Homes built before 1978 must be tested for lead by law
The EPA's 2008 Lead-based renovation, repair, and painting (RRP) rule has many requirements and stiff fines for non-compliance, which is why we require homes built prior to 1978 to be tested before we estimate their project.
Lead testing is not expensive but is required for home built before 1978
The RRP Rule
As a home repair and painting service provider, Murphy Bros. must comply with the Environmental Protection Agency EPA’s 2008 Lead-Based Paint Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule or face stiff if not business-ending fines.
The rule requires workers to be certified and trained in lead-safe work practices and requires renovation, repair, and painting firms like ours to be EPA-certified and comply with ALL aspects of this regulation, a few of which are highlighted below.
These requirements became fully effective on April 22, 2010. The summary booklet is 29 pages in length so you can imagine the extent of the hoops we must jump through to work on older homes. You can read all about our efforts to comply and keep our staff and homeowners safe in this blog post.
fines start at $37,500 per incident per day
Rule Highlights
- All homes built before 1978 are affected by this law.
- All contractors, repairpersons, or painters must comply with this regulation. (Property owners performing repairs on their home and are the only occupants, are exempt)
- The contractor must assume lead-based paint is present in homes built before 1978 unless testing determines the components affected are lead-free. A certified inspector or risk assessor must do this testing.
- The (EPA) can fine any regulated entity that violates the (RRP) Rule, up to $37,500 per day, per offense.
Minimizing the risk
Testing Before Estimating
Because of the risk this regulation imposes on Murphy Bros., we have no choice but to require any new customers in homes built prior to 1978, who are requesting repair or painting services to have a lead test done BEFORE we estimate their project.
To help homeowners with this, we offer the following references and referrals to testing companies you may want to consider using for your testing.
https://techtronengineering.com/laboratory-services
Common sources of lead in the home
