this new ruling is supposed to work goes like this.  If as a contractor you are working a project that was constructed before 1978, your lead-safe procedures would be: 1) inform the homeowner or building owner; 2) seal off the work area; 3) try to keep the dust particles to a minimum and when completed, do a very thorough clean-up of the site with HEPA filter-equipped vacuum cleaners.

Certifications required to perform this work will also increase job costs.  As a remodeling contractor you will need a certification for your company and at least one for the person supervising/performing the work.  This means appropriate training and education, plus the needed equipment.

This may not seem too bad, but Beware!!  While the procedures and increased costs are bad enough, in my opinion what this ruling does is put the contractor in harm’s way of home/building owners who seek the opportunity to claim lead exposure simply because they had their home/building remodeled.   If the contractor takes on one of these projects and is not aware of the requirements, he leaves himself wide open for a lead exposure claim.

By the same token, to remain on the safe side of things, each project would need a lead test taken on all paints/coatings.  If lead based materials are determined present, and the contractor follows the EPA’s outlined procedures, the home/building owner would have to be tested to determine if at that point he was lead free.

Wow!  What exactly is repainting that room going to cost???

Home Improvement